Jan22

A Special Announcement, Part 2

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A Special Announcement, Part 2

Friday, I told my students about my “big” news. I’ve struggled with whether to tell them or wait until it was so pathetically obvious that it just wouldn’t need to be said (except to a couple of seventh graders… some just don’t notice/think things through!). In the end, I felt I should tell them sooner than later, so I thought it would be fun to include it as a “bonus” question to their quiz. It looked something like this:

“This summer, an exciting thing your teacher will be doing is…
A) going to Disneyworld
B) going on an European vacation
C) having a baby
D) moving into a new house”

Before I showed the students the question at the end of their quiz, I had them swear that they couldn’t reveal it to the other classes until the end of the day (yeah, right. It was worth a try, though). I have rarely seen my students so excited to answer a question. After we finished grading the normal quiz questions, they were begging for the answer to the bonus question. Let’s just say I had to apologize to the teacher next door at the end of the day because of the exuberant noises emitting from my classroom when I revealed the answer was “C”.

Most of my students were very sweet. I did get lots of quick hugs from excited students, and lots of special requests and suggestions for baby names (which, surprisingly, were very similar to the names of the students suggesting them). There were a few favorite comments though:

Student 1: Can you name the baby [his name]?
Me: No.
Student 1: Then can I name the baby?
Me: No.
Student 1: Well, can I at least be the baby’s godfather?!
Me: No, but thanks for asking!

Another highlight situation:

As I reveal the bonus question to the class, the student stares intently at me for several seconds, then declares, quite sincerely,”Well, it’s not C!” A couple other students ask him why he says that, to which he responds, “Well, look at her!”
I am sure several of you could appreciate why somebody who is starting to show being pregnant and is uncomfortable with it would find that comment both sweet and amusing.

Overall, I was happily surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response and comments I received from my students, especially because it’s been such a difficult year and harder for me to bond with them. What a wonderful way to go into my weekend!

Jan16

Lazy Weekend Recap

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Lazy Weekend Recap

This weekend has been a four day weekend for me. Technically, it should’ve been only a 3 day weekend, but I missed work Friday due to a migraine that had just been getting worse and worse over the week. (One of those unexpected side effects of being pregnant- most migraine and pain medications are off limits. And sometimes, Tylenol just doesn’t cut it).

Despite the discomfort, this weekend has allowed me time to reflect how lucky I am. A couple of things that specifically come to mind:

1. I have an amazing, thoughtful, sweet husband who goes out of his way to make my life easier.

2. I have a wonderful home, and even though it’s not perfectly what I want it to be (who’s home ever is?), is more than I thought I would have at this time and place in my life.

3. I have two adorable dogs to cuddle with when I am feeling yucky/sleepy/frustrated/needing snuggles.

4. I have good friends and family members to spend time with and who truly care about me.

Case in point:

Exhibit A: Friday evening, I was feeling a little bit better (after sleeping most of the day), so Jared offered to take us out so I didn’t have to make dinner. We went to one of the better Mexican restaurants around here. It was packed and noisy, which started to make the headache come back, and I couldn’t eat too much. It was the third time we had tried eating there since we found out about Baby Boothe, and each time I come home on the verge of puking, so we decided we will try visiting there again in about 7 months or so. Jared felt bad, but I thought it was so sweet that he was just trying to make life easier for me.

Exhibit B: Saturday we did some errands. Jared even suggested we could go to Kohl’s and search for some clothes that will fit me a little better. (For somebody who has struggled with how I look and weigh for most of my life, it’s been a little challenging to accept the changes that are occurring around my midsection, even if they are for a good cause!) He even cheerfully bought me some of the clothes I tried on.

(Side note: I will say that so far, my favorite place with the best prices for maternity clothes has been Burlington Coat Factory. Found these great looking black pants with a comfy elastic waistband for $10! Score!)

Exhibit C: We had some friends come over Saturday night. I was getting the house cleaned up and Jared was upset that I wasn’t sitting and cuddling with the dogs. But I know how proud of our home he is, and to make sure it looks nice, it takes teamwork. And we had a great time when our friends came over. Even if we stayed up a little later than we previously wanted…After all,  I have a feeling that once Baby Boothe comes, time for friends will be a little more limited.

