Sunday, January 5, 2014

::Dinner Plans #1::

Sunday has arrived again, and with it comes the end of winter break.

Except not really, because the governor cancelled school for the state of Minnesota. The temperatures will be dropping well below zero today and tomorrow. The thermometer is already reading 13 below, and that isn't even including the windchill!

Needless to say, I am quite excited to spend another day at home with Kid and the hubs. Maybe I can finally get to finishing the high chair I started painting.

Okay, okay. I haven't started painting yet. But I did sand it down!

Anyway. Time to figure out a meal plan for the upcoming week.


Sunday: Red Pepper "Breaded" Chicken
Tuesday: Venison Fajita Stew
Wednesday: Damn Fine Chicken
Thursday: Chicken Noodle Soup

What are you planning to make this week?

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Resolutions 2014


I'm not the greatest when it comes to New Year's Resolutions, but I'm hoping that this year will be different.

All it takes is some hard work, right?

As is the case with a lot of people, I feel more obligated to do something if I am held accountable. One way to achieve that accountability is to write down the resolutions. I've decided to write resolutions for the different aspects of my life, two or three for each.

2014 Resolutions for Minnesota Night

1. To include an image of some sort in all posts, whether it be a picture or an image created with PicMonkey. Do you use PicMonkey? It is nothing short of amazing!

2. To post at least twice a week.

3. To plan ahead. It is so much easier to manage a blog if there is a plan. Last minute posting does not work for me. With a plan, I hope to have well thought out posts with some great images (see number one).

2014 Resolutions for Life

1. To stay on top of the laundry. I don't know if is easier to designate one day as laundry day, or to do a load each day. But I need to do something to improve. I find myself doing a small load each week, and watching the piles of laundry explode until there's nothing left to wear and it takes 10 loads to get it all clean. No more. Staying on top of the laundry is a must!

2. To shed a few pounds. Honestly, I'm not too concerned with the number, especially since I reached my pre-pregnancy weight a few months ago. I'm more concerned with the shape my body has taken post-baby. While I know this is completely normal, there is nothing wrong with working out a little more, being a bit more active, so that I may be a bit happier with my shape.

3. To keep my camera handy and the battery completely charged. I have such a nice camera. It's a shame that I am not using it more. I need to take more pictures of my amazing little family.

2014 Resolutions for my Other Job

1. To maintain a clean desk, with papers organized each night. I often leave work with a mess on my desk that I decide to deal with the next morning. Which leads to busy and somewhat stressful mornings. I need to take 5 to 10 minutes of my after school time to organize and file said papers.

2. To include positive parent communication each Friday. There is no way that I can call every student's family on Fridays with a positive note. I plan to call five or six families each week to talk about something wonderful their child did at school. So frequently, teachers get in the rut of negative phone calls home. Little Bobby was misbehaving again. Susie isn't being friendly to a certain student in the class. The list goes on. While these calls are quite important, the positive calls are equally so.

And there you have it. My 8 New Year's Resolutions.

Friday, January 3, 2014

((this moment))

((this moment))
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Procrastination Nation

NaBloPoMo January 2014

Day Three

Do you have a tendency to procrastinate, or do you like checking things off your to-do list?

This is another one of those prompts where I say, both.

My husband and I hosted his buddies/coworkers for a New Year's Eve party, and we were cleaning the house right up to the wire. Most people would have the house cleaned, vacuumed, and dusted at least a day or two beforehand. Not me! No way, no how. It kind of goes back to the first prompt. When it comes to cleaning the house, I work better under pressure!

On the other hand, though, I am a list maker. Nothing makes me happier than crossing something off the to-do list. Sometimes, I write something on my list as I am doing it, just so I can cross it off. Do other people do that, or is it just me? Just me.

So, when it comes down to it, I'm a procrastinating list maker.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Nine Months

The little man is nine months old.

I can barely believe that nine months ago, the little boy came into the world. I kind of remember it like it was yesterday. But I kind of don't, at the same time.

Perfect time for the birth story, right. I know many people won't want to read this. And for that, I apologize. I want to use this space as a place to share recipes, crafts, and the like with y'all. But, I also want to use this space as a place to remember important this about my family. I'd say a birth story is one of those important things.

The hubs and I had just completed a day of spring break--his last day, my first. I had been coming up with a list of things to get done over the course of the week. Nesting type things: clean the house, set up the crib, paint the bookshelf for the boy's room, make a few meals for the freezer. We had just come off  of a weekend of Easter gatherings, and I wasn't feeling the greatest. Even though I was tired, there were a few things I wanted to complete around the house. I sent the hubs to bed, and started prepping a meal for the freezer. I still had 6 weeks to go until my due date, so I wasn't too concerned with getting everything done. I had written a hefty to-do list for spring break, though.

