I'm Bored!

Bed rest is getting to me. I feel like there is so much that I should be doing, but can't. We have no clean clothes or groceries, and Zach is spreading mess all over the house. What I want to do most right now is bake a cake, because I am craving that. I know that it would not be a good idea for me to stand up and do that right now, so I am being a good girl, and either reading or playing on the computer. It's hard, though.

Darren has been working really hard the last few days to get his work done and take care of the house. He's done a great job of taking care of me, but Zach is getting impatient with me. He can't understand that Mommy can't wait on him hand and foot like he is used to, and is getting cranky. He's watching way too much TV right now, but with no friends on our street to play with, I don't know what else he could be doing. Maybe it's time to learn to do some chores around the house. He spent most of the day yesterday with a friend from school, which was wonderful. Darren was able to work uninterrupted, and I finished two library books.

Today, Darren is trying to finish our never-ending backyard shed project. We bought this shed in March, and he started working on it in early May. It has rained every day that he has had the opportunity to work on it, and all that is left is to secure the roof to the sides, and put the doors on. Then, we can start hauling stuff out of the garage to put in it. That will be so nice! In the meantime, I think Zach is trying to cover as much square footage in the house as possible with toys and art supplies. I think he is going to succeed.

My mom is coming in tomorrow to stay until Thursday. It will be nice to have her here, to get the house into shape. She has offered to do laundry and cook, as well. I just hope Zach listens to her and isn't rude. He's gotten quite an attitude lately, and if he is corrected by someone other than Darren and me, he gets angry. What a fun age 5 is!

On Bed Rest

This has been a strange week. Zach and I were scheduled to go to Cub Scout camp from 8:00-1:30 every day, and I planned to come home and nap every afternoon. It was hot out there, lots of bugs, and muddy. We made it through Monday okay, and he had a great time. We got to meet other Cub Scout parents from the area, and the boys did lots of activities toward their Tiger Cub badges. Zach and I both had the opportunity to shoot BB guns for the first time. I'd kind of like one to take care of the possums on our back fence who harass the dog!

Anyway, I was feeling pretty bad Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday, I started having contractions around noon. We had to stand up at the archery station for quite a while, and it was really hot. We left camp a little early, and I called my OB on the way home. I went in to see her, and she examined me, and did some sort of test that can predict whether or not I am in danger of going into imminent labor. Everything looked okay, but she ordered complete bed rest until I see her again next Tuesday.

That put a major cramp in my plans, because at this age, Tiger Cubs have to have an adult partner with them at all times. I spent the evening trying to figure out how to tell Zach that he wasn't going to get to go back to camp. I finally worked up the nerve, and the only thing he was concerned about was missing wrist rockets (slingshots) this morning. I called the camp and asked if Darren could go as a visitor for an hour, because all partners are supposed to be registered with the camp. They said it was fine, and Darren arranged to take Zach this morning and work from home for the day. So, they were able to go and do wrist rockets, and come home. Zach wasn't too upset about missing out on anything else, and I was relieved that he had that opportunity. I laid around all day, playing on the computer and reading. I created baby registries on Target and Babies R Us, and it was fun to shop without spending money. Darren is going to work from home again tomorrow, and my mom is coming in Sunday to stay until Thursday. I've arranged a playdate for Zach tomorrow with a friend from school, so it looks like we're going to be okay.

I've still been having contractions this evening, but not horrible ones. I think I just need to rest for a few days, and try not to do too much, and not stress over this.

Interview update: it was for the art position at Zach's school, a job that I want more than anything. She is interviewing three other people, and plans to make a decision by July 2nd. There may or may not be a second interview. I think it went well, but don't know either way for sure. I wish there was some way I could do something else to influence the principal's decision, but it is out of my hands. I guess if it's meant to be, it will happen.

New England Vacation

Two weeks of my precious summer break have slipped by already. We spent the first week on vacation, which was much-needed, but not relaxing in the least. My mom, my sister, and I flew to Boston on June 2nd (the boys took a separate vacation out west in an RV--more later on that), where we had dinner with my sister's best friend, Beth, and her husband, Adam. They are the ones who got married in Newport last May. The next morning, we drove up to Jackson, New Hampshire to stay with Beth's parents, the Cantys. We've known their family since 1981, and they are like second parents to my sister and me. They do still live in Louisiana, but spend their summers in New Hampshire. I had never been there before, but the area was exactly as I pictured it would look. There were covered bridges, large country inns, wooden houses, and unique shops everywhere. We drove around a lot up there; it seems like most of New Hampshire is part of a national forest. It was very cool and foggy for most of our visit, but cleared up on our last day. We were able to see Mount Washington, which still had snow on the top, and where the "Old Man of the Mountain" used to be before he met his demise four years ago. We hiked to the Flume Gorge, which I don't recommend if you are pregnant and out of shape like I am, and did some shopping in Jackson and North Conway. We all bought lots of new clothes for my baby, since there is no sales tax there, and there were great sales at the Carter's outlet. We hoped to see some moose while we were there, but the only wildlife we were able to spot were a deer, rabbit, and beaver. We also saw some chipmunks on the Cantys' back deck, but they are unwanted pests there. We really enjoyed our time with them, especially all of the wonderful food that Mrs. Nancy fed us, but our time there was limited.