Exhibit D: All the extra things around the house Jared sneaks in. Like trying to help me with dinner last night, and cleaning up the entire kitchen. Or getting up with the dogs in the morning because Stevie doesn’t know how to sleep in. (After all, THE FOOD WON’T WAIT FOR HIM PAST 7:15! If we try to push it, he lovingly will jump on our heads and lick us until once of us gives in and feeds him. And with his dog breath, you might as well just not let it get to that point…)

I know that there’s more that I am forgetting with my sleepy brain, but at least there’s the general idea. So much to be grateful for in my life. Sometimes things like work overwhelm me, and I just need times like now to recenter and realize that the main things in my life that define me are not my career at school. It’s the things here at home that are the most important and meaningful to me.

So here’s to the best decision I’ve ever made in my life: choosing this great guy as my husband. :)

Jan11

A Special Announcement

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A Special Announcement

In my last post, I have dropped some hints that there were going to be big changes happening in 2012 for me. I guess now would be a good time to reveal one of the biggest changes that will be happening for me about now. So world, let me show you something I’ve been hard at work on:

Yup. You’ve got it. World, meet Baby Boothe. I am sure this is only the first of many occasions of Baby Boothe Exploitation for your viewing pleasure.

Didn’t I promise you some big surprises of 2012??? AND THIS IS ONLY ONE! :) (Probably the biggest, but come on, it’s a good one!)

(Side note: By the way, if you don’t think this is “hard at work,” then you’ve never been pregnant. It’s totally been kicking my sorry trash. Teaching a bunch of middle schoolers is less exhausting than being pregnant, so you can imagine the combination of both has been a blast. Oh, and speaking of my middle schoolers, they don’t know yet, so if you know them DON’T TELL THEM YET! I am gonna do it soon. Promise. Awkward aside is now done.)

All right. Let’s get some of the FAQs out of the way before we progress further with this topic.

How old is Baby Boothe?

Baby Boothe has entered into the fourth month of existence. We are safely into the second trimester (yay!) and so far, everything appears fine.

Are you happy about this?

Jared and I are both ecstatic about this and have wanted it for a while, but things were complicated with some of my other health issues. Knowing this should help us avoid the question “Was this planned?” Which I have been asked. A few times.

Is Baby Boothe a boy or a girl?

We don’t know. We probably won’t know until late February. And we are absolutely finding out, because my anxiety doesn’t need any big surprises when I am too excited planning for Baby Boothe’s arrival.

Do you want a boy or a girl?

Yes.

When does Baby Boothe make his/her grand appearance?

Expected arrival date is July 6. I’m seriously hoping Baby Boothe isn’t on some sort of “Mormon Standard Time” system which could prevent him/her from arriving on time, as I don’t think this summer will be much fun if last summer was any indication.

Are you showing yet?

Yes, I am, and no, you may not see yet.

Dec31

2011 Reflection

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2011 Reflection

Getting to the end of another year is bittersweet. While I am enormously grateful for all the things I have learned and experienced in the past year, it’s always amazing to me how time flies by. Wasn’t it just last week I was finishing up finals in college? And just a little before that, finishing high school? Good old nostalgia.

So, looking back at this year in a glance, here are some of the highlights:

January: I was still enjoying teaching in my new school. The “honeymoon phase” was almost over, but not quite.

February: The dogs got to experience a Texas snow day. And what’s not to love about watching dogs who are pansies in the normal wet stuff try and figure out how to navigate FROZEN WHITE wet stuff?!

March: brought one of my favorite holidays, Spring Break, and I learned how to make my first quilt… which I really will finish, one of these days!

April: School spirit abruptly changed as several people found out they would be losing jobs and that budget cuts were going to cause dramatic changes for the upcoming year (Thanks again for supporting Texas public education, Rick Perry. I’m sure you’d do even better over the nation.)

On a much happier note, Jared and I celebrated our 4th anniversary where he stole me away from work for a few days and we went to Fredericksburg, Texas and hiked at a local park, Enchanted Rock.

May: Jared got to celebrate his birthday in style, which unfortunately (for me) included getting his Ninja 636 bike. We also had a lovely visit from his grandparents, whom we hadn’t seen in years. We had a great time visiting the Lady Bird Wildflower Center.

