Self Portrait Thursday - Continued

My friend and I go for a walk after school.


Our junior high youth meet on Thursday at 5:00pm. It was Nicole's birthday so we bought a cake to celebrate.


I am on my way home after a long day. My nap will have to wait for another day.


At home my cat Al greets me at the door. What a sweetie! I love my cat. I sit for a while checking my e-mail and blogging. I am happy with the quality of the pictures from my camera. Video looks great also. I will include a video when I have something worthwhile to show. Jeff gets home at 11:00 pm and I am still up. We chat for a while and then decide to go to bed. Definitely time to go to bed.

Self Portrait Thursday

I am trying out my new sexy camera.
Here I am right after my shower. Awake and ready to start my day.


Getting ready to start work bracing myself for the 150 8th grade students who will come through my door today. Notice my chair. I just got it and I love it. It is padded and has back support. I got it when my back started killing me from sitting on my stool. Money VERY well spent.


My first period Class.


My second period class from another angle.


My third period class. I love my prep period. : )
Now just imagine my 4th, 5th and 6th period classes. They are pretty close to the same as my 1st and 2nd period classes.

Strange Dreams

Last night before bed I was reading a magazine in which different women were discussing how there labor went and what they wish they'd known or would have done different. After this I did a few other things and then went off to bed. Last night I dreamt that not myself buy Sarah was in labor with Isaiah. I can't remember much about the during labor part, I don't think I was there, but less than an hour after giving birth Sarah decided she wanted to go home. She removed her catheter herself (don't ask me how I knew that), squeezed into what looked to be about a size 3 pair of jeans and walked out of the hospital with her baby. The whole time I was thinking, "There is no way I can follow that up. I will surely be a failure in everyone's eyes". I was so relieved to wake up and realize I would not have to compete with super Sarah on a miraculous recovery including all weight gained in an hour flat. Sarah, I am so glad you are human.

My new camera

I am very excited because I got a new camera. Notice I said "I got a new camera" not "Jeff and I got a new camera". I am not sure if I am going to let Jeff hold this one after what occurred with the last camera. : ) Well OK, I guess that "we" got a new camera. It is awesome and small and in Sarah's words I might even call it sexy. Yeah!

The dollar bill is there to show the size of the camera and yes "oops" the camera is upside down.

Almost done with LA pics

We went out to Olive Garden (one of my favorites) to eat. We were all busy taking pictures of each other. Caiden was awesome the whole weekend. Melissa and David are great parents.



This second picture was taken the day before. What a cutie, Caiden too. : )

More LA pics

It was nice to go hang out at my Dad's house.

In this first photo we are doing some movie trivia. It was fun. You get a picture from a movie, but they erase any part of the actor's flesh that is showing and leave everything else. I was not very good because I don't see many movies, but it was still fun.


I enjoyed seeing Dan (this photo) and Randy (last photo), old family friends. It had been a while. I always enjoy seeing Susan, my dad's wife, as well.


Dad, Pam and I posed for a picture.

LA was fun

I enjoyed visiting family in LA. Thursday was such a nice day that we decided to get wet. Caiden started on the first step and made his way down to the second step. David helped him get around the jacuzzi. Caiden liked to dunk his feet in the water and then walk around and look at his footprints. He also had fun running around the pool many times. I would include a video but I don't know how to do the video. Is it easy? Can anyone help me figure it out?

I was bummed because I did not bring my new maternity swim suit so I had to borrow some shorts and a t-shirt to go in.



My mom made me this cross stitch picture of Newton. I thought it came out really cute. A perfect addition to my science classroom.

Another trip to the doctor

Today at the doctor's office I had to drink "the drink". It actually wasn't too bad. The lab gave me what appeared to be a small bottle of orange soda and told me I had five minutes to drink it. I then had to sit for one hour while the drink did its thing and then I got jabbed with a needle and they took my blood. It is a test for diabetes during pregnancy which I guess is not all that uncommon. Unfortunately I don't particularly care for orange soda and I HATE being stabbed with needles. Oh well, it is over now.

The actual doctor visit went good as well. I gained another four pounds. I guess that my appetite did not slow down as much as I thought it had. The doctor said it was textbook weight gain at a pound a week. I guess I am just getting used to eating so much. : )

Another day of cleaning

Well, Jeff and I did not get as far as I had hoped with cleaning stuff out so I will not show the "after" pictures from "before" (yesterday). We did get a lot done. Here is a picture of us with a load for the goodwill.


We are also going to drop off another load tomorrow at goodwill. I am going to LA tomorrow and Jeff is at a conference, but the "after" pictures will hopefully show up some day soon.

Just thought I would share

I ran across this photo from a couple weeks ago and just thought I would share. I have no idea where I was or why I look like I am about to take a trip off of the deep end.

Getting Organized

Jeff and I have spent the last few days clearing out the baby's room, which used to be the office. Now we are just waiting for more baby stuff to fill it up. Someone was nice enough to give us this crib and changing table. We bought this glider and ottoman (not shown) from someone on craigslist. It is so comfortable.

