Pressure

I have been told to stay home now- my blood pressure hasn't been crazy high, but high for me. So I am scrambling to get things together to be done with school a week earlier than I thought.

I will have to finish some grading, but it will be good for me to be home and relax. As long as I don't go a week overdue.

The End of April!

Oops- as far as blogging goes, I just noticed that I almost neglected April...

New since the last post:

• Three very nice baby showers. We have everything I think we need at this point- though I'm sure I have a lot to learn.
• I was laid off on Monday night, so I don't have a job for next school year. At this point. I should be called back before the school year actually ends.

I have eleven days to work until due date. Everything is still looking good at this point, despite the panic I work myself into between doctor's appointments.

I may add more later... but at least I got a post in for April.

Slowing Down

My life has slowed down considerably... looking at my calendar from October/November vs. December/January it's very obvious. Then I look back at October/November of '07 vs. '08! For one who does like to make progress, it's been a transition.

I'm also trying to slow down a pregnancy. I keep wondering when I'll look pregnant, looking forward to all of the new outfits I got (cheaply!) and when I'll get to wear them... but trying to temper that with the fact that I'll be uncomfortable when I'm big and soon it will feel like I can't wait to get out of those clothes. A balancing act.

Making Progress

I get a huge sense of satisfaction, and self-worth, I think, from making progress. Whether it be seeing kids learn, crunching budget numbers, redoing a basement, or organizing, it makes me happy. That's why I like data and statistics so much.

That's what I realized today.

Most progress isn't visible right away, which is why I build things up to be bigger obstacles than needed (like cleaning). So I trick myself into getting started (my cleaning trick is setting the oven timer), until I'm hooked and just have to finish "that last little thing".

I just had a great time organizing the files on the computer for 5 minutes, deleting 12 e-mails, and working on cleaning up the soon-to-be baby's room and guest room for 20 minutes tonight. I got to see progress in three areas, knowing that I couldn't totally finish any one of them tonight.

**I've blogged for 12 months straight now! Watching the archives grow... just one example of my obsession with progress.

I missed a day...

Oh well.

Thank goodness football season is over.

I went to Chicago this weekend and came back with a cold. Blech.

First Big Purchase

I got hooked on credit cards pretty early. (Stupid, I know.) It's hard to remember feeling like I ever paid a lot of money for anything, because I pretty much bought what I wanted on credit and paid it off over time. I've always had the feeling that things cost money, and if I don't have enough money now I will later. (Stupid, I know.)

My most vivid memory of a big purchase was my first car. Since I was a baby, I put half of my birthday and other gift money into the bank for the future car. It seemed like a very long time until I turned 16 and we used that money towards a down payment. We found a black 1990 Ford Escort. I loved the car. It had a stick shift, hatchback and tape player, and I stuck a diving sticker on it right away. The hatchback came in handy moving back and forth to college in Illinois, and the car never broke down on me.

Mom made me fill out a contract when we purchased the car. I constantly remember it as good parenting, mostly because I know that Mom would have held me to it if she needed to. I was responsible for making $50 a month payments on the car, had to keep up my grades, couldn't drink and drive, had to drive responsibly (I think there was something in there about tickets), and couldn't let friends drive it.

I am grateful that I had to put my own money into the purchase, and that so much responsibility accompanied the car. It was a big deal.

The Difference a Year Makes

I briefly took a look at the posts I wrote at this time last year tonight. I saw this list of things I was doing this time last year. Yikes!

2007:

-Write a response paper for class Tuesday night
-Celebrate Dave's birthday (Tuesday) somehow (I did get him presents)
-Write lesson plans for Tuesday afternoon
-Write lesson plans for Friday all day
-Coach at the regional and state meets
-Write out updates to my students' parents regarding their May Mackinac trip
-Hang out with my father who will be here from Las Vegas
-Write up a mid-point review of my work in my master's field
-Compile work from the past two years of my master's
-Copy said work and paper and deliver it to EMU
-Give mid-point review presentation
-Go to dinner with the state swim team Wednesday night
-Send the overdue book order payment for my class
-Submit the new book order


Things to do this week (2008):

-Clean off my desk at school
-Do progress reports for my students
-See my dad who is in from Vegas
-Coach two nights
-Announce for the regional diving meet
-Go to a doctor's appointment
-Get a haircut
-Send payment for a book order
-Play volleyball
-Make a flier and evaluation form for the diving program

I thought I had a busy week coming up. Perspective.

DVR

I have nothing interesting to say today... When is December? You'll be spared the days I have nothing exciting going on.

I was lazy today. Dave got a new TV from his parents for his birthday. I sat in front of it. I watched football, watched the end of Underworld (I slept through it on Friday night), watched the Obama interview from 60 minutes. I watched some recorded episodes of Ninja Warrior (another show I'm inexplicably hooked on).

'Fessing Up

Now that I've personally told most people close to me, I feel like it's OK to say that yes, I'm pregnant, due May 16th, in the wide world of the Internet.

I've been on Facebook for about a year now. I've found it truly useful to reconnect with people I've wanted to have contact with in about six genuine cases. I got to see a friend I hadn't seen in seven years because I saw that he was coming to Ann Arbor. I found several college friends I had lost touch with. That has made it worth it to me.