June: I had a wonderful opportunity to be involved with the Central Texas Writing Project. I learned a lot, had a chance to practice my writing more than I’ve had a reason to for years, and found strength to attempt another year of teaching 7th grade. Most importantly, I met some incredible, inspiring people that I connected with at a professional and personal level, which forever changed me.

July: was my down month (sort of). I had the chance to attempt some art projects, read some books, and squeezed in helping my district’s Young Writers Camp for a week.

August: Jared threw me a surprise party for my birthday, which made me feel like a princess. Just another reminder of how grateful I am for having him in my life. I also started my fourth year of teaching 7th grade, which was probably a bit of a mistake, looking back at the feelings of anxiety and discomfort I had been experiencing leading up to that moment. Hindsight now is 20/20.

September: We finally received rain. That deserves honorable mention because we had the worst drought recorded in Texas history. And my garden that I planted actually survived through it mostly intact enough for me to get a few things from it. I got a much needed new cell phone, which I have had a lot of fun with since. (How did people do it without cell phones? They are such amazing devices!)

Best of all, Jared’s work rented out a local theme park and we got another weekend away. Gotta love being spoiled like that.

October: Jared crashed his motorcycle on a race track during a track day, and fortunately, didn’t get hurt. While this isn’t exactly a “positive” highlight, as a wife, I can appreciate his safety a lot more than his need for speed. So while he was understandably upset about the whole situation, and I was sad for him, I was also not-so-secretly glad that he no longer had easy access to a dangerous vehicle.

R.I.P., no-longer-so-pretty blue bike.

November: Getting to see family and friends, some whom we had not seen in years, in Utah was a treat. More importantly, it did not snow while we were there, which meant we didn’t freeze to death! (Just kidding- seeing family was more important. Promise.)

December: is my favorite month. There’s just something about the holiday season that generally makes people kinder, and our world needs more of it. I got to spoil Jared for Christmas, which was fantastic, because I can’t usually surprise him like that. We were also lucky enough to sell the rest of his motorcycle gear for a pretty decent price. We also have had two weeks off from work and have just spent time with each other– and amazingly, we aren’t sick of each other yet! I love this guy so much.

All in all, I’ve learned a lot of important lessons in 2011, many of which I probably shouldn’t discuss in length on here. However, I can say that 2012 will be the biggest year yet! Major changes are in store, which I will discuss at length as things unfold in the near and far future. :)

Goodbye, 2011! You were good, but I’m welcoming 2012 with open arms.

Dec17

The Bonsta Monsta

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The Bonsta Monsta

Don’t let this cute little pose fool you.

This dog has a wicked streak to her.

In the past week, she is on her third collar. This little 11 pounder has a vicious chewing habit, and it’s not the first time that she has destroyed items before. Actually, collars are some of the cheaper things she’s managed to get a hold of and destroyed, so I guess we should be counting our blessings, right?

So we decided that if we got a collar that fit her personality a little better, we might get it to last a little longer. This time, it was “Daddy’s” choice:

Definitely more appropriate for this little slice of terror, don’t you think? :)

Dec10

Holiday Ducks

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Holiday Ducks

I love this time of year. It’s my most favorite. There’s something about Christmas time that makes everyone generally just a little bit nicer (well, most people, anyway).

As I was decorating our house this past week, I came across this:

A student gave this to me two years ago at Christmas. This particular student stood out for two reasons. First, in a year filled with a rough group of kids (seriously, lots of them had some serious attitude and behavioral problems), she was one of the few sweet ones who wanted to do well. Secondly, she was obsessed with ducks. Her folders, binders, and notebooks were covered in ducks. If she doodled on her homework assignment, you knew it was her even if she forgot to write her name on it. :) And she had the craziest collection of rubber duckies. Ducks of all colors, animal types, holiday types… You think of a rubber ducky out there and she’s got it. Somewhere around my house or classroom I have a tiger-duck that she gave me when I told her that was my favorite animal.

Anyways, I guess this stands out to me this year in particular because it’s been the roughest year of my teaching career. With the drastic changes and little support from admin, district, and parents alike, most days threaten to crush me. But when I look at something simple like this, I remember the students that are doing everything right. The ones who do always do their homework, and come to class with a great attitude, and even thank me as they leave the classroom for teaching them. The ones who are consistently honest, good, sweet kids. And those are the ones that help me power through when I feel like I can’t do anymore.

