Kylie Stoneburner > Recent Status Updates

“We have so much fucking stuff and so many opportunities that we don’t even know what to give a fuck about anymore.”

Amen!

“It shouldn’t be seen as selfish to know what you deserve and to take it for yourself.”

“A bookshelf is basically a person’s heart on display; the words that made them who they are, that brought them comfort during dark times, that inspired them or bewitched them.”

“Emotions we don’t work through, work through us.”

“Most of all, I planted milkweed…. Because milkweed is the host plant of the monarch butterfly, and the monarch is in danger of extinction. In a contest for garden space, the broccoli I can buy at the grocery store for $1.99 a pound carries no weight against the mass extinction of a butterfly once so numerous it filled the skies with gold.”

“We can see some of the creatures we share our world with, or at least some evidence of their nearness, but we cannot know the full arc of their story. Every encounter in the outdoors is an episode with a cliffhanger ending.”

This is perfectly described!
What happened to the little fuzzy bunny on the nature trail, after it hopped into the undergrowth? I’ll never know.

“They say I don’t need to whistle when I shake pellets into his shallow bowl, or even when I set out a leaf of spinach - the guinea pig knows the rattle of his own food container and also the sound of the human refrigerator door being opened.”

My childhood guinea pig also knew the sound of the refrigerator and would wee-wee-wee for a carrot.

“I am learning that it is possible to want two contrary things at once. I want nothing to change. I want everything to change.”

Son of a…..

“Are you menstruating now?”
Frankie took a moment to process that. “I tell you that I’m having trouble after being in Vietnam, and that’s your question?”
“You were in Vietnam? There were no women in Vietnam, dear.”


Ugh, I want to punch people for her!

“It felt vaguely dangerous, this enforced calm. As if each word she swallowed contained a venom that might someday kill her.”

If I wasn’t at work I’d be ugly-crying right now!

“Ethel yanked the covers back, revealing Frankie in her T-shirt and panties. She wore socks to bed, even in this heat, to save her toes from bugs and other creepy crawlers. Truth be told, it was why she wore panties, too.”

Damn… The scene setting is intense.
I’m getting definite M*A*S*H vibes.

Second-time mothers:
“The 1st time you blow up a balloon, it takes more work. You let the air out and the balloon returns pretty much to its former shape. The 2nd time you blow up the balloon, it’s easier, it expands faster.”

“Like a runner in a race who saves a burst of effort for the last part when the goal is in sight, the uterus will make a final surge to full dilation of the cervix, from 6 or 7 cm to a completely open door.”

“Your emotional response is self-doubt. You are not sure you can do this…but it really means you are almost done”.

The bag of muscles mental imagery technique. Visualizing the uterine muscles flexing and contracting to pull open the door - the cervix. This can help change the way you perceive the powerful flex of a contraction, as productive work instead of pain.

This is the 2nd time I’ve read this book (2nd pregnancy), and this technique was probably the single most helpful practice through my first labor.

I’m determined to finish this by the end of the year!

My daughter reaches for this every night, saying “Pooh”, waiting for more bedtime story.

I’m utterly shocked by nearly everything I’ve read so far! I had no idea Matthew Perry struggles with addiction.

Re-reading this as a refresher before moving on to book 2.