Project Number 2!

The second project was strangely enough not as bad. Again however, I spent my entire weekend devoted to this stupid project but this time, I was done with one hour to spare and I didn't stay up all night. The project was for my Qualitative Research Methods class and I had to create a proposal for a research project. I again could choose any topic of my choice within the confines of the sociology of health. I decided to look at how single mothers perceive the effects of an intentional community on their health; basically came up with a sweet project looking at how awesome Women4Women is. Anyways, the paper was quite straight forward, but a lot of writing. I finished the paper today and the total amount of page s was...drum roll please, 40 pages!!! I have never written so much in my life. Mind you that does include a 9 page ethics proposal as well as a two page bibliography. But whatever the case, it was freaking huge! I am happy to say, that it is done and I only have one more paper to write this term! Praise the Lord!! (and to think that I'm taking spring courses! I'm not going to think about that yet)

Project Number 1

So, my adventures for the past few weeks have consisted of me sitting at my desk for hours apon hours, researching, writing, organizing and trying to compose a masterpiece! The first project was for my Popular Music in Society class with the fabulous Professor Nick Baxtor-Moore! The project consisted of choosing a topic (or your choice) about pretty much anything you want, but it had to do with popular music. It could be a genre of music, a time period, a social movement or a certain lyrical theme. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I chose the most bizarre topic in all the world and by the time I realized how crazy a topic it was, it was too late. I decided that I would look at a movement within South Africa called the Voelvry Movement. Basically a group of white Afrikaans speaking youth revolted against the apartheid government and created a whole wack of music. Sounds cool. Well, it is so obscure that it was next to impossible to fulfill the tasks of my assignment: a five page research paper outlining the subject, a 60 minute compilation CD illustrating the topic and full liner/listen notes to accompany the CD. The research was fine and I was able to come up with a five page essay (the yellow stack of paper), but the rest was hell. I first of all had the most horrible time trying to find the titles of songs that I should include on the CD; I then for the first time in my life illegally had to download the music; then I realized (duh!) that all the music was in Afrikaans! and then I had to find all the lyrics AND translations, never mind analytical material!!! It was insane and after staying up all night and finishing at 6:30 am, the day that it was due, I finished the project and handed it in! What an adventure!

I was there!

Wednesday February 13th: This was the day that I had been looking forward to for nine months; I was going to Winnipeg in hopes of witnessing my sister giving birth to her first child! I don't remember ever anticipating something with such urgency. The excitement was almost suffocating. There had been so much rigamaroll surrounding this flight, and now that it was actually here, I was beside myself!.....well actually, I was beside my sister, who some would argue is quite similar to me. Whatever the case, both Rose and I were beside each other in excitement!

Saturday February 16th: A gorgeous sunny Winnipeg day and we were bound and determined that little Maple needed to become more active! So we went for an all day walk down to the Forks. It was so great to be out in the fresh air, have Nathan fill the air with laughter, and have a new puppet to play in the breeze! Chatter, laughter, silence and anticipation continued to fill our day.


Wednesday February 20th: The due date had passed and still no baby!!!! Nath (ie. Sherwood) predicted that this would be the day of the great arrival and we were more than willing to jump on that bandwagon. Everyone was getting anxious and wondering if Rose and I were actually going to be here for the birth. Will our hopes and dreams come true? We were bound and determined to have it happen! So as they say, if you want a women to go into labour, make her wash the floors and that is exactly what we did. We cleaned all day and got the house all spic-and span for the baby to arrive! The contractions were going nice and strong and Rose and I left and let the two of the lovers have a nice and "relaxing" night ;)

Thursday February 21st: 9:00- Rose and I are woken by a shrilling phone ring! "Come on over. It's starting!" AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is it! This is it!!!!! Soo incredibly excited! Our legs couldn't move fast enough and the grocer couldn't have taken longer! We finally arrived to the birth home and before we opened the door, we both stopped. "Just breathe." We calmed our selves down and lowered our voices to enter the sacred house. However, I think it was our "peaceful" spirit that calmed the baby right down too. We spent the day relaxing, as did the contractions.

Friday February 22nd: 8:30- "This is truly it! Come over. Deanna has been here since 12 last night. This is it!" ECSTATIC doesn't even come close to what I was feeling. Pour adrenaline pumped through my veins and we zipped over to Elice and Maryland and arrived once again at the anticipated location. We entered in, again trying to compose ourselves and the contractions just kept on coming! Deanna (the dula) was there and she was working; Maria was there and working; Nathan was there and working, at getting this baby out! Rose and I felt helpless. We tried to occupy ourselves for most of the day trying to find things to do while we waited on baited breathe. We ended up cooking and baking, "doing homework" and waiting patiently. It was during these long hours that it hit me: my sister is having a baby! My sister is in labour! My sister, is a SUPER HERO!!!

As the hours were gaining, my admiration for Maria and her Creator grew exponentially. For Rose and I, we didn't really have much that we could do for Maria directly and so I just prayed and watched through the crack in the door. We listened to the sounds, listened to the voices and listened to the most painful moments of Maria's life. It was incredibly hard to just listen and not be able to do anything to ease the pain. I found comforted in the fact that Maria's body was created for this moment, and I had to trust that her Creator knew what He was doing. As Becky, (the midwife) said in response to Maria's exclamations of exhaustion, "You're not dead. You're having a baby. You're fully alive. This is the most alive thing you're ever gonna do."

6 o'clock and the hard pushing began. Maria again was incredibly strong in body, mind and spirit. Amongst the pain and agony, she would sneak in some jokes and makes some corkey remarks, subconsciously comforting us all and releasing some of the tension in the air. I have never felt so much intensity in my entire life. The anticipation, the agony, the excitement, the praying, the sounds, the silence, the movements, the pacing; pure intensity. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting.


7:42- "Come over here girls! Here it is!" Rose and I leapt to our feet and ran to the door, just in time to see one of the most memorable, and incredible moments of my life. The baby shot out of the water, into Nathan's arm and onto Maria's chest! Tears steamed down my face and the greatest sense of relief filled the room. It was the most incredible moment. In one instant there was seven of us in the room and a second later, there was eight breathing beings in the room! Unbelievable miracle! A little girl entered in! As Maria so accurately put it, "you're in the world!"

I was there for that incredible moment. I was there for her first breath. I was there for her first cry. I was there to hold her new hands. I was there to see the miracle of life and was overwhelmed with love. My heart was bursting at the seams as I held her for the first time. It struck me how incredibly precious and fragile that moment was. This little face had never been seen before. This little creation, had never been held before. This little human was part of my family. No words can even begin to express the emotions that coerced through my veins at that moment. I was there, and this is my darling niece Mikayla River!