Published : 2021 || Format : print || Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El
This week...
This has been one crazy week, so much so that I was very surprised when Thursday rolled around and then Friday. And of course, it's Sunday already because the weekends go by much faster. I had been having a somewhat uneventful week at work for the first first couple of days but then many big things came up together that swamped the rest of the week. I still have some more work to finish before tomorrow, so I'm going to have to spend some time today on getting that in order.
One good aspect of having a week that flew by is that it IS already Sunday and the husband will be back tonight from his short India trip. This time, it was a lot easier being by myself than it was in December because I am not sick anymore (I could barely eat anything in December), the weather is wonderful and cheery, and there is a lot of motivation to do a lot from my self-imposed list of "stuff to do before the baby comes".
The baby update...
I spent a huge chunk of yesterday building our baby registry. I had been tinkering with it for a few minutes every once in a while for the past month but it wasn't getting anywhere. What's worse is a lot of the items look like stuff you can easily live without but many still recommend it as the most useful thing they ever got. I'm trying to be extra mindful, especially since I'm still in a decluttering phase and don't want to buy something I may use for a month or two, only to watch it get relegated to the donate box. This is hard work. But I'm 28 weeks now and I better get this thing going while I still have the energy to do a lot of tedious work.
Last night, I went for a one-year old's birthday party and with all the kids running havoc at the venue, I did get a scary reminder of how much life is going to change. I do get that moment every once in a while though most of the time, I am excited and looking forward to it. Not helping at all was all the oodles of advice and tips I got from other mothers - all good advice, of course - but still it's stuff that's new to me and I don't have much to compare with, unless you consider having a dog as a lot of work, which it is, but it becomes your life and they are creatures of routine so everything is predictable.
Reading...
Are you doing the readathon next week? I'm still undecided but likely won't. I have penciled in some chores for next weekend that just need to be done so reading probably will end up getting slotted for bedtime. It's been a long time since I did a readathon. The first time I participated, I was still at grad school - my roommate also joined in and we had a lot of fun reading through the night. I wanted to do one before the baby comes and I may still try and do it another weekend, but night-outs are certainly out. I'm still going to see how I can get a mostly reading weekend next week, in which case, I may try to get in on the readathon bandwagon.
Comments
BEST to you in getting ready for baby! I have no advice. :D
babylist was also full of what I thought then were useless things. Some
actually where. For instance, I almost didn't use the baby monitor, we just turned on the AngelCare (because my husband was really
scared of SUNDS).
Our apartment was small enough that we could hear the baby from everyroom anyway. Things I didn't have enough of: baby blankets. I know they're a bit price expensive, but
I absolutely love my Aden + Anais muslin ones.
As for the registries, they are good for the big stuff but so much of what I ended up getting was useless. Both kids spent so much time in onsies... I need ten times more of those than what I had.
I remember the registering process all too well! I'm with you. I wondered why anyone could need some of that stuff. And then most people didn't get me things I'd registered for anyway. It worked out though.
One thing I feel very lucky for was that one of my friends had twins four months before Mouse was born. She handed down all of her daughter's clothes as her daughter out grew them. I will forever be grateful. I didn't have to buy my daughter clothes for the first year of her life. I never turned down the opened packages of diapers her kids out grew either.
I probably won't participate in the read-a-thon. It's hard for me to give up a weekend day and devote it to reading even if I want to. I admire those who are able to manage it with young kids in the home.
I hope you have a great week!
My last dedicated readathon was when I was 38 weeks pregnant with Elle. Now it falls on her birthday weekend every April! I'm hoping I can ship everyone out of the house in October and participate most of the time. :) If you participate, I hope you have a great time! Sounds like a perfect excuse to relax with a good book or two.
Our best friends have been handing down their clothes and other baby products too and that has been super helpful. But I hear what you say - it is hard deciding what to buy before baby is born.