40 Days of Lent and No Caffine

For the Lenten season I decided to give up caffeinated drinks.  It's important to me to give up something that is a true sacrifice.  In my current pregnant condition, this was a difficult task.  A lot of the things I've given up in the past, I've been giving up for 8 months already. 

Then I thought, well, what could I give up that would be a healthy alternative to what I'm already eating or drinking.

Fried Food??  I really don't eat a ton of it.  (Plus the Knight's of Columbus put on a FANTASTIC fish fry throughout Lent, and I am not missing out on that!)

Chocolate??  Baby really likes it, and it makes me happy...

Pop??  I drink some, not a ton, but possible.  Still not a good enough sacrifice.

Coffee??  About the same as pop...

Ah-Ha!  I'll give up caffeinated drinks!  That will mean I am at least sacrificing one thing a day.

Fast-forward to today...just at the one week mark of Lent.

I'm dead.  I'm hitting a brick wall and all I can think about it how nice it would be to have an ice cold Diet Pepsi...a BIG one!

Temptation.

That's what Jesus faced in the desert. 

And I'm sure this is what it felt like...

Boy or Girl???

Ethan and I are planners.  We had our baby names picked out before we were married.  It was obvious that we were going to find out whether our baby was going to be a boy or girl.  We waited an agonizing 18 weeks debating if it was baby Jackie or baby AJ.  The time finally came...the Friday before Halloween.

There we were, my belly all "jellied" up with that goopy stuff, and there was a great picture of our baby.  Perfect.  2 hands, 2 feet, 5 fingers and toes on each, one nose, and one perfectly looking profile.  Now...boy or girl???

This is where our little bean decided to be difficult.  There was not a good angle available.  The sonographer tried to get her to move (which consisted of banging on my belly...with a full bladder).  Not a pleasant experience...  Anyway, move baby did, all over.  Except the way we needed. 

Until finally...

I hear the sonographer say..."Well, I'm just not seeing much, and if there was something there to see, we would have seen it by now.  I'm saying it's a girl."

And then finally the right move.

We have girl parts!  And she's an active, stubborn little thing.

Since then we have been delightfully planning for our little girl, with much more pink than Ethan was hoping for (but he's getting used to it!)

The room is ready, we are ready, and we were especially excited for our little girl.

If it wasn't for the dreams...

I keep having dreams that we are having a boy.  The baby comes perfect and healthy with a very specific piece that was not seen on the sonogram.  I have had four so far, two within the last week.

And my doctor...

Every time I go in for my appointments and we get to listen to the wonderful heartbeat my doctor records the beats per minute and asks if we are having a boy based on the number being a little lower and that boys "typically" have lower heartbeats.

So...here we are.  All ready for our little girl, but with those dreams and doctor visits in the back of my mind. 

And because of that, I may just have to pack a little blue outfit that says "Daddy's little man" to take with our pink outfit just in case...

Fat Tuesday Feast

One of my favorite things about Ethan and my "dating story" was our Dinner Date Nights each week.

We had a show we enjoyed watching on Tuesday nights.  We thought it would be fun to make that a night where we would try to cook a new recipe together and then watch our show later on.  We had a lot of fun browsing websites and cookbooks trying to plan out what new recipe we were going to try.  And I will say, that we rarely failed.  We have many recipes that are now in the rotation that we found during this time. 

One of those favorite meals is our "Fat Tuesday Feast."  And what a feast it is.  (Especially that first year we made it where everything on the menu was a new recipe). 

• Blackened Pepper-Jack Chicken
• Dirty Rice (with andouille sausage)
• Creole Sauce - From scratch
• Deep Fried Corn Fritters

We have carried on the tradition of making this meal every year before the start of Lent.  Ethan and I get into the kitchen and spend at least an hour juggling almost every pot and pan in our kitchen (as well as a deep fryer), using over half of the spices in the spice cabinet, and laughing and joking through the preparation of the meal.

