Thankful Tuesdays: Crabby & tired

Ahh... I admit that I've been pretty crabby the past week.  My crab behaviour experiments have not been working out, no matter what modifications I try to make to my set-up.  Each time I go to the field, I have to lug a huge experimental arena made of wood (its the length of Junior J, and so large it can't fit into any bag I own, even the large Ikea shopping bag!) along with other equipment and the video camera, and walk about 15 minutes to reach the mangroves.  Then I spend about 3 hours squatting in the hot sun, with a large amount of that time trying to catch those crafty little buggers.  And at the end of all my failed experiments (if I manage to catch the crabs that is) I have to drag my dehydrated, dusty and hungry self along with all the equipment for another 15 minutes to walk out of the park.  I'm so discouraged, I've entertained thoughts of quitting the Masters program even though I'm down to my last coursework module, since I can't imagine how I can finish my dissertation :(.  And to top it off, those hours in the field means I usually end up missing a feed or feeding the boy late, so I wasn't surprised when I ended up with blocked ducts again.

But hey, wallowing in self-pity's not going to help me, so its time to count my blessings again:

1. I mailed my supervisor after all those failed attempts and she was pretty understanding, and gave me various other options to look at.  Hopefully one of those options will  work and give me data that I can work with!

2. My mum really has been fantastic these few days, taking care of Junior J and helping out with some chores when I'm trying to study for the particularly tough module I'm taking this semester.  Taking care of the boy is not easy, since he's rather difficult at mealtimes and quite a bundle of energy, and I really admire her willingness to help out.

3. The hubby has been really encouraging the past week even when I'm extra snappy and grumpy...

4. Yoghurt: I know its weird to consider this a blessing, but when you've been on a dairy, soy and coconut elimination diet, being able to eat yoghurt without having to worry about your kid refluxing is really a big plus point.  Especially since I'm hungry all the time, and it gives me the protein and calcium I so desperately need!

5. The camera is fixed: I dropped the lens after the image stabilizer conked out (it gave out on us during the Taiwan trip, and ruined quite a few photos thanks to it vibrating like crazy every time we tried to focus), and the entire glass lens dropped out.  We stuffed it back in after that and sent it for servicing, and ended up only paying for the replacement of the IS, since servicing the rest of the lens was covered under the replacement cost.  Phew!  It felt pretty odd not having the SLR at hand for those few days, so I'm glad we have our camera back...

6. And of course, our little monkey of a boy, who although can be a real big handful, never fails to make us laugh.  For example, the other day he decided to learn how to pretend to sleep and "snore" as well (he still can't imitate snoring well, so he ends up sounding like he's gargling!).