We moved the office into what used to be the guest bedroom. The guest bedroom is now the couch in our den or we could put the futon back into the office if necessary. It has felt good to get things cleaned out.


This second photo is a pile of all of the junk that has been moved out of the other rooms and will either be put into the garage or given to goodwill.


This last photo is of the garage. We will be working on this mess tomorrow. It will be awesome to get our garage in order again. It is amazing how without doing anything your house and garage can turn into a disaster.

My first day off

Yesterday I must say was great. I took my friend to the airport first. Here is our photo on the way to the airport.



After the airport Jeff and I went over to Palo Alto to have something to eat. We ended up sitting at a little table on the sidewalk with Noah's Bagels and Starbuck's coffee. What could be better than that while "people watching" at the same time?

Afterwards we went to go drop off a box for Jeff, pick up some robes for the baptism we are having on Sunday and we made a stop at Ikea to look around. We then picked up some signs I had ordered for the church and had some great Mexican food across the street from the sign shop.

After returning home I took my usual afternoon nap and Jeff left to go set up for the Good Friday service that evening. After the service we went to Marie Callendars with Kevin, Luann, Ashley and Aunt Kathy, who is down visiting from Washington. We also had another family from the church join us. I had a slice of banana cream pie and a slice of chocolate satin. I was nice enough to share these with Jeff. : ) I stayed up later than normal because I had no commitments the next day and then went to bed.

So I got stuff done, I hung out with Jeff and other family/friends, I got to be lazy and I got great food. What a great day.

I love spring break!

The Case of the Little Pile of Stuff

In the last few days I have been able to do a little detective work. On Thursday morning I noticed in my bathroom that there were quite a few little brown oval shaped things scattered about on my floor. I mopped them up with a kleenex and on closer inspection I thought they looked like little eggs or spores. Interesting.

My curiosity peeked, that day at school I looked up some information on fleas. Now I have grown up with cats and have never seen this stuff, but I thought it was worth a shot. I came to the conclusion that I did not think they were flea eggs and forgot about it until I got home that night.

Later that evening I went into my bathroom and there on my bathroom floor was a perfectly round pile of these little brown things. It was a perfect circle. You know, I don't really think normally about how your brain just kind of knows when something is designed by a living thing and when it's not based on what it looks like, but I knew this didn't look random.

Now let's have a look into the mind of Wendy. I am toying with all sorts of fascinating ideas. I think "I should have been on CSI."
I look up. No hole in the ceiling. I look around, nothing close enough. I flush the toilet, just in case. I open cabinet doors to see it they reach over the little pile, but no. I think about our vent on the ceiling again. Not positioned right. Well maybe when the heater comes on something is living in there and these little things get blown onto the floor. Yeah, in a perfectly round circle. I am ready to check the wind circulation in our bathroom to see if it can swirl little brown things into a perfect circle. OK, maybe not. Hmmm....... the cat. Maybe the cat brought them in. OK, if he did maybe he was cleaning himself and they fell off. But they would be scattered so he would have had to spin while cleaning himself while his fur brushed them into a circular shape. (I am not lying, the thought entered my mind) OK, best one I can come up with. Myself, or my cat, have been tracking in some sort of spores from a plant outside. This plant has round puffs that the spores come on and then over the course of the day they crumbled into a perfect little pile. CSI here I come. Brilliant!

I show Jeff the fascinating little pile when he gets home. His idea, "mold". Ha! Not even close to the brilliant mind of Wendy. Of course I did now have to consider the possibility, just in case. As a CSI agent I can't throw out any idea until the evidence itself doesn't support it, especially when it is from an agent in the same department.

I mop them up again with a tissue, making sure to look at the tile to see if there is anything underneath making this mess. Nope, I can't see anything. Well I decide even a CSI agent has to sleep sometimes when a case is not solved so off to bed I go.

The next morning refreshed I get up and hop in the shower. I totally forget about the case until I step out and look down. The perfect little pile is back in the same exact spot. OK, what is going on. All of my theories are basically thrown out the window. Again I consult the only CSI department member on shift at that time. "Jeff, the pile is back! Any other ideas?" Jeff replies, "mold" again. Hmmm... I don't know.

I enter the bathroom and lean down close to the pile. I need a magnifying glass, but that tool is at school. Al, my cat, comes up behind me and startles me making me jump. I'm letting the case get to me, but I know that now I can't let it go until it is solved.

OK, it is in the same exact spot. I decide to mop up the spores/eggs whatever they are again and look underneath. Before I do this I make sure to take a photo of the scene. All CSI agents are trained to do this before messing with evidence.

I concentrate on that spot as I sweep the pile away again. Wait! What is this, a pin size black hole not much bigger than one of the little brown things is exposed. This is the best lead I have had yet. I go and tell Jeff about the break though in the case, do something else, come back and look. Five more brown things are around the little hole. I mop them up and wait quietly watching the hole for movement. In under a minute I see something. A little brown spore is slowly poked up through the hole and lands on it's side. Another follows it.

