GTK app misbehaving. (main thread blocking)

[Alexander Markley <alex cyberMalex com>]

Hey guys. I'm really new to GTK+-2.0 application development, so please 
bear with me. ;)

I've got a button and a status-bar. I connect a callback to the button's 
'clicked' event. The callback does A) a lot of work unrelated to GTK, 
and B) updates the status-bar with the current progress.

In my mind, this should work. Except, while the callback is doing its 
work, the main GTK window is completely frozen. The status bar doesn't 
get updated, and the application window doesn't redraw. (If I cover the 
window then reveal it, it stays blank.)

So my question is this: What is the correct way of doing bunches of work 
when a signal is emitted without locking up the main thread?

Thanks a bunch.
--Alex