It's Official...4 Weeks

I know, I still can't believe it myself, but I think we are officially 5 weeks into this deal.

I know, I am the only person in the world who would even give anybody a hint that they were pregnant until after the first trimester.  But let's be real, y'all, I am not a secrets person. I keep a secret about as well as a four year old.  Or maybe worse.

My thinking is that I don't have any reason to be worried, I only have reason to be excited and enjoy it. And if God has other plans, then y'all will hear about that too, but for today?  Every time I worry, I just think about one of my favorite old verses - "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

But I thought I would start doing little weekly updates, more for my own purposes than anything, and I think it'll be fun to watch the progression from where we are now (which doesn't really feel any different) to where I'm sure we will be in another 36-ish weeks (walrus).

These surveys are a la Elefantitas Alegres, because I so loved hers when she was doing them!

Thoughts on the Weekly Photo: You might think I already look pregnant.  That's because I pretty much ate a whole watermelon in less than 24 hours.  Oops.  Also, wow, definitely remembered to take these at 10:30 when mama was ready to go to bed!

Marination time: 4 weeks

Weight Gain: Probably the last time I get to say this - I think I've actually lost a pound! Don't know how in the world that happened, but it did somehow.

Clothes: Nothing fits differently except my bras.  And I am definitely going to need some new ones of those.  Whoowee.

Fruit of the Week: thebump.com has this fruit chart that lets you know what sort of fruit or vegetable your baby compares to on a particular week.  Yeah, it's strange.  But kind of interesting.  This week, it's an appleseed.  TEENY! See, I told you that's a watermelon gut and not a baby.

Name: We're still working that out, at least on the middle name front.  I'm sure that'll deserve its own whole post!

Moving: Um, it's the size of an appleseed, so no.

Sleep: I had a little trouble sleeping the first two nights we found out because my mind was just racing. But otherwise, I'm sleeping great!

Cravings: Fruit! Watermelon!  But let's be honest, when do I not crave watermelon?  PB just feels like he is obligated to cut it up for me now since I am his baby mama, so I actually buy them from the store!

Annoyances: Hopefully I'll never have to fill in this section with "I throw up all the time," or "I have big purple spots all over me," or anything like that.  I don't really have any annoyances this week.  I'm thirsty all the time, which is weird for me - but I guess that's not too much of an annoyance?

Highlights of the week: Getting to tell everybody!

some news...

Yep, we're...

We're having a baby!

We just found out...my best estimates say the baby will be here March 3. 

I still don't think it's sunk in for me.  But now you get to look forward to all sorts of pregnancy rambling from me!  

Quite an adventure, and we're so excited and blessed!

Ahh, summertime!

Well, that much-anticipated time of year has arrived.  Finally at last - summer break!  I was really sad to see the kiddos go, but wow it was amazing to sleep in on a Thursday morning.

Yesterday was a teacher workday, which I almost used flex time for, and should have.  But then I thought, No, it will be a really easy, short day...let me just go sign in and hang out for a little bit.  So I parked around back near my classroom so I could put one last box in the car and be ready for a quick escape to start summer break.  

Well, I had been there for less than an hour when this happened:

Yep, the trash truck hit my car.  And then didn't have the common human decency to say, "Hey, I hit your car," or "Here's our insurance information," or "Whoops, I screwed up," or even "Kiss my butt." It's a good thing the children weren't there, because they didn't need to see Mrs. B waving her arms and yelling non-6th-grade-approved words when I saw what had happened.  Yeah, $900 in damage to your brand new car...happy summer!  It'd make you cuss too.  

I called our sweet resource office who truly is great and he called the trash company for me.  I told him I knew there was no way in the world we could prove a hit and run, because no one actually saw it happen, but that I should probably get a police report so I could give it to my insurance company.  He called for a car to come out and give me a set of report numbers, and he is so sweet and competent that I was starting to feel less like I might assault a schoolbus full of orphans.

Then the other lovely officer comes out and tells me I'm parked in a no parking zone.  Hey buddy, it's public vehicular area.  The SCHOOL put up a no parking sign.  I could put up a no parking sign in the Wal-Mart parking lot and it would have about the same effect.  The trash truck just hit my brand new car that I have had for all of two weeks.  I need you to stop talking about the no parking zone.  In fact at one point while standing in my classroom, I said, "Well really, you're parked right beside me in a no parking zone.  Does this mean I can take this broom handle [grabbing my broom] and bust out your windshield?  And then say 'Oops, you were in a no parking zone!  Hate it for you!'?" 

