Sea Change

I'm in the TWW but I already know I'm out for this month.

Last week we BD'd just for fun (my idea) even though we were both tired. I almost immediately fell asleep afterwards and didn't get up to pee until the alarm clock went off the next morning...how could I be so stupid?! I woke up at about 3:45 on Saturday morning with a UTI--Happy Valentine's Day!!! It was bad enough that I considered pulling over during the drive to work and calling in sick because I felt like I couldn't leave the bathroom for more than 15 minutes. I even told our really socially-fumbling male Store Manager that I had a UTI and was intending to drink as much water as possible and get through my first appointment, but that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it through the day. Awkward.

So by about 2pm that afternoon, after about 3 water bottles and countless trips to the bathroom, I started feel like everything was settling down. I finished up work, went home, and was met with a yummy dinner, roses and a very good bottle of wine from G. I knew it was a bad idea, it's just that I hadn't had a glass of wine in so long and it was Valentine's Day, so I poured myself a small glass to have with dinner. Yeah, it wasn't too bad until half way through watching Anna Karenina on Netflix, at which point it spiralled into yet another whirlwind of agony. I was up until almost 3AM (yay 24 hour day!) before managing to fall asleep, then back up again at 7AM so that we could get ready to go to G's niece's birthday party down island. Not a good Valentine's Day, and certainly not romantic.

Yesterday and today have been better, finally, but I've completely cut coffee, even decaf, for the the last five days. I had the tiniest little bit of chai yesterday and that was okay, but it's better to limit sugar and stick with water, cranberry juice and herbal tea.

So we literally missed my entire fertile window this cycle. I O'd night-before-last/yesterday morning and we couldn't do anything about it. It's not recommended to BD with a UTI until at least two weeks of being symptom-free, and G didn't want me to continue to be so uncomfortable so we didn't risk it. We even discussed trying at-home AI with a needle-less syringe as a possibility, so that we'd maybe still have a chance this month, but Monday night I was still feeling so bothersome that I didn't stop to pick one up on the way home from work because I couldn't stand the thought of anything foreign being in me, even if it was for a really good cause.

G was actually really willing to give it a try. He turned down BDing the usual way last night once he found out that I still hadn't picked up a needle-less syringe. I know he was really disappointed but he still put my well-being first. I suppose in the future, if a similar situation occurs, we can default back to this at-home plan B.

The one good thing about this UTI: I have raced through Ali Smith's most recent novel How to be Both while passing all that time in the bathroom. I think I read about 80 pages Valentine's Day night, which I haven't done since the days of post-secondary reading-lists. It's written in a way that makes for really good straight-through reading though since this novel is written in two inter-changeable sections with almost no chapter breaks in either section. Her intention was to attempt to have narratives on different time lines running simultaneously, not so much interwoven, as though it were a symphony. She was especially influenced by fresco/secco and she has tried to create these layers in the novel, and I'd say she has it pushed to the limits, to a point where it works without sacrificing the quality of her storytelling. It's pretty amazing--I have been contemplating how she's done it so successfully and essentially nerding-out all morning.

Ali Smith is one of my top 5 favourite authors, and How to be Both is maybe the 5th book of hers I've added to my own personal collections. I used to say Jeanette Winterson was better, and she's up there on my list/collection too, but I think I've come to the conclusion that Ali Smith is much more versitile, perhaps more technical. Both have published work in the realm of literary criticism, but Ali Smith manage to turn it into a novel (another amazing book of hers: Artful) and that was mind-blowing for me. If I ever manage to write with as much skill and intellectual prowess as Ali Smith I was die an extremely self-satisfied woman.

I'm going to be gracious and give you all the link for the CBC Radio podcast of the interview Ali Smith did for Writers and Company. Rather than explain her work and these two novels, I'll let the author tell you about it herself:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Writers+and+Company/ID/2540945305/

On that note, I will take my leave of you all. I've got to take Zoe-dog for a walk and hopefully leap back into doing either some fiction or non-fiction writing while I'm still feeling all bubbly with inspiration.