On Wednesday, we drove down to Newport, Rhode Island. I think it was supposed to be about five and a half hours, but the drive took us eight. We made a stop in North Conway for some more candy at Zeb's, drove through the lake district of New Hampshire, and stopped in Tilton at the outlets there. My sister and I were on the quest for a new Coach purse, and with no sales tax, we couldn't resist. Once we arrived in Newport, it took us about 45 minutes to find our hotel. Even the GPS, who we nicknamed Betty, couldn't help us. Once we did find it, it had a stunning view of the beach on one side, and the bay on the other. We drove around a bit that evening, and ate at the Brickyard, where some of us ate last summer. Thursday, we drove back over to the shopping area, walked around and shopped quite a bit, then boarded a trolley for a tour of the town. Our driver was a bit chauvinistic, and liked to tell Republican jokes. I thought my sister was going to lose it with him! We got off the trolley and toured Marble House, one of the mansions of the Vanderbilts. I wouldn't want to have to clean that house!Later that afternoon, we drove around and took pictures, then ate at a restaurant near our hotel.

Friday, we packed our things and headed for Boston. We checked into our hotel, then took a shuttle to the waterfront. Our shuttle driver arranged for us to take a duck tour with a questionable-looking shopkeeper. We were herded into a Town Car with a man from Finland and his two children. Four people do not fit into the back of one of those cars! As we were zooming toward Charlestown, we were all wondering if there really was a tour ahead of us. We were quickly dropped off by our driver, then waited for the duck tour to begin. Getting off the vehicle was one of the P.E. coaches from my school; what a small world it is! She was in Boston for someone's graduation from law school.

The duck tour was fun, but didn't go past a lot of the sights that we had hoped to see. It ended with a splash in the Charles River, where it went around the U.S.S. Constitution. Once we got off the tour, we wondered how we would get back to Boston. Luckily there was an inexpensive water taxi that took us back to the waterfront near the aquarium. My sister and I decided to take the subway, or T, back to our hotel. We had to convince Mom that we knew what we were doing, but she went along with it. When we got off, we had to walk over a mile through a questionable area to get to our hotel, but we made it back in one piece.

Beth picked us up around 7:45 for dinner. We planned to eat near the theater district, then meet Mr. Pete and Mrs. Nancy for dessert after their show. Dinner was at Maggiano's, which was wonderful, but the portions were enormous. I think Beth took home enough food to eat off of for a week. After dinner, we walked over to Finale, the dessert place, and Adam met us there. The Cantys joined us much later, and we had a wonderful time eating dessert and chatting. I sure wish I could have had some wine; I had to settle for hot chocolate. We got back to the hotel around midnight and passed out.

Saturday, we met the Cantys for breakfast, then headed to the airport. I was sad for our trip to be over, but anxious to get home and see Darren and Zach. I'll write about their trip later. I have Cub Scout camp really early in the morning, then a job interview tomorrow afternoon, so perhaps I ought to get to bed...

School's Out for Summer!

I have survived another year, and it still hasn't hit me. This was the hardest one so far, discipline-wise. It's getting harder to teach, because I spend more time on manners and behavior every year. The parents seem to be getting younger, and depending on us more and more for the raising of their children. I wonder what next year will bring? Our school will be even bigger population-wise, so I anticipate more discipline issues. Sigh. I don't want to think about that right now.

My little buddy graduated from kindergarten today. There was a big ceremony in his school's cafeteria/gym/auditorium, with all six kindergarten classes. Each student walked up to the principal while his/her favorite food, favorite activity, and career aspiration were announced. Zach's class was last, and he was visibly bored during the presentation. There were many loud yawns, waving of his hat, and faces made. I kept waiting for him to get out of his chair and lie on the floor. He made it, though, and I cringed in anticipation of his biographical information. It wasn't bad, though: his favorite food was "little hot dogs with little buns", his favorite activity was playing with his Piston Cup 500 race track from the movie Cars, and he wants to be a Nascar driver when he grows up. One boy wanted to be a king, and one simply wanted to be a teenager. So, I guess Zach didn't have such an odd response to the questions.

Tomorrow is a workday for me, where I have to finish packing up my classroom for the summer, and we have a luncheon for the four lucky retiring teachers. I don't have much left to do in my classroom, and I expect to spend most of the morning socializing. It should be fun.