We had to take a friend to the airport yesterday and we were running late already so I had to leave. When I got home the pile was there again and then again this morning. I have looked up termites, but I don't know. I didn't see anything that looked like this. I am going to spray the hole to try to kill whatever it is because it is making a mess, but I wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas what it might be???

Maybe this case has taught me that sometimes you come to a point where you just have to let go.

I am off for 10 days!

I haven't been this excited about a break from work in a while. I think I have been really pushing the last two months to get through curriculum at school because I am a little behind. This leaves me in the classroom doing a lot of work and only a little play. I have been doing less of the "fun" activities and more of the "we really need to learn this in the shortest amount of time possible" activities. The first kind are more fun, but do take longer. I think I am just a little burned out. I am looking forward to this nice break and then going back somewhat refreshed.

I found a sub!

I was very excited today. I have been thinking that I needed to start looking for a substitute teacher to take my classes for the first two months or so of the next school year since I am due in August. I was putting it off because it sounded so hard to find a sub who wanted to work only part time (I am only working 3 periods) and take so much responsibility for my classes. A sub was recommended to me who I have used before and other teachers think highly of. I decided to go and talk to him since he was on campus today subbing for another teacher. To my surprise he said that he would not mind subbing part time for the first two months of school. He said he would be fine taking more responsibility for planning lessons, grading and starting classroom management stuff. Since he will be starting the school year he will be needing to get info. from the students, assign seats, make seating charts and all of that other stuff that gets done at the beginning of the school year. I am relieved. It has been something that has been in the back of my mind bugging me and now it's not. Yeah!

5 Months

Here I am at 5 months. I am still feeling pretty good, but I am tired a lot. Most days I just want to come home and take a nap; so that is what I do most days.

My appetite slowed down this week. Thanks goodness. Last month I gained 5 pounds and so far the total is up to 12 pounds. I was beginning to worry. At that rate I would outweigh Jeff by the time the baby was born.

Jeff felt the baby move for the first time this week. That was cool. It is neat to be able to share the experience with him.

Clothing arrivals

I have discovered that it is fun to order clothes on line. I look forward to the clothes arrival. I got my clothes last week and liked them all. I posted a picture of the swimsuit I ordered on line for the summer. I tried it on and Jeff said it was hideous. I think his words when describing it were something like, "An awful throwback from the 70's". His dad, Kevin, was at our house that day as well and he seemed to agree with Jeff although he said it in much nicer words. I decided to order the black swimsuit instead and return this one, but before I did that I wanted to take an online pole. It is terrible? I thought it was kind of cute.

23 weeks today, Movement, and Baby Registry

I forgot to mention I am really feeling the baby moving. I am 23 weeks today. I have been feeling movement for sure for the past 2 weeks and before that I thought I was, but then I would think, "Or it could be gas". It is fun but also feels kind of funny. Having some alien life form inside of me poking around can be an interesting experience. Jeff has tried to feel it, but without much luck yet. I think within the next week or at most the next 2 weeks he will be able to feel the baby moving. Chris Hale said that at 24 weeks her husband could feel the baby moving. It will be cool to share the experience with Jeff.

We registered at Babies R Us yesterday. We kind of did a quick run through because we knew we could always add stuff later and we were both tired of standing. My back has been bugging me lately if I stand for too long and Jeff joked (sort of) that it is nice that my back has been wearing out before his when it is usually the other way around. It was still fun to look at all of the baby stuff. I think we took the longest time to pick out the diaper pail. Who knew where our priorities would lie. : ) Baby stuff is expensive, but we have been lucky so far. People have given us a few different gently used items already that will really help us to save money. Thank goodness for baby hand-me-downs.

I'm bad

I have not blogged in over a week and I don't even have Chris Hale's excuse that I am really busy. It is interesting, but I just haven't felt like I have anything to say that anyone would want to listen to. Tonight I decided I will just say what comes to mind.

Our dryer is not working which is a bit of a pain, especially since I don't have that many clothes that fit right now. Last week we went to a friends house for a church worship night and ended up asking them if we could bring some clothes to dry in their dryer. They said "Of course". The funny thing is that another woman who was there said her dryer was not working as well and almost asked to bring over her stuff. I can just picture the laundry piling up as we all bring our laundry over to their house to dry. We could start taking tickets while we waited in line. Anyway, GE was supposed to come this Friday to fix it, but they called to say the person had a death in their family and would not be able to make it until Monday so hopefully they can fix it tomorrow.

Volleyball finished this week. Both the boys and girls team did not do to well, but that is OK. They were both really young teams. I think that they will do better next year. It is kind of a relief to be done. It was taking up quite a bit of time so now I will have time to relax a little more.

I ordered some clothes on line through oldnavy.com after a frustrating experience at Target. Let's just say when Target leaves the big sign that says MATERNITY up in one spot and moves all the clothes to another and then you spend 5-10 minutes under the sign thinking you must be an idiot because you see no maternity clothes, you are not very happy when you find out the clothes have been moved and no one told you. Anyway, Old Navy said the clothes should arrive within 4-7 days. Today is the 7th day and still no sign of the clothes. Maybe tomorrow. I am excited to see the stuff I ordered.