Around 10:15, I decided to head to bed. I began my usual bed time routine of washing my face and brushing my teeth. As soon as I laid my head on my pillow, I felt wet. I shot straight out of bed and pranced to the bathroom, not want to leak on our carpeting. I sat on the toilet and continued to "pee."

Not wanting to scare my husband, I called into the bedroom, "Babe, I think I wet the bed" (knowing full well that my water had broken).

He called back, "No, I think your water broke," as I was thinking: well, duh.

Naturally (for me, anyway) I began to cry. I was shocked, surprised, and scared. The hubs got out of bed and called his sister (a family practice doctor) to tell her what happened. I called my mom. And my sister.

Once off the phone, I began to throw together a hospital bag (which was on my to-do list for the week). My hospital bag consisted of: a clean pair of underwear for my husband, sweatpants for us both, a clean t-shirt for us both, tooth brushes, our camera, a book, our cell phones, and our iPad. I also grabbed a bath towel.

The hubs was already warming the car.

I waddled out of the house and put the bag in the car. I put the bath towel on the front seat and got in. I called my mom again. Still no answer. No answer from my dad, either.

We were in our hospital room, and hooked up to monitors, by 11:15. Tests were run, and it was confirmed that my water broke.

I finally got in touch with my mom.

The contractions weren't so bad to start. But, of course, they got worse as time went on. I wanted to labor a little bit in the tub. A nice warm bath sounded delightful.

That didn't happen. I threw up along the way, used the bathroom, and got back into bed. The nurse came in and mentioned that it was time to decide on epidural or not. I went for it, and got the epidural. I was then stuck in bed for the remainder of the time.

I pushed for 40 minutes.

Kid was born at 5:23 in the morning, weighing in at 5 pounds and 13 ounces. He was 19.25 inches long.

And his 9 month stats? I couldn't get his well baby exam until the 10th, so I will be sure to update then (with photos!). Complete with pictures, too!

Under Pressure!

NaBloPoMo January 2014

Day Two

What are you currently feeling pressure to do that you don't particularly enjoy?

It's not that I don't enjoy it. Because, really, I do. Most days, I am so lucky and so excited. I love my job. I feel truly blessed that I get to go to school every day, and teach the little people in my care.

But.

It is winter break.

(I just had to look up my school calendar, just to make sure I don't have to go back to work until the 6th.)

But I'm feeling the pressure to get back to school today. Or tomorrow. Or even both. As a teacher, there is always something to get done. My to-do list has gotten longer and longer over break.

The hard thing is that, since I love what I do, I constantly look for new ideas to teach the same concepts. New ways to engage the students. New ways to teach vocabulary. Letter sounds. Simple addition. Graphing. I tend to change things each year, because there is always room for improvement.

This isn't what I "don't particularly enjoy," though. No. It's the fact that I'm feeling the pressure to go into work during break. My time off. My so very precious time off. The time I get to spend with my husband (we work in the same field!). The time we both get to spend with our boy.

I always feel like a child when winter break comes along. Not only am I ultra excited for the time off, but the five-year-old in me throws her hands over her ears, stomps her feet, and yells

"I don't wanna go to school!"

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Pressure: NaBloPoMo January 2014

NaBloPoMo January 2014

I may be crazy, but I've signed up for a challenge. I'm challenging myself to blog every day for one month. And it just so happens to be a month with 31 days. Here come 31 posts from me! Woo hoo!

This month's theme is pressure. Today's prompt is:

Do you work well under pressure?

In all honesty, I would have to say yes. I work extremely well under pressure.

But, I also have to say no (because I'm being honest). Sometimes the pressure is too much, and I fold.

While making my way through college, and even now in my professional career, an upcoming deadline motivates me to work. But not in the way of managing my time wisely. I've always created a better product if I begin a day or two before the deadline. College papers were often started the night before their due date. I could crank out projects in a few days, tops. And I graduated with a very good GPA, so I wasn't turning in crap-tastic papers and projects. I was making some pretty good grades!

But now, as an adult in the real world (because college is NOT the real world!), I sometimes struggle with pressure. There is so much pressure on moms, and this is the pressure that gets to me the most. The pressure to be good enough, to be the best mom. I don't feel this way all the time, but around some moms I know, I feel a constant sense of competition. Competition, to me, equals pressure...not while playing soccer...but the mom competition.

When faced with the pressure from mom competition, I crumble. I second guess. I don't work well, and it doesn't feel good.

Luckily, I have a fabulous group of girlfriends, plus my sister, and my mom to build me up and remind me that that competition, that type of pressure, is bogus and not worth my time!