Theories and cultures and midwifery, oh my!

It's my homework!  I have assignments due in my Theories class and my Health Promotion class this weekend, plus work on a Power Point and a lot of reading for my Role of Midwifery class.  The assignment for Health Promotion was to read a book from the list they provided about a culture different than my own and then write a "cultural desire" essay about it (this is basically a reflection on their culture and mine and an examination of my feelings toward other cultures, etc.).  I went back and forth between a few books, to be honest.  "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" was really appealing because I deal with that type of situation often...I live miles away from the town where the book was based out of, I know the Hmong people because we have a large population of them here, and I'm a neuro nurse so seizures are right up my alley.  But then I realized that kind of defeats the purpose of this assignment...I needed to pick something TOTALLY different.  So I read this book, "A Midwife's Story", about midwifery and the Amish.

Can I just say right now that I would be totally happy to be a midwife in an Amish community?  They're a fascinating group, really!  My husband and I drove through Intercourse, PA on our way to our honeymoon spot years ago.  I bought some beautiful little things from the shops, ate some great homecooked food, and passed on through.  I was surprised at how withdrawn the Amish seemed.  The girl behind the register at one of the shops had downcast eyes and did not speak to even to me, a girl close to her age (I was 20 at the time).  I brushed it off but it always stayed with me, that although I know that their behavior is linked to their beliefs, the women seemed on the oppressed side.

This book was not only very enjoyable, but a real eye-opener.  The midwife in the story (a true story, by the way) was not Amish, wore pants, and wasn't religious...and yet she was accepted into their fold with open arms because of the work she did and the respect she had for their ways.  It's a very good, light read (I read it in less than a day) if you have the time or the want-to.  It'll bring tears, so keep your handkerchief close.

For Theories my group is exploring the middle-range theory of Comfort as it relates to a broad scope of health situations.  I'm stoked about the journal articles we chose, and my work on that is almost done for this module.

Speaking of my Health Promotion class, I have to journal this week on my self-management plan, which was starting jogging three days per week.  Like my Whole30, I'm really proud that I've stuck with this.  I find that C25K has been very helpful in keeping me on track with my goals.  I bump up the intensity today, going from running in 60 second increments to 90 second increments.  My knees are still a little sore, nothing bad, but from the people I've talked to and the stuff I've found on the web, it sounds like I need to be fitted for some new shoes.  I hear it can make all the difference in knee pain.  The pair of shoes I have now are nearly new, but I can save those for walking to the park with the kids or whatever.  Seems like I need some real running shoes to haul my big self around with less pain.

The weather is lovely this morning...partly cloudy, somewhere in the high 60's to low 70's...I'm going to get a bite of breakfast and run while it's cool.

P.S.  I'm going through a certain blog/site called The Clothes Make the Girl...she has a ton of clean recipes and I'm feeling the need for something out of my ordinary.  I found this recipe for her Paleo Pad Thai, and I'm nearly giddy with the excitement of trying it!!  Hello, comfort food!!