Norwitz Notions

Here I am at 19 weeks, 4 1/2 months and well into my 2nd trimester.  I keep asking Michael “do I look pregnant in this? (as opposed to just fat) and, well, judge for yourself.
Things are going pretty well.  At 17 weeks I saw my wonderful family doctor for the last time (she’s switching to [...]

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Well, I hit my 2nd trimester a little over a week ago.  I’m now 14 1/2 weeks along.  The pregnancy sickness is still with me but the worst of it is *knock wood* over.  I still get stomach pain as my primary gut issue.  I’ve also been eating like crazy, lots and lots of very [...]

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Hello all!  It’s been a while since I’ve posted here regularly.  I blame it entirely on technical problems.  Has nothing to do with me whatsoever.  *ducking*  My camera went bad and I replaced it, then had horrible problems with the disc, replaced that, had the same problem with the new disc (different brand), realized the [...]

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Miriam has always been more of a director than an actor.  Since she was old enough to hold a camera, she would grab one at any opportunity.  A child’s digital camera is a promised present (anyone know of one that is kid proof, has a display screen, and is under $30?) but, until then, she [...]

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We spent Thanksgiving 2008 much like Thanksgiving 2007, at a potluck gathering at Ecology House in San Rafael, California.  Ecology House is the only HUD (US Government) low-income housing for people disabled with chemical sensitivities.  It has 11 apartments and a community room where residents host events, meetings, and parties.  The Environmental Health Network holds [...]

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“Goodbye old car!  Thanks for taking good care of us all these years! We’re going to miss you!”
Miriam repeated words like this many times today.  I don’t know why I get sad when getting rid of a car.  Am I doing the right thing??  How can we just leave it here to be scrapped after [...]

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This year, Miriam (age 3.5 years) wanted to be a superhero for Halloween.  Her first choice was Superman, and she was quite clear that she meant Superman, not Supergirl.  Being 3 though, she had a lot of back and forth.  At times Supergirl was okay and so were Spiderman, Batman, or anyone from the Justice [...]

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This year the spirit possessed us and we decided to build a sukkah for the holiday of Sukkot.  We’d done a poor attempt a few years ago but this was the first real one for all of us.
Sukkot occurs 5 days after Yom Kippur, in late September or October.  It reminds us of the time [...]

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The first overnight stop on our road trip from Petaluma, California to Vancouver, Canada, was in Southern Oregon at the Indian Mary Campground in Merlin. By Google Maps, it’s 410 miles and a 6:30 hour drive. With extensive stops, it was more like 9 or 10 hours.
Indian Mary Park
Uninc Josephine County, Oregon
7100 Merlin [...]

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I’ve hosted a Passover seder at my home every year for the last 20 or so (except for the year my mother died the night before Passover 1996 and the following year, the first with Michael, when Michael and I both had the flu).  Each one has a different mix of people, cultures, familiarity with [...]

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Multiple chemical sensitivity is a lovely disease. With a lot of other disabilities, the issue of access is simply that: getting in. With MCS, it’s all about survival.
Like anyone else who doesn’t remain homebound, I get whammed once in a while. Depending on what the chemical is, I’m usually okay after a [...]

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Why I don’t get enough sleep.
This is what happens when I get up in the wee hours to use the bathroom…

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So, Miriam and I are at Whole Foods shopping for supplies for her birthday party (3 years old!) and we stopped at a display with cut and wrapped pieces of watermelon, one of her favorite fruits. I asked her if she wanted some for her birthday party.
She turned to me and asked: “Is it in [...]

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I don’t know who was more excited: the birthday girl or her mom. Miriam is turning 3 on February 26th and I wanted to get her something special. She’s been planning her birthday party for nearly a year now and, whenever we ask her what she wants (either for the party itself or for her [...]

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For dinner tonight I made a simple but elegant meal. Each item wasn’t hard to make, though having four of them took more time. The details make a difference too. Nicer plates, eating at the dining room table (something we should do every night, but don’t), using wine glasses.

Miriam and I went to Whole Foods [...]

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This is a follow up to Part I from Dec, 2007. We got this bed frame for free from Freecycle and it was a mess. Massive scrubbing ensued. Then we varnished, but the coat done in the late afternoon bubbled due to the cold. It took nearly two months before we had a warm sunny [...]

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At two years and ten months (she’ll tell you her age upon request), Miriam knows pretty much all her letters but isn’t actually reading or writing yet. She can’t sound anything out. The one word she knows though is “off” (”O F F spells ‘off’!”). Because it’s a button on our phone.
She can on occasion [...]

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Written Dec 12:
I got a wooden bed frame with drawers from Freecycle December 9 to use for Miriam. It is quite old and solid wood with some plywood. It was pretty filthy, since it was sitting in a walled-in porch for years. I spent a couple hours yesterday scrubbing it all down. When it was [...]

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