You've got questions, I've got (some) answers . . .

A little while ago I welcomed any questions that you all might have, and I got a bunch.  Since I've been spending all of my "free" time this week cleaning and decluttering (which is paying off big time) answering some questions seems like an easy post :)

(Edited to add that I made it halfway through the question list I have---so this will be part one of two.  Or, if I get more questions then I'll make this an occasionally regular thing.)

1. How did you pick Maya's name?

This is an easy one :)  Way back when I was pregnant I belonged to a "due date club" message board (all ladies due in May 2008).  Someone joked that one of us should name our baby girl Maya, since the word "May" was right there in the name . . . and I kind of chuckled and then thought "Wait.  I like that name!".   It  seemed easy to read (and pronounce, cross-culturally).  It fit everywhere---I could imagine Mayas of many ethnicities, and it had many diverse and lovely meanings, with different cultures all laying claim to it.

I mentioned it to Dave, he liked it too, and it quickly became our top girl name, back when I was only a few months along.  Her middle name, Grace, was just something that I liked . . . plus it made her first 2 initials "MG" which happen to be my mom & dad's initials, and I like that too.

As a funny side note, our second place girl's name was Harper.  We went into the hospital thinking that if she was a girl she would probably be Maya, unless she seemed more like a Harper (I don't really know what that means, but I felt it was important to have a choice).  After the birth, Maya was taken into another room in the hospital to be suctioned and Dave followed her.  As my midwife was fixing me up she said to me "Does she have a name?", to which I replied "I think so, but I need to double check with Dave."  About a second later a nurse came in and said "Maya looks great!" and I laughed and said "Yeah, I guess she's got a name" :)

2. Do you miss teaching?

I do.  I miss sharing my science nerdy enthusiam, and my general love of learning.  I miss getting to interact with so many kids, and hopefully encouraging them to enjoy learning academic stuff and character stuff, too.  I also selfishly miss it because I thought I was pretty good at it, and there's that level of satisfaction that comes with a job well done . . . but I just don't have the time to do it well, not any time soon.  At least Dave sometimes lets me help him brainstorm lesson stuff.

3. What do you do for YOU time?

You time?  What's that? :)

I have a support group that I go to (once or twice a month).  I belong to a fun book club :)  Dave is an amazing husband and dad and loves spending time with Maya, so sometimes he'll just take her to the playground while I do come cleaning (really, I love getting things organized and away) or read a book.  I play Scrabble on Facebook.  This blog actually takes a fair amount of time, so I think it counts as my #1 "hobby" . . . although I still can't bring myself to say "I'm a blogger".  That sounds so official!  I sometimes say "I have a blog", which sounds more casual, I think.  Like the difference between "I am a seamstress" and "I sew some stuff".

4.  I follow you on Facebook as well.  Are you able to see the profiles of people who follow you on Facebook?  And, if so, do you ever check out our profiles?

This question literally made me laugh out loud, so thanks for that!  I just envisioned myself in a dark room, late at night, lit up only by the glow of the laptop as I cyberstalked my Facebook followers :)

Ok, seriously now, first of all---thanks for following on Facebook!  It gives me an idea of how many people are out there reading, and that's really nice to see.  Second, no, I can't see anything about your profile.  Following my blog on FB is just "liking" the blog page----since you're not actually befriending me, I only have the same access to your page as any other stranger (so if your page was public, I would theoretically be able to see it, but if you have any privacy settings on, I wouldn't).     Sometimes if people comment on my blog and their comment links to their own (public) blog I'll go and check it out, but that's as far as I go in terms of hunting down readers :)

5. What about a diagnosis?

I received several questions about the whole lack-of-diagnosis issue.  "How do you handle not having a clear diagnosis?"  "Are you making any progress towards getting a diagnosis?"  "Do you have any additional thoughts on not having a diagnosis, and therefore a clearer prognosis?" etc.

Really, I haven't been thinking about it much at all lately.  There's only so much space in my mind, and since this issue will likely be around for a while I've just kind of stuck it on a back shelf, to be pulled out later.  I'm sure that it will be pulled out later.  But not now . . . now, with steps being taken and sounds being made, a birthday on the horizon and a summer of running (speed walking?  speed hobbling?) in the grass and sprinklers . . .well, it just seems like, who cares?  You know?


Thanks for the questions :)

Only 3 days until the big birthday bash!  (Or small birthday open house.  Potato po-tah-to.)