Bored already?!

Today is the first day I finally have nothing to do (other than my 20-wk appt at 2:20) - and it is an amazing feeling!!

No last-minute essays or book projects heaped in front of me, courtesy of my underclassmen....

No more senior class trip to plan and execute (which, by the way, went shockingly well, considering it consisted of 87 high school seniors, me, my co-adviser, and five rather incompetent chaperones - half of which were "secretly" drunk the whole time, as ridiculous as that sounds - running amok in Cleveland and Sandusky Ohio for two days)...

No more OTHER million of things to prepare for seniors in the last week of school, including Graduation...

And my favorite of all: no more registry to plan, because it's done! (More or less.) Woo hoo! That was probably the most exhausting of everything I've done in the last two weeks. Seriously. Babies need a lot of shizzzzz.

My classroom is clean, my grades are done, the graduation honor cords and robes are stowed away in the corner of my room, and even my house is clean! I have no idea what to do with myself. I always have a terrible time coming down off the end-of-year manic rush to get everything done; in previous years, I'd taught Summer School, which is only until noon every day, and was a nice gradual flow into the lazier days of summer. This year, I've opted not to, so I have been instantly thrust into a wide open span of two or three months of sloth.

What the hell am I going to do with myself??! I am rereading the sixth Harry Potter book, just for the hell of it.... and, of course, in preparation for the upcoming movie! (That's right: I love Harry Potter. I'm an English teacher: isn't it an obvious thing or me to love all kinds of literature?!) Maybe I'll take up yoga again; after all my spotting paranoia in the 1T I've been too afraid to do anything "overly stretchy." Lame, I know - but I am feeling pretty damn good about this kid right now, who is currently finding my bladder her favorite new kick toy (thankfully those Kegels have thus far paid off!). Plus, I've got a pretty sweet prenatal yoga/exercise DVD I've been itching to start using again; I haven't picked it up since last October.

I unrelated news, my new guilty pleasure is I Didn't Know I was Pregnant on Discovery Health. Oh my Lord, I cannot express how much I love it. It is hilarious, fascinating, frustrating, and terrifying to me, all at once - and the reenactments are cheesy at best, which makes it all the more entertaining! I highly recommend it in a "hey I love documentaries about crazy shit" kind of way. I am in no way trying to be bitch about the seemingly endless supply of cluelessly pregnant women out there - it just boggles my mind how there are truly that many cases of women who carry a baby to full term and never have an inkling. It just goes to show how easily you can explain away a lot of pregnancy issues... though I have no idea how I would be explaining away this belly, and I am only halfway there!!!!! Like I said: fascinating.

14 Week Update

I have been wanting to do this for a few weeks now, but have been too chicken to actually do it. Now that I'm into the 14th week, I figured I would take the plunge.

The hilarious and poignant Blair has done this for weeks in her journal, so all credit goes to her! I unceremoniously stole this from her, but I love it!

How far along? 14 weeks and 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: I initially lost 8 pounds... but have regained 4... at least I'm beginning to gain some weight again (Oh Lord; I will NEVER be happy to gain weight in any other time of my life!)
Maternity clothes? Some pants (eBay is a gold mine for cheap, NWT Gap maternity jeans, FYI!) but have been mostly using the Bella bands at work with my regular pants
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Sleeping on my back is becoming uncomfortable and I miss it already! I normally wake up at 1:30 or so then again between 4 and 5 to pee. Bleh!

Best moment this week: Finally "coming clean" to my students/ fellow faculty members about being pregnant - and having a lot of my students (boys almost more than the girls) be adorably excited for me
Movement: Can't feel it yet... and can't wait until I do!
Food cravings: Turkey sandwiches... though the thought of heating it up beforehand makes me want to gag. Sigh.
Gender: I really have no idea... but for some reason am leaning toward a girl
Labor Signs: N/A

Belly Button in or out? In...but it's never been a "super-innie," so I have a feeling it will pop pretty early
What I miss: Not being nauseous 95% of the day; lunch meat; Mt. Dew

What I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby move; my next appt (May 12) because they will schedule the "BIG" u/s!!
Weekly Wisdom: Stop apologizing to your husband for doing things around the house if he is not complaining about it. He really does want to help! [This is obviously advice for myself....]
Also, teenagers really have no clue of the concept of trimesters/reasons for waiting to spread the news; I got so many insulted students when they found out how far along I was [rolling my eyes].

Milestones: Finally feeling comfortable enough to say I'm in the 2T/ share the news; finally starting to show!

I just want to say

I love Lost. Ohsoverymuch.

Many people may disagree. Well, f. y'all. Ha!

...Seriously, though. I had my doubts for awhile, and it does chap my ass a bit that you can't take your eyes off the screen for even a split second or you will miss some things that mightbethelifealteringmisingpiecetotheevergrowingpuzzle.

But oooooh baby I love it!

I love Batmanuel's eyeliner.











I love Locke's tiger stripe scar.












I love Jack's crazy moutnainman beard.











So...uh... I've got to love something other than their insane makeup, right??

Ahh, yes. Two words: Ben Linus.

SNOW DAY!!!