On the other hand, there are a bunch of acquaintances that I don't really care about having contact with. Some people I'm not sure I want knowing a bunch of information about me. And then there's that guy who is friends with everyone in my high school graduating class... and since I have no clue who he is and he isn't in any of our yearbooks, I refuse to be friends with him.

I joke with my friends about Facebook "stalking" and the people who use it to get information about others. I haven't experienced it until now- there have been small comments made on my profile, including one that was up for about an hour before a friend realized it wasn't Internet knowledge... but no announcements about a baby... and I'm getting all sorts of congratulatory messages about it! Of course, they're positive, but still... how did everyone figure it out? How much time do they spend on Facebook? Creepy.

First Time You Felt Grown Up

I started teaching in 2002. My first job was teaching a 5th/6th grade split in Orem, Utah. I was excited. And scared. And lucky.

The staff I began teaching with was completely supportive and wonderful. My first classroom had no supplies in it, and every time I entered the building there were supplies at the door for me. People at the school smiled, loved kids, put in extra hours, and did extra reading to improve their teaching.

I was 22, but to many of the veteran teachers, I still looked 16 (sometimes still do). Nonetheless, they gave me a great deal of respect. I realized that I had "made it" as a grown-up when one of the veteran teachers said to call him Doug.

Doug? I'd was a lot more comfortable with "Mr. Turner", and continued to call him that until I couldn't use the excuse of not remembering his first name anymore. At that point I admitted to myself that I had officially joined the ranks of the teachers.

Happy Birthday Dave!

He's 28 now, too. We've known each other 10 years! As I told him tonight, it'll be neat to see what we're doing and where we are in another 10, and 10 after that...

We had classes tonight (separately), so we'll have dinner with friends tomorrow.

Normal Life

(Written Tuesday night... and posted today so I get a post in today.)

It's 7:30.

I've gone to the grocery store, eaten, bought Dave's birthday present, done a load of laundry, read two newspapers and a TIME magazine. I've checked the daily blogs, answered a few e-mails.... done everything I normally do in a day.

Is this what it's like to work a normal schedule?


It's 7:30. What do I do now?

Accomplishments

What I Did Over Mid-Winter Break:

• Read two books that I did not have time to read.
  
• Visited my parents in Las Vegas.
  
• Ran in 60 degree weather three days.
• Ran in 35 degree weather another day.
  
• Made pasties. The crust just doesn't turn out right without mom, though.
• Played "Diego Blocks" with Lucas.
• Enjoyed my first round of golf in quite some time with Mom in Vegas. I could actually hit the ball!
  
• Lost. The casinos didn't like me this trip. Don't worry, it was a reasonable amount of money.
• Washed the smoke smell out of all my clothes from the trip. While the casinos and Mom and Dad were equally at fault, I still can't believe I smelled that way for 18 years. (Sorry, it had to be said.)
• Observed people waiting at the airport. I don't think my observations will work for the paper I have to write.
  
• Stayed current with my weekly cleaning.
  
• Saw 'Definitely, Maybe' with my mom. Good movie.
  
• Hung out with Robin. That included picking paint colors for the basement and meeting her niece!
  
• Admired my dad's new motorcycle. And his new truck.
  
• Ate at Applebee's three times.
• Stayed at the Mirage for a night.
  

What I Did Not Do Over Mid-Winter Break:

• Shovel snow. :)
• Clean the office.
• Grade papers... yet.
  
• Paint the basement.
• Go in to my classroom to clean up.
  

(I am happy with my use of time. It's bugging me that I put periods at the end of so many sentence fragments, though.)

Three down, three to go...

Days, that is.

I've done pretty well on the list of things to do. Dave's birthday went well, as did the regional meet. I postponed my midpoint review for another few weeks, saw my father, and slept 8 hours in the past two nights.

Tuesday night, Dave did come to the regional meet. I didn't expect him to... which was reflected in the fact that I never saw him there or said hello to him. He sat with parents on my team who told him they were glad to be there to keep him entertained since I was ignoring him. Luckily they didnt know it was his birthday at the time, because they would have really given me a hard time!

In unrelated news, Lucas is using the potty. Not just the little one, but the big one. His mom is thrilled because that means less to clean up, while Lucas is walking around giving high fives and saying, "Poop potty! Poop Potty!"

I don't know where to start...

This is my final week of having two exhausting jobs.

This is my to-do list for this week (and I am here posting):

-Write a response paper for class Tuesday night
-Celebrate Dave's birthday (Tuesday) somehow (I did get him presents)
-Write lesson plans for Tuesday afternoon
-Write lesson plans for Friday all day
-Coach at the regional and state meets
-Write out updates to my students' parents regarding their May Mackinac trip
-Hang out with my father who will be here from Las Vegas
-Write up a mid-point review of my work in my master's field
-Compile work from the past two years of my master's
-Copy said work and paper and deliver it to EMU
-Give mid-point review presentation
-Go to dinner with the state swim team Wednesday night
-Send the overdue book order payment for my class
-Submit the new book order

I guess that doesn't seem like it is as bad as I thought.

You'll see more of me on here soon. If I make it through the week.