I would love to say that we actually make and eat our Fat Tuesday Feast on Fat Tuesday, but the last couple of years just haven't allowed for it.  This year we had our meal on Thursday after Lent had already begun.  The kitchen was a complete mess, we were both exhausted after dinner was over (me being 8 months pregnant and he having just ran 3 miles), but the entire time we are enjoying ourselves and exclaiming over and over how we should really make this dinner more than once a year. 

And as we were eating our meal, Ethan looked at me and said...

"I hope our kids like this meal, I want to keep this tradition going."

Made my heart smile!

A Little Advice

This Sunday my mom and sister threw a baby shower for little Jacqueline.  Many of my family and friends were able to come visit our new home and celebrate the new little life that will bless us in five short weeks(ish...)

The shower was filled with everything a good baby shower has; food, loud laughing, cute little baby clothes, and games.

One of the games we played was for everyone to guess Jackie's birth date, weight, and length and then offer a little piece of advice for the new mommy and daddy to be.

I thought it would be fun to share the advice from so many experienced moms and a few "someday" moms.

~  Pick up the baby whenever she cries.

~  Make sure you always take time to listen.  Even that can make things seem so much better and easier for her.

~  Don't worry about the small stuff.

~  Patience is key

~ Listen to your mom, she's been there before.  (This was not from my mom...)

~ Read to her.

~  Parent whatever way feels most comfortable for you and Ethan.  Remember that you were chosen especially to be this little one's parents, so you have a PhD in her.  Your instincts are probably right.  The days are long...but hte years are short, so enjoy all the moments.

~  Rest, and be careful what you eat if you are nursing.

~  In all things turn to God. 

~  Be very patient and love her lots

~  Don't worry about anything and pray about everything.

~  Even when you think you might be doing something wrong, trust your instincts.  No one knows baby Jackie better than her mama.  Even if it takes some time to get into the "groove."  And all the other stuff, the dishes, laundry, cleaning...it can wait!  Time goes so fast so enjoy every cuddle, diaper change, feeding, etc...  And you can never have enough spare diapers, more importantly wipes!  Those dissappear very fast!

And of course, the Grandma's-to-be had some expert advice also:

My mom:  I love you!  You will be a loving mother...and don't sweat the small stuff.

Ethan's mom:  Call grandpa anytime.  That is if he isn't out there already!

All such great advice!  I'm sure Ethan and I will have all the help we need :)

And now I better get going on some Thank You notes!

Pardon me, but do you have the time?

I have an obsession with time.

I'm not exactly sure when this obsession started, or when I finally aknowledged it as an "obsession."  I do know that for as long as I can remember I have wanted to, no I have NEEDED to know what time it is...at any possible moment of the day.  Multiple times.

I can remember getting yelled at by my college volleyball for looking at the clock during practice.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  COUNTING DOWN THE MINUTES WE HAVE LEFT TO PRACTICE?!?!?" 

Nope.  Really I just want to know what time it is.

I know exactly what times I wake up in the middle of the night, and count up how many hours of sleep I got each morning.  I report both to my husband faithfully.  (He has been well aware of my time obsession since long before we were married.)

I know, down to the minute how long it takes to get from my driveway to the parking lot at school.  As well as how long it takes between each turn I make to get to work. 

I have timed the trip from our driveway to the hopital exit and from the school to the hospital exit multiple times. 

If I think, even for a little bit, that I'm going to be late for something, I actually make myself sick with worry.  I HATE BEING LATE.

I also hate being too early, but not as much as I hate to be late. I want to be just a little bit early, but never late.  10 minutes early is right on time in my book.

I have a clock in every room in the house (except the bathrooms...but don't think I haven't thought about it).  I hate it when the power goes out.

I can't work out on a machine without looking at the clock a hundred times.  When I swim, I time how long it takes to swim a lap (I could do a 500 meter swim in less than 8 minutes when I was swimming everyday...that's 10 laps on 50 meter pool). 

I understand my obsession is mine alone and I try not to burden others with it.  (Exept my husband...but he know what he was getting into).