I felt like Samuel L. Jackson in that scene from Pulp Fiction.  You know, the one where he says:

Except instead of "what," I would've been saying "Say 'No Parking Zone' one more time..."

WHEW!  Well, we finally got it all straightened out, I got the silly little report I wanted, which said what I wanted it to say, which is that we knew the trash man had come to the school that morning, that no one else was back there and that there are tire marks and grease all over my car as would have come from a trash truck.  Also that there was a skid mark where a quite large vehicle actually moved my car when it was hit.  Now say, "No Parking Zone" to me one more time.

Whew, I got all amped up just writing all that out again.  

So let's switch gears to today, the beginning of summer.  Started my day with a little bit of Kindle time and a delicious cup of coffee with Almond Joy creamer on the screened porch.  I started an awesome new book called All I Can Handle about a mom who has three daughters with autism, which is fascinating for this autism nerd.  

And then later, I'm going to the Colbie Callait concert uptown with some teaching friends!  I think it's a pretty darn good way to kick off a month and a half of vaycay time.  Here's hoping all my teaching friends are off to a lovely summer start too!

Spring Break!

I'm telling you - having a job with a spring break is pretty darn awesome indeed.  I have a whole glorious week off, and it feels amazing!

So what have I done during this glorious week off, you ask?  Well, I started it with an amazing lunch with a few coworkers and a fun little shopping trip to Trader Joe's.  Yes, I live out in the sticks and get inappropriately excited when I get to go to Trader Joe's.  Especially when you get a free sample (and then buy a whole jar of) cookie butter.

If you haven't had any, you need to get yourself to TJ's and buy some immediately.

Things took a nosedive when I got home though, and I came down with the most awful stomach virus I think I have ever had.  Judging from coworkers' facebook statuses, it looks like it hit a lot of us at school.  Darn kids and their germs!  It was a terrible, awful weekend. 

I finally improved a little and turned the corner with a trip to the Urgent Care and a Zofran tablet.  This was fortunate, since we were heading to Savannah for a little mini-spring-break trip on Monday.  As some of you may remember, we got engaged there on 8/9/10.  I am just in love with the whole atmosphere of Savannah, it feels like being in a novel to me. Maybe getting engaged there improved my opinion of it, but I just adore it because it feels like the whole place is covered in magic.  It's close enough to drive though, definitely nice and warm for spring break, and has all that fun nostalgia.

We wanted to take the dogs this time, because I hated to ask anyone to keep them, and also because Savannah is a really dog-friendly city and I thought it would be fun.  I found this place that's part of a big, historic house, sort of a little apartment on the back with its own fenced-in, private courtyard.  

It was so gorgeous!  It was sort of neat to be in a neighborhood, in a house too, because I kind of felt like I was living in Savannah.  It made for a really neat experience.

Here's our fireplace in our bedroom.  Look closely and you'll see PB's head!

There's me chilling with Brenda Lee on the big comfy bed.

Y'all, this bathroom was amazing.  It was giant, with the world's most giant clawfoot tub.  Those huge bottles are full of lavender scented shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.  It was so divine, you don't know how tempted I was to steal some when we left.

There's PB on the couch in the living room.

We went out for pizza the first night and sat outside at a little table with the dogs underneath.  How can you beat this view?

 I was still feeling a little out of sorts, but it was nice to be able to eat something besides chicken noodle soup and crackers for once!

We had a nice little courtyard that all of us enjoyed when we were back at the house.  In the mornings, I'd sit out on the porch with a Diet SunDrop and let the dogs play while I read.  Perfection!

We walked around on the second day and did a little exploring.  Here we are back in Lafayette Square where we got engaged almost two years ago!

We also took the dogs to a dog park, which really made me wish that we had one in town.  I do love my little town but there are some things we just don't have, like Trader Joe's and a dog park.  They loved it, but here was the end result:

PB and I went out to Tybee on the last night, to grab some of our favorites - chargrilled oysters.  Grilled oysters on the half shell with butter and parmesan...too delicious.  We ate at Uncle Bubba's on the water, and got to hang out outside for awhile before dinner, enjoying a beer by the water.

All in all, it was a really fun little getaway.  It's nice to be home and back in the routine though.  I can't believe spring break is over halfway finished!  It's flown by!

Well, it's over.

I feel like the bar exam deserves a big giant post akin to the birth stories that so many bloggers post after they go through the harrowing experience of having a child.  We'll get there (it's in the draft stage for now), but right now, let's just make a list of Things You Ought to Know About the Bar.

