Today at my regular checkup my blood pressure was a little elevated. That combined with the swelling I’ve had in my feet the last three weeks was enough to get me sent over to the hospital’s birth place for blood work and a non stress test. Both of those looked good, my blood pressure was down. After almost three hours there they let me come home with orders to rest, keep my feet up and drink plenty of fluids. And I’m to go get my blood pressure checked on Thursday.
Guess I’ve been overdoing it a bit. Ran errands to three stores this morning and only sat down for maybe half an hour while Bella napped (I dozed off for a little while too.)
Bella spent the afternoon and evening with my sister-in-law and had a great time with her cousins. She absolutely loves visiting with them and talks about it for days afterward. But she came home after her bedtime and was so wired. It would have been easier if she’d fallen asleep in the car; but Dom had gone to pick her up while I waited for my discharge paperwork and i’m sure she kept herself awake anticipating seeing me. We had a meltdown when we tried to put her to bed and she cried herself to sleep in my arms. I’m afraid it won’t be the last time she gets thrown off her routine in the coming weeks. Fortunately, I’m sure she’ll have forgiven me by morning.
Anyway, I suppose I can kiss my to-do list goodbye. nothing on it that can’t wait till later or never or be done by Dom. Now I’m going to put my feet up and read lots of books to my little bookworm. (Whose new favorite book is The Steadfast Tin Soldier
, by the way. She calls it “soldier” and asks for it by name. I can’t believe she sits through all that text, a full paragraph on each page!)
I think I’ve read that Lewis essay before, or at least something similar by him. I know I love this piece of advice: “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.” Though I don’t follow it very well myself most of the time.
Then again I think the toddler and baby years are not necessarily the best time of one’s life to try to pursue any serious reading plan. And let’s face it the old books can require a little more attention. Dribs and drabs snatched here and there, yes; but I find when I read serious books I’m only really able to give them half my attention anyway. Lewis wouldn’t have personally run into that problem, though.
This little bit is great too: ” I believe that many who find that “nothing happens” when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand.”
I can see that. I think that when I only had little ones, I particularly enjoyed reading junior biographies and classics and things like that – even before they were ready to listen in.
Great post! I hadn’t really made the connection between this and the crazy scholarship of today, but somehow it reminds me of this wonderful essay by C.S. Lewis:
http://www.philthompson.net/pages/library/onincarnationintro.html
I have to admit that I’m getting a lot more out of this book while leading a teen discussion than I would have otherwise, though I don’t usually manage to post about it since it makes my schedule busier.