I have tried to think of where this might come in handy with my life (other than being on time for things), and so far the only things I can think of are 1.) when I have to start timing contractions and 2.) if I ever witness a crime and the lawyer asks me "What time was it exactly when you saw ____?" 

I will honestly be able to answer that question.

Middle Schoolers...

~  Will test your patience EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

~  Are a great group to be around if you want to practice being more patient!

~  Are very obvious about who they have a crush on (even if they deny it).

~  Still love to color, draw, and play with construction paper and glue.

~  Will make a complete mess with the above items, BUT they are old enough to clean it up.

~  Will love you forever if you are gone and your sub was mean.

~  Have stinky feet.

~  Have stinkier farts.

~  Try to cover up above stinky items with mounds of cologne or perfume.

~  Forgive easily.

~  LOVE to point out your mistakes.

~  Will tell you when you look sick (which is a complete blow to your self-confidence if you are feeling just fine).

~  LOVE to know all about your life outside of school.

~  Speak sarcasm 90% of the time.  It helps if you can speak a little too.

~  Will test the rules.  All of them.

~  Need to have rules at home, and consequences for breaking them.

~  Are not perfect, but wish they were.

~  Want to know that you aren't perfect, but still ok.

~  Boys want to be taller, girls want to be smaller

~  Would choose the worst names possible if you let them name your baby.  It's best to have one picked out and tell them right away (or at least a fake one).  Otherwise they will give you suggestions.  The suggestions won't be good. 

~  Are who I spend the majority of my weekdays with.  That's why I am the way I am.

~  The BEST possible age to teach!

2 Hour Lasagna Roll-Ups

If you are reading this post looking for a recipe for fantastic, but time consuming lasagna roll-up recipe, I promise you will be disappointed.

This is a post about a story.  A story that makes our family and friends laugh when we tell it.  A story that makes me laugh just to think about it. 

I'm in the mood for laughter tonight.

So here we go...

First of all...a little background. 

My husband can cook.  I was very impressed with how well he knew his way around a kitchen when we were dating.  He prefers, though, to let me cook.  (Good thing I like it)

I coach volleyball and basketball, volleyball being the more intense time commitment in the evenings.  I'm head coach and practice runs until about 5:30.  Since I coach middle school girls, I am required to wait until every last one of them has been picked up.  (That's a whole different post...)  This means that I am not usually home before 6:15. 

Cooking during the fall requires quick, easy recipes that can be either made ahead of time,  thrown together very quickly when I get home, or started by Ethan while I am on my way.

The night of lasagna roll-ups required Ethan to start it. 

You see, lasagna roll-ups are a tad bit more work than regular lasagna.  I know this, but I enjoy cooking and that is what I wanted for dinner. 

Ethan's job was to cook the meat, add sauce, and boil the noodles by the time I got home.  This way all I had to do what assemble the roll up and pop it in the oven. 

There was no problem cooking the meat.  He had that one taken care of.  Easily.

The noodles, however, were a different story.

Apparently, Ethan had never cooked lasagna noodles before.  He was a bit puzzled. 

He took out the medium sized pot (which is what we usually use to cook pasta), filled it with water, and waited for it to boil.

When it came time to add the noodles, he was a bit puzzled.  The shape of the long noodle did NOT and would NOT fit in the medium sized pan.  He stuck it in anyway.

Then rethought that and took it out.  Called me. 

"How in the hell are you supposed to cook lasagna noodles anyway?  They don't fit in the pot!"

I chuckled a bit while driving and asked him which pot he has out.

"The one we always use to cook pasta."

I explained that you need the bigger pot and the noodles will soften and all eventually get in the water.

Ohhh...ok. 

I then asked him to just start the water in the bigger pot so it would be boiling by the time I got home.  A little behind schedule, no biggie.

I get home to half curled lasagna noodles and no boiling water, yet... 

10 minutes later, not boiling.  But, it's a big pot of water...