1. Most folks think being a lawyer is glamorous.  They'd mostly be wrong about that, but that's another post.  I think most folks also think the bar exam is probably a glamorous affair.  They would be absolutely wrong about that.  It's a strange feeling to be sitting in a building from circa 1960 at the NC State Fairgrounds at a rickety, splintered table with the buzz of the electric lights above you.  But that's where it happens, my friends.  Nothing glamorous about it.
2. Despite its humble setting, the law examiners take themselves quite seriously.  So seriously that the exam comes and is picked up daily in an armored truck.  That made me chuckle inside just a little bit.
3. Taking the bar exam while you have a monstrous cold is not something I'd recommend.  I'm sure anyone who sat around me and listened to my perpetual snotting and coughing would wholeheartedly agree with that statement.
4. You can study all you want.  It doesn't really matter.  I think studying is more for your own mental health in the weeks leading up to the bar.  There is gonna be some mess on there that Barbri never told you a thing about.  You cross your fingers and take solace in the fact that everybody else feels that way too.

Above all, this past week was a great reality check.  I was getting a tad disheartened with my job.  But you know, as much as I like a lot of the people I was commiserating with this week, it became clear to me that I fit in much better in the world I'm in now.  Mainly, I was missing being in a 6th grade classroom.  It was tough to sit there with all the people who have no idea what they're doing after this week, who are planning on going on some extended vacation before their results come in, who don't know what will happen after that.  I was almost feeling guilty.  I just kept thinking about how blessed I am to have a job that is paying our bills, that I really do love.  

And now, I'm focusing on doing the laundry that hasn't been done in two months, the novels on my Kindle that have sat neglected, and the weenie dogs that need snuggling!

What I've Been Up To

Well, not so much working on the 101 in 1001 list.  Frankly, I don't even remember what's on that list right this very second because the only goal I have been worried about for the past little bit is this one:

Yes, that's a Barbri outline book and that's the dude who lectures on agency and partnership and corporations.  Otherwise known as the guy who's been making me want to shoot myself for the past 9 hours (literally) that he's been talking through my computer.  

I have a whole list of things I'm planning to do once March 1 (the day after the bar) hits - including a lot of Kindle time, some Netflix time, and some just plain enjoying my life.

To be honest, I haven't put in NEARLY the amount of time in studying that I needed to.  I am a) not that disciplined and b) still have my teaching job as my first priority.  I ain't skipping work or not doing my job to study for the bar.  So, in all likelihood, I'll be down this road yet again in July.  I sure hope not, because the road sucks.  But I'm ready to get this out of the way so I can actually focus on my job and the things I really like to. And that list decidedly does not include listening to bar lectures.  

So, I'll see you on March 1!  Or however long after that it takes me to recover...

2012 - 6 days in

Happy 2012! I rang in 2012 in a pretty darn quiet way.  PB had to work both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, which means getting up at 4:22 (yes, he sets his alarm to precisely that time).  Since I wanted to do at least a little something, I decided to go down to my parents' lake house for a bonfire and dinner.

I brought the weenies to party in 2012.  Here's Brenda Lee and my little buddy Jenna.  Except now Jenna's in 7th grade and taller than me, which I'm finding quite bothersome.

While Brenda Lee was happy to chill by the fire for the most part, Peggy Sue discovered that she could fish in the shallow water with the outside lights shining down on it. There was a lot of fish-watching and growling.

Clearly, the night ended somewhat early.  I think this picture was taken around 11pm?

See the bunny in the picture?  He's this creepy 1980s thing that was in the lake house when we got it, and my mom tried to put it in the Goodwill bin.  My dad got him out and he creepily places the bunny everywhere - in bed under the covers, in the car, on the mantel.  So he got to wake up to the creepy bunny on New Years.

I came home on New Years Day and decided to make a little progress on one of my 101 in 1001 - making a new Pioneer Woman recipe!  I made Hoppin' John, and it was delicious!  I've always had collards and black eyed peas on New Years, because don't we all know that you'll be poor all year if you don't?

Hoppin' John was an amazing way to have black-eyed peas though.  Mmmm! Can't go wrong with bacon, jalapenos, black-eyed peas and rice all cooked in chicken broth.  Delicious.  Of course we had collards and pork chops too.  Overall, it was a big win.  And it was a lot easier to get motivated to make a dish with bacon than it was to cross off another 101 item, like, oh, run a marathon.

Here's hoping your first six days of 2012 have been just amazing!