I love - and loathe - mid-week snow days. Ohhhh the sleeping in! Ohhhh... the make-up days and screw-ups to my lesson plans!...

I think we only have two snow days built into the year left - or is it only one? It needs to start getting warmer, y'all. Stat. Winter is overrated.


At least HoboDave loves the snow:






OperationGetKnockedUp:Take2 has commenced, and we are currently in the waiting stage. I have no idea what will happen in a week or so - I won't be surprised by pregnancy or the lack thereof at this point. And, oddly enough, I'm okay with that.

(I say that now, but wait until I am crying in the frigid faculty bathroom in between classes.)

*Sigh.*

All Good Things...

...are surely coming to an end.

My wonderful, long-winded, lazy, nonproductive, hilarious, fulfilling, emotional, devastating, long-anticipated Christmas Break (my tiny school district does not care about such things as being Politically Correct - it's Christmas and Easter breaks all the way, baby!) is over.

Finito.
[Etcetera.]

I did NOT do as much grading as I should have, and I only have myself to blame. Who the crap sets aside piles of grading to complete over a less-than-two-week break?! And the MOTHER of all breaks at that?! (....aside from the TRUE MotherofAllBreaks: Summer vaca. But that does not require grading, nor is it something I will gloat about to the masses of non-teachers.... though I see that 2.5-month hiatus as totally justified.... but that is a rantyrave I will save for another day.)

I did, however, get the following done over the last twelve days:

* Spent some much-needed QT with my family... not as much with Drew's, but as 90% of them live in the same town as us, I am not heartbroken over this fact. In fact.... oh, nevermind. I am sure I will get to that some other day. [Dun dun dunnnnnnn!]

* Bought clothing en masse on an I'mBoredLet'sGetOutofThisTinyTown&SpendSomeMoney binge. The buyer's remorse has not yet set in. I'm hoping that means I am allowing myself to splurge a bit since we didn't spend a lot on each other this Christmas.... More likely, I think I really just don't give a crap. ha!

* Brought home - from TheSistervonYounger's House - an adorable yet feisty homeless-looking terrier mix aptly named Dave by my new brudder-in-law. Any little progress the cats have made in the last week in terms of not doing a throw up jr. as a result of their unmitigated terror has been regularly squelched by his attempts to bum rush them the second he sees them walking across the room. Poor Mr. Pancakes and Lion-O.

* Saved ~$150 in cash toward my beloved Sony Reader... because I'm doing this the pre-job, old-fashioned way reminiscent of one's allowance: not involving my husband in this (other than his eye-rolling at me stuffing bills into my sock drawer and stealing his loose change as savings methods); not using the bank accounts or credit cards. It'll be nice. It's a very "I don't have thousands of dollars I pay out yearly to various utilities and college loan officers [etcetcetc]; I just have pocket change" way of imagining my life. Nice.

* Planned all of my classes for the entire month of January. If you have picked up anything of my sense of procrastination (a-la-blogging instead of finishing that grading I'm whining about not completing), you will understand what an unusual event this is.... I am typically planned a week in advance, max (other than the "Oh yeah, we are reading To Kill a Mockingbird in Occ 9 and starting the research project in Ac 12 next" vague sort of planning). Yes, even I can pleasantly surprise myself from time to time.

* Fooled myself into believing I was pregnant again - though there was little reason to believe it in way of timing... I'd say I didn't really care, but I would be, of course, a lying liar. Devastated is more the word. And for some reason I am translating it into a fear of never being able to get pregnant again. I am sure the irrational terror welling inside me every time I think of getting pregnant, staying pregnant, underlying causes for problems, etc., are with me to stay until I have our child laying in my arms. ( - And then a whole NEW set of irrational fears surface, right?!)
Bleh. I know we were supposed to have waited 2-3 cycles anyway, and it would have been foolish economically, as we just took out a short-term disability plan that won't even COUNT if I get pregnant before January 1st.... but.
....So.... in a couple weeks: let the games begin! Hopefully this will all work out okay (taken in whatever context you want).
[Ew. Sorry for that visual, All of You.]

..... Uh.... I'm sure I've done other things, most notably sleeping a hell of a lot. Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do, so I am in no way complaining!

Hello, 2009 (whom I really do not completely greet until school is back in session)! Let's bring some (in the words of me, about 10 years ago) awesomely bangin' things this way in the next 361 days!

Beautiful Things.

A sampling of the amazing talent one can view any day of the week on Flickr.com. This particular set was acquired when typing in "beautiful things."


I couldn't agree more.

[All photos are hyperlinked to their original URL - I claim no responsibility for taking any of the above pictures - I am simply a fan and thought they deserved a shoutout!]

A bit of shameless addition of my own is in the form of the Dawson's Creek opening below. It's really not an ode. Oh lord I'm not that sad. Or perhaps the fact that I referenced it at all proves I am, in fact, that sadly pathetic. Okay maybe I am.

Playing with Filters. August 2008. HomeAwayFromHome [Nags Head NC].

Now if only I had an extra $300...

My newest obsession.

Lah-lah-lah-lah-lah-lah-lah-lah-looove means...

I love YOUUUUUUUUU