So this year, I put this little duck on the mantle. I know Jared thinks it is a little tacky, but whenever I see it, I have to smile at the memories.

And let’s face it. This year, I need to find more reasons than usual to help me smile.

Dec6

Heart the Jicama

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Heart the Jicama

So, weather in Texas has taken a fairly drastic turn recently. The days of 100+ weather is long gone. And FINALLY, my little garden was producing.

But tonight, we could get down to 26 degrees. Even though I am sicker than a dog, I know that there’s no chance what little has made it this far would make it past tonight. So what do I do? I go outside and start salvaging what’s left.

One of my more adventurous attempts this year was planting jicama. It’s a root vegetable, but has a sweetness to it. One of our friends used to use it in his Indian potlucks- he would make a fabulous salad with a peanut sauce- and it was fabulous. So when I saw it at Home Depot as a starter plant, I figured, “What the heck?”

Note: I planted it back in April. Jicama doesn’t usually get harvested until December. That’s a huge chunk of time before harvesting, so that made me pretty worried. After such a crazy summer, what could I expect when it was all said and done?

After digging it out of the earth and washing the dirt off, this is what I saw:

Feel free to interpret as you will, but I’m interpreting this as a happy sign from the cosmos. :)

Dec6

Nearing the Breaking Point

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Nearing the Breaking Point

It’s been a while since I posted last. And it’s probably for a good reason, too. Mentally, I haven’t been in a good place this year, as hard as I have tried to make it seem differently. Both work and health have been seriously tearing me down (and I think work might be tearing into my health as well!) But mainly, I want this to be a place where I can focus on the more positive things going on in life. Hence, my silence here.

November was definitely a hard month, but I am so grateful for Jared’s support. I often wonder how I was ever so lucky to deserve him as my partner. Despite all the difficult things I have been going through, he’s always wanted me to do whatever would make me happiest. Always building me up, never berating me for the tough things going on. And that support I’ve needed so desperately lately.

Another highlight of November was visiting family in Utah over Thanksgiving. We were surprisingly lucky, as the weather was pretty mild and we didn’t run into any snow (for me, that’s completely a good thing–you can grow up in a place that has lots of snow over winter and see how you feel about it and get back to me later). And despite me not feeling well, it was great to see family and friends and share exciting going-ons in each others’ lives.

Moments like those help pull you back from the breaking points and return you to a more sane place.

And last but not least, this is one of the best places in the world, and I got to see it again when visiting Utah. I love the natural beauty of this mountain. And it was on a back road on this very mountain that Jared proposed to me over five years ago. It holds a special place in my heart.

Oct30

If you leave me alone in the car…

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If you leave me alone in the car…

I will be forced to find ways to amuse myself.

Fortunately, I am easily amused. Especially with my new phone and its awesome apps.

So, last week, Jared had to get his motorcycle appraised to see if it was totaled. But he had to drive it there. After I helped him with getting it on the borrowed trailer, a neighbor walked by.

This particular neighbor is a really nice, older guy, but when he stops by to chat, you plan on it being for awhile. So I sat in the truck and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

And then I got out my phone and played with my photo apps some more.

The famous taking a picture of yourself taking a picture. But with the TRUCK mirror!

With another one of those fun “Paper Camera” modes for the photos. :)

Huzzah for the simple joys of life. That now involve a highly technical cell phone and fun applications on it.

 

(And by the way, if you were curious about the outcome of the bike, it’s officially totaled. You might have heard “Taps” playing softly in the distance, mixed with Jared’s sighs.)

Oct27

Cold Front!

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Cold Front!

I wore a jacket today.

Normally, because I hate cold weather, this would be bad news. But I can’t remember the last time we were in 50 degree weather. February? March?

It only took until October, but I finally feel like we’ve got ourselves some appropriate fall weather. And back in my home state, fall was my favorite season because of how the trees would turn colors, particularly in the mountains.

Observe:

Look at that beautiful mountain and the leaves changing colors into golds and oranges….

A younger, more naive me… in a JACKET!

What’s not to love about that sort of scenery? The colors, the rock formations and shapes, the crisp mountain air…

So, what I’m trying to say is that change, especially from hot weather to moderately cold cold weather, is good. Yay for jacket weather!