We are off on vacation on Saturday. The boys (my dad, Darren, Zach, and brother-in-law Kevin) are driving an RV on Route 66 to Phoenix, and the girls (mom, Natalie, and me) are flying to Boston. From there, we are going to spend a few days in New Hampshire with some friends, then drive down to Newport for three days. I am excited, but have a lot to accomplish between now and the time we leave. I am having the grass cut tomorrow, and Friday is set aside for laundry, cleaning, packing, and interviewing the pet sitter. Sleep is for wimps!

It's May Already?!

Wow, this year is flying by. And, I am managing to document less and less of our lives on here. I feel like I have finally re-joined the land of the living this week, because I am finally feeling well enough to do more than work, then come home and sit on the couch. I even cooked a meal this week with raw meat, and that is saying a lot. I saw a recipe on another blog and had to try it. That is the first time food has appealed to me in a while. Let's hope that this continues!

Since I last posted, I convinced Darren to buy the new car that I wanted. It didn't take a huge amount of coercion, and we both are in love with it. It drives like a dream, and my favorite feature is the hands-free phone with the lady who talks to me. I wholeheartedly recommend checking out the Mazda CX-9 if you are in the market for a car with three rows of seats!

We went to Lafayette for Easter weekend. Darren was off for Good Friday, and Zach and I were supposed to be, but it ended up being a bad weather make-up day for our district. Zach and I both played hooky that day so that we could get to Lafayette for my parents' annual crawfish and shrimp boil. I felt so bad all weekend that I didn't eat much, but what I had, I enjoyed. That week, my doctor had put me on anti-nausea medication that is given to cancer patients, and one of the unfortunate side effects is constipation and stomach cramps. That lasted for almost a week, until I decided that the nausea was the better option.

That Saturday, Darren's family gathered at his aunt's home in Jeanerette. It was the first time we had gotten so many of his family members together in years, and everyone had a great time. The kids dyed Easter eggs, and the grown-ups took pictures and chatted. There was some really good food, but it was hard for me to enjoy.

Sunday, my aunt and uncle and cousins from Florida came to Mom and Dad's for lunch and an egg hunt. They took off pretty quickly after we ate, and I was a little disappointed at how little time we got to spend with them. I think they were afraid that my son's bad behavior would rub off on their son.

April 20 and 21st was the MS 150. Darren left at some god-awful early time, and we packed up and headed to LaGrange around 8:30. Mom and Dad came with Zach and me this year, and we had a really good time. It wasn't too hot or sunny, and Darren, Sean and Jamie all did a great job. We spent the night in Austin in a hotel, then went out to the finish line pretty early on Sunday. It was a long afternoon, waiting for Jamie to come in, and everyone except Dad slept on the way home from Austin. I had an awful sinus infection, so breathing was quite a chore for me all weekend.

Last weekend, we went back to Lafayette for Festival International. Darren's last day at his old job was Friday, so I took the afternoon off and we got on the road early. Darren and I went and walked around at the festival Friday night, then went back with Dad and Zach Saturday morning. We spent the afternoon on a quest for boudin balls, which I was craving, then went back out to the festival Saturday night to hear a band. It was a great weekend, and we got to hang out with several old friends as well as Darren's sister Kathleen.

Tuesday, I had my ultrasound at the hospital. At first, they didn't want to do it, because the tech said I wasn't far enough along to tell the sex and see all of the organs. Since my OB had scheduled the appointment, she reluctantly agreed to do the ultrasound. All of the measurements of the baby's bones and organs took forever, then she went to get Zach and Darren so that we could find out the sex. It seems pretty clear that we are having a GIRL! I am so excited! Her name is going to be Zoe, my original girl name, and her middle name will be Jacqueline, for Darren's aunt Jackie who raised him. We're going to pronounce her middle name using the French pronunciation "Zjockleen". I have only bought three girl outfits this week, and am exercising a great deal of self-control.

We have 17 days left of school, and I can't wait for it to be over. I have big plans, as usual, this summer, to get the house under control. Our summer will be the longest one ever, because school is going to start later in August this year. The boys are headed on a route 66 trip in an RV in June, and Mom, Natalie, and I are going to tour Boston, New Hampshire, and Newport for a week. I am trying to schedule a lot of activities for Zach this summer, so that he doesn't get bored, and then maybe when we're home he'll leave me alone so that I can clean and organize the house. We are going to do VBS at a Methodist church, Cub Scout camp for a week (I have to go to that with him), and two weeks of swim lessons. If I can find anything else to do, we'll do it. Besides that, we'll get pool passes again. I am going to quit selling Creative Memories, so I am going to try to sell off some of my excess product once I go inactive. As usual, we'll see what I actually accomplish. Maybe if I focus on a room a week....