Is it hot already?

Usually, I switch to drinking iced coffee (versus hot coffee, unless I'm in a very nicely a/c'd place) in late May or early June. In Los Angeles, I never actually switched off of hot coffee in the morning -- it was never all that hot.  Here in central Texas, though, when the a/c runs all night to keep the house at 80' -- thats iced coffee time.

Alas, my heat production is such that I officially switched today (not that there won't be the odd hot coffee day after today). Once the upper 70s are hit, I start melting. This, from the gal who survived 100'F plus with 100% humidity for 3 summers in southwest China! With no a/c! Pregnancy has made me a wuss.

Its still cooling off at night, so even today the windows were opened this morning and the breeze through the house is nice. We get some fairly nice weather in the shoulder seasons here (Mar to mid-April and mis-Sept through Nov) and they are long enough to be really enjoyed. Here's to hoping Baby doesn't have too many allergies and window opening can continue!

April Goals

It seems only reasonable that April goals should include a great deal of baby preparation, as he is due Mid-May. I'm working hard to keep in my mind that he could come plus or minus 2 weeks of that due day of May 12 -- as early as April 28 or as late as May 26. Ambiguity tends to stresses me, so I'm working hard to not think about it too much. Nonetheless, seems only reasonable to aim to have all ready this month.

We are well stocked with baby boy clothes. All borrowed and hand-me-downs. Bummer is many of them are for cooler weather, not the 90s+ that hit in May and June. 

Thus, I need to....
1. pack my bag and Hubby's bag for the hospital stay.
2. set up the pack and play or borrow a bassinet from a friend. (got some options here, crib is optional till baby is a tad older)
3. make sure we have either flats (diapers) or other options for those first few days. We are thinking to use disposables till the meconium phase is past, due to its tar-like nature (so I've heard). But, I don't expect to get much sewing done in those days, so I plan to have some cloth options ready before baby is born.
4. put all the paper filing back into the closet, even if its not p*rfect. I think having the nursery floor mostly clear will be good.
5. Put up curtains in the nursery... or will the bright sunlight not bother baby?

Specific goals to work on....
1. Keep going with zone cleaning. I divided the house into zones and wrote out some cleaning goals for each zone.
2. Get baby goals done.

I've seen urbanknits April goals. Do you have any monthly goals? Updates for earlier established goals?

Review of March goals

Hmmm... March is over with, and it slipped by without my notice. Well, I did notice, but it was all in relationship to how far along my pregnancy is and how far away the due date is.  Its been a rough month, in general. My emotions are volatile (must be hormones, right?), and at least once, I broke down into tears for very little reason. I've struggled to keep up with school work and house work from just being tired (emotional doesn't help).

But, on the up side, its been a ton of fun feeling baby move more often and, occasionally, more forcefully. And some of my grumpiness is from general uncomfortableness that comes with having a baby who just doesn't fit as well as he used to. The baby got me in the ribs about 4 weeks ago; its better now, but, oooo boy, did it hurt at certain points.

Anyhoo, on to March goals. I posted them here originally.  Let's see...

1. February Lady Sweater still isn't finished. When I have time to knit, I'm just not inclined to work on it. It has warmed up (spring = hot here), so no sweaters will be worn any time soon. Perhaps, I'll just set it aside for now.

2. I have sorted and decluttered lots of paper from the former office closet. Its not done yet, but well on its way.

3. We put in 2 tomato plants, a habenero and 4 jalapeño plants last weekend and did some weeding then. But I've not be outside as much as I'd like.... my excuse? Too busy, really, or too distracted.

4. I've gotten a picture in almost every post! One goal reached (almost).

(and for this post...)

We said goodbye to the Anaconda this month. Her transmission went out, and we decided she wasn't worth getting fixed right now. We get a second car this summer or fall, who knows? Maybe a truck?

Pregnancy and humor

Saw this comic in a pregnancy email (gerber, pregnancy weekly, or some such)... Got quit the kick out of it.

I feel like that some evenings.

Gmail Motion BETA

Gmail Motion BETA

Google has some great ideas! If you have gmail, you should jump for this.

Is it reasonable to ask a 11 year old to be quiet?

Silence and Education

A coworked shared this today via google reader. I feel like I'm always asking students to stop talking and that no one has bothered to teach these children how to STOP TALKING and moving and being disruptive. I suspect its not that anyone hasn't tried teaching them, just that the lesson hasn't fully been taken in.

I'm reminded of Proverbs (13:3) "The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin." The inability to stop talking is a grave downfalling and though I don't expect an 11 or 12 year old to have aquired the ability the to fully guard their words, it seems they should have some ability to be quiet. Even more true for students 13 and up, yes? Are my expectations wrong? The kindergartners seem to have developed this skill of keeping one's mouth closed... is this just lost as students get older?


You might be able to tell this is a major frustration of mine. Though I must be thankful this is one of the biggest issues I deal with. One the chance that one of my students reads this, I'm thankful for each of you and its only because I desire to see you grow into a mature and competent adult that I even care about such things.