I hear "Not my fault!" coming from the bedroom where he has taken up a game of baseball on the X-Box

20 minutes later...not boiling. I sigh and decide that he must have put really really cold water into the pot because there's still not one single bubble.  (I check to make sure he had the burner on high)

"Not my fault!"

45 minutes later...STILL NOT BOILING!  Ok...something is wrong.  It doesn't take that long for water to boil.

"Not my fault!"

After a little investigation I found that he had indeed set the burner on high, and the pot was on the burner set to high.  However, his mistake was placing the larger pot of water on the smallest element on the stove top.  Ah-Ha!  It WAS his fault!

By this point...we were both hungry and tired and laughing hysterically.  It was either laugh or cry.  I was about 12 weeks pregnant so either one of those emotions would have been acceptable.  Laugh it was.

So by the time I got the big pot moved to the big heating element and water boiling it was already past 7:30.  (Ethan comes in to check progress...and grab a bag of chips to munch on.)

We are having these roll-ups, even if it means eating at 10:00 at night!

Finally noodles are done, oven is preheating, and I begin assembling the rolls. 

30 more minutes in the oven and voila!  Dinner is served.

They were the BEST 2 hour lasagna roll ups I had ever eaten. 

Lessons learned from this adventure: 
1.  Make sure husband knows how to cook lasagna noodles.
2.  Make sure husband puts pot on correct burner.
3.  Make regular lasagna instead of roll-ups during volleyball season!
4.  Laugh always!

Like a Good Neighbor...

I love, I mean L-O-V-E our new house.  Sometimes I walk through it staring at each room in awe that I actually get to live here.  There's nothing I would do different at this point.  Nothing I would change.

Ok, that's not exactly true.

There is one thing I would change if I could.

Our neighbors.

There is nothing wrong with the neighbors we have.  The ones I have met have been perfectly friendly and I am sure when we all have kids running around that we will get to know each other much better.

However, I miss our old neighbors.

Ralph and Dolores.

They were the BEST neighbors.  Elderly couples always are.  I guess that is as long as you don't hold rowdy parties that are loud and keep them awake through the night. 

Ralph and Dolores were always there to lend a hand.  I mean always.

~  Ralph helped build our old house so he knew some of the ins and outs of it that we weren't ready for when it came time to remodel some of the rooms.

~  They would bring over all kinds of goodies from their garden.  Onions, tomatoes, green peppers, zucchini and even turnips (I didn't enjoy the turnip though...)

~  They would feed the dogs when we were gone.  Ralph would even bring them treats from time to time during the day.  I'm sure the girls miss them too!

~  They watched the house.  Sometimes it seemed as though that's all they did. They could report how many times people stopped by, they picked up packages dropped off by UPS, and let us know when people picked up the interest forms from the "For Sale" sign in our front yard. 

~  Dolores loaned me carpet cleaner when KC got sick with diarrhea all over the house.  I stalled as long as I could before going back to the house and smell of poo. (Secretly hoping that Ethan would get home while I was over there and clean it all up for me.)

~  They let us hang out in their air conditioning one very HOT day this summer when we stupidly decided to take the dogs on a walk while people were looking at our house.  I was about 5 weeks pregnant, sick, and we were both exhausted. 

We are lucky enough to still be close enough to them and go to the same church that we are able to still see them pretty often.  I just wish there was a way we could have moved them out here with us across the street. 

And I sure hope the guy who bought our house knows how good he has it!

Can You Hear Me Now?

I do not have a good history with cell phones.

Or maybe it is that cell phones don't have a good history with me.

I think I used my first cell phone for 3 years.  When I finally went for an upgrade it was because the phone was so dead that it would no longer charge.  At all.  They couldn't even get the phone to turn on at the Altell store (yep, it was Altell...).  I would have to reenter all my contacts manually.  No transfer available. 

Bring on phone #2 and another 2 years.  This was probably my favorite phone.  Indestructible and had a great ring.  Again, I used this one up until it would no longer charge.  It died the same way the first one did.

