penn

Finally warm

We are enjoying a few truly nice days here in Minnesota. I am wearing shorts and sandals! Pretty awesome. Also, as a teacher, I'm relieved this held off until right near the end of school. Holding classes when everyone would rather be outside is challenging.

Today, Matt and I planted several tomatoes, a bell pepper, and some annual flowers. We are doing a modest garden but still something. This is actually the first summer in a number of years that we aren't doing any big trips (though I suspect we will still have our hands full!).

I'm excited to do a little beautifying around our place. Yard work is the somewhat bummer of living on a campus. While it's nice to not be required to mow, we both miss being able to putter around the yard. Our garden is limited to containers and the small area around our porch, especially since we no longer live in a free-standing house. That reminds me: I still owe you all pictures of our place. I'll have to do that once school is out and we are able to do some significant tidying up.

In terms of school, we are doing with classes. My AP bio class has no final, so just 35 of my students will sit a final on Tuesday. The only work I have to do this weekend is write my ecology class final and grade a few remaining AP bio labs I never got to. Oh, and I have to write the summer assignment for next year's AP class (meanest teacher ever).

Freedom is so close. I can't wait. We will be readying the baby's room, cleaning up clutter, and getting our lives more organized. We both plan on doing some curriculum work and prep for next year to make teaching with a child less work.

Bonus pic for today: me at the tail end of 34 weeks. So grateful for maternity shorts! It is 82 today. In the picture, I'm in the hallway of the big girl's dorm. Nothing says homey like strange portraits from long ago.

Prom 2014

Just shy of 34 weeks pregnant and chaperoning prom. I took a long nap this afternoon and hope it is enough to get me through the night.

Eleven Questions

I got tagged to answer eleven questions by Janet at This Confetti Life. I won't tag anyone, since she tagged everyone I'd tag. But I will still play along!

1. What is your favorite type of cheese?

Brie cheese, hands down. So creamy and delicious. I even love brie on a burger; my favorite burger is from The Republic in Minneapolis, and it's got brie cheese and red onion marmalade. Yum!

2. What are you excited about?

First, I'm excited for school to be over. We have five more class days and then three days of finals. I can't wait to be done with grading! I do plan on doing some curriculum work over the summer to rework a bit/prepare for next year/make next year easier for me. But I am ready for a break.

Second, I am super excited for meeting our baby. We have been taking childbirth education classes at the hospital, and I see my doctor every other week. Starting in June, I'll see her every week. I'm 33.5 weeks now, and it's hard to believe I'll have a little one in just two months. So much to prepare.

Oh, that leads me to a before first: I'm excited for my baby shower this upcoming Sunday. A lot of gals here at school (both other teachers and faculty wives) are planning this for me. Should be fun!

3. How did you celebrate your last birthday?

I barely even remember celebrating my last birthday. I think I found out I was pregnant just a few days after, so that was a post-celebration. My birthday fell on parent/teacher conference weekend and wasn't too relaxing. Matt and I went to a movie (Gravity, I believe), and we had some frozen yogurt at one of those mix-in froyo places. Nothing to write home about; I was so busy with grad school, teaching, and coaching volleyball.

4. What is on your bedside table?

A lamp, lots of books (Harry Potter book 4, a genetics book, a kindle, and several baby books), chapstick, a water bottle, and some kleenex.

5. What do you order from the movie theater concession stand?

Usually, we don't get anything. Sometimes, we'll get some popcorn or some candy. Instead, we usually go to dinner right before/after a movie and thus don't get anything.

6. Do you have a garden? What’s growing?

We are hoping to garden this summer! Nothing but hostas are growing right now in our wee little yard. I want to plant some morning glories, some tomatoes, and maybe a few other flowers. We're hoping to do that next weekend when we get a little time.

7. Any summer plans?

Baby! I'm pretty sure that will dictate everything else we do for the summer. My parents are visiting for at least a week this summer, and I'm excited to show them around. Previous visits have been one-day or centered around our wedding, with not much time for sight-seeing.

8. Which TV couple(s) are you rooting for?

I still wish I could rewrite the ending to How I Met Your Mother, because I absolutely adored the mother. I haven't been watching much TV other than Property Brothers and other HGTV shows due to the busy nature of school these days.

9. What’s the last thing you bought?

Groceries, for sure. Non-grocery items? I bought a new black tank top to fit my burgeoning belly so that I am appropriate at school.

10. What’s one thing you are passionate about?

Teaching science well!

11. What are you grateful for this week?

I am grateful for the health of my baby, my relative health, the awesome sewing machines at school, leaves starting to come out on trees, Lucy kitty, and Matt. Life may be busy, but it is also good.

Feeling blessed

Tonight, my dorm girls threw a little party for me at our dorm meeting. Color me surprised! They all pitched in for a present, and several of them did baking yesterday too. The funny thing is that I spent all morning yesterday on duty, and I reminded all the girls about the meeting.

Tonight, I feel loved and appreciated. I can't wait to show my baby the loving community where it lives. My baby already has so many big brothers and sisters.