Phone #3 was a mistake.  I was not thinking about my future.  I upgraded after phone #2 died and signed on to another 2 year contract with Verizon.  By this time I already knew that Ethan and I were going to get married.  He had T-Mobile.  We planned on eventually getting on the same T-Mobile plan.  Still, I signed up for another 2 years with Verizon.  Stupid.  Plus, phone #3 does not have a happy ending.

Phone #3 did not last near as long as my previous two.  As I took KC for a walk one day, I accidentally left the phone on the side table of the grill.  Breck, it appears, was not too happy about being left behind.  She took the phone and tried to eat it.  Phone #3 ended up with cracked, split in two, and bite marks all through it.  Needless to say, it was done.

Bring on phone #4.  Replacement phone.  Not a great one.  Cheap to get me through the next two years of my contract with Verizon and had no bells and whistles. 

Phone #5 happened by chance.  As luck would have it, Ethan's good friend works for T-Mobile.  They were running a special where they would pay for part of the cancellation fee of breaking the contract with one company and you could sign up for T-Mobile right away.  We were sold.  Not only would we be consolidating two bills into one, it was still cheaper than paying Verizon cost for another year and a half.  Done.

Phone #5 was my first "cool" phone.  Touch screen.  Slide out for easy texting.  Internet.  Apps.  Definitely cool.  However, come to find out, I don't like touch screens, I didn't use the apps other than calculator every now and then, and I think I got on the Internet a handful of times. 

Which brings me to today and phone #6.  The touch screen decided to stop working.  Touch in the bottom right corner and the icon in the top left is selected.  Other places wouldn't register a touch at all.  Crap.

I'm not up for an update until July.  JULY! 

And as much as I hate to admit it, I have become dependent on having a phone with me.  (Plus in the next two months it might be important for me to have a way to contact my husband in case I go into labor...just maybe.)

So.  Now we have to sit down and look at the options.

Option 1:  I get a new phone.  We pay full price.

Option 2:  Ethan gets a new phone.  We use the "Early Upgrade Plus" to get it at a cheaper price and sing another 2 year contract.  I use Ethan's old phone.

Option 3:  We add a 3rd phone to our cell phone plan.  Keep one phone hooked up at home at all times and use it as our "Home Phone."  I take the new one.

Option 4:  Get a used phone for me, which will still cost about as much as a cheaper new one, let Ethan upgrade in April when his contract is up.

We decided on.  Option 2.

Ethan got a new phone. 

At least one of us will be up to date technologically.  And as long as I can contact him when my water breaks.  I'm good.

My Progressive Era

Right now I am discussing the "Progressive Era" with my 7th grade students.  It is called "Progressive" because of the political, social, and economic changes that were made during the period.  I take this time to talk to my kids about change and how it is not only a good thing, but that it is also necessary in life.

In order to "progress" into the future we must be willing to change.

Change can be a little scary.  It can be difficult.

But again it is necessary.

This gets me thinking about my life and the changes that I have gone through in the last 3 years.

Specifically my personal life.

I believe that these changes (dating, to engaged, to married, to selling a house, building a house, and expecting a baby) have all been great additions to the story of my life.  When I think about it, they have been easy to embrace, and they have made my life so much better.

When I look at my professional life, that's when I start to really wonder....

Have I changed enough? Have I done enough to progress my teaching into the future? 

Then it hits me.  If I have to ask the question, the answer is obvious.

No.

Now what?  I've identified the problem.  Now the hard part.

Change.

How much change is necessary to make me the teacher I want to be? 

What is a realistic goal?

When should I start?  I know "now" sounds like the obvious option, but I possibly can't fit another thing on my plate at the moment, I have state assessments to prepare my students for and a long-term sub to get organized and ready in 6 weeks.  Changing my lessons around and adding new activities is not going to happen any time soon.

All I know for sure is that change is in the air.

Consider this the "Progressive Era" of my teaching.

It will probably be difficult.  It will involve a lot of work, trial and error, time, and possibly be a little scary. 

But it will be good.

And it is necessary.