It’s almost 8, but I’m not ready for that yet. I have been working on the same thing all day–a lesson for AP biology–with lots of little distractions (an hour nap, working out, making lunch and breakfast, laundry). Our day started REALLY late (12:30, but really 11:30 to our bodies…). I always get in a bit of a funk on Sundays in anticipation of the next week, and it gets worse when I don’t leave the house all weekend or when I sleep in late (and nap). I feel like I am wasting time or wasting opportunities that the weekend somehow offers. I don’t feel great, so that is making all of this worse.

At least yesterday was productive and the house is (somewhat) clean. Just don’t look in the office. Heh.

Yesterday I started eggplant, mint, basil, tomato, and peppers in those little soil pods. I also turned my compost bin for the first time. I have about 3 inches of soil (yay!) and lots of maggots/fruit flies on top (boo!). I think I need to add more dry leaves or something to it to up the carbon level. Anyway, I can’t wait to get my little garden started again. I see a great Spring Break project coming up.

Time to finish this lesson and get started on something else…

I am staying home pretty much all weekend because a) the weather is “supposed” to be bad–we don’t want to venture over the passes for a hike; b) it’s the end of the month and there’s no extra cash; and c) I have a new semester starting Tuesday and I am ridiculously behind on grading (even though it’s been my life lately).

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I am working on this online bible reading plan to get through the bible in a year. Somehow I like reading it online, and then I thought about getting it emailed to me. However, the site charges $9 a year for the emails, so I guess I need to find another site.

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I finished the Miranda July book, and now I am working on 3 books: Holly Springs, Surprised by Joy, and Omnivore’s Dilemma. I want to get more seriously into reading, hiking, and knitting after my grades are due. Right now those are on hold, like just about everything else (house cleaning, hanging out with friends, etc.).

I am concerned about how stressed I am about work, especially since my visit to the ER last weekend with chest pain and trouble breathing. I still have a dull ache all around my left chest area, but I don’t know what to think about it. I had bloodwork done, and EKG, and a chest xray, but they didn’t find anything (they were worried about clotting). They suggested anxiety and internal bruising from soccer. I don’t know what it is, but it’s still bothering me and I’m worried about playing soccer this Thursday.
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My grad school application is due this Friday. I’m pretty much finished; I just need to print out all of my materials and take in my immunization records and transcripts. I will feel much better about life when all of that is done (as well as my grades).
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Paul, the guy who has lived with us in our garage for the last two years, is in a coma in the hospital. It’s not looking promising that he will get out of it this time. Please keep him, as well as his family and friends in your prayers.

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So that’s the news from around here! I know–it’s all rainbows and butterflies, right? I really am happy–I just have a lot on my mind. That seems to happen as I get older. I want to focus more on the beautiful, positive aspects of life. It’s hard to walk the line between being Eeyore and Pollyanna.

Food poisoning on my birthday….that pretty much ruins one’s day, despite all my well-wishers and the beautiful weather. Let’s just hope it’s no more than a 24-hour bug. Vomiting, a headache, and frequent bathroom trips can interfere with my summer job (teaching in the a.m.), and I can’t miss my first day of teaching.

Blech.

So much has been going on since I last posted. I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I blogged last. Since then, prom has happened (quite well, really) and the seniors presented their senior projects. For those of you who don’t know, these are (sadly) my most stressful school-related activities of the year. Prom is stressful because of money (do we have enough?), ticket sales (have we sold enough?), and dirty dancing (will our dance get shut down?). Speaking of dancing, I have gotten my 15 minutes of fame in this article on freak dancing, of all things.

Senior projects are stressful because we involve the community members as judges of student projects. I have a hard time getting 60 judges organized, in addition to getting the students ready to present. I couldn’t have done it without my coworkers (and my husband) helping with certificates, cleaning up, judging, listening to practice presentations, and picking up food.

In other news, I’ve also:
started a reproduction unit with my bio class
started a poetry unit with my seniors after senior project
hosted a clothes swap party Sunday
admired Justin’s work on our new patio
chaperoned a trip to Eastern Washington to Ellensburg Saturday for a HERO Institute
helped judge M.Ed. students’ culminating portfolio
bought 4 books I will have to wait to read (grrr)
bought Brandi Carlile tickets for June 1 and Bela Fleck tickets for August 1
dealt with allergies/sinus infection
met Cherry Banks at UW Bothell
made a chocolate cake with icing (tonight, while procrastinating)
watched Deja Vu, the season finale of the Office, the latest Lost, and several episodes of 30 days

Here are my plans for this week:
read more NTPOG
actually go to my soccer game
read for fun
grade like the wind!
plant my sprouting carrots, etc. outside (I must post photos of my almost-mature broccoli!)

Less than 25 days of school! w00t!

During babysitting last night, I realized I was getting my Friday Headache (TM) again, so Justin and I went to bed right after we got home. For the first time in a VERY long time, we slept past noon. We slept until 2 p.m. Ridiculous, I know. I could have slept longer, but I felt like I might lose a whole Saturday. After making bacon and homemade waffles, we had a nice (afternoon) breakfast complete with coffee and organic Valencia oranges.

Although there were many things I could have done after breakfast, I wanted to watch the end of The End of Suburbia, as we didn’t finish it last night. This documentary highlighted the reasons for and history of suburbs, the peak of oil production, and the impending doom of suburban consumers and their way of life. I felt like I was a bit shaken out of complacency, yet left with little evidence of what really could happen as well as left with little to do about whatever situation we could be left with. At any rate, I think energy (and other types of) consumption should be lowered dramatically by Americans. I don’t mind paying higher prices for oil and natural gas use as I know I would conserve it more that way.

So…my day, now that my headache is gone, is also almost gone! It’s 7 p.m. and I have only been awake for 5 hours. I am enjoying a cup of tea now, and I know laundry, cleaning, and reading for church tomorrow are in the near future.

Tonight I am baby-sitting an adorable 9-month old. He crawls, pulls himself to standing, and tastes everything. Every detail of the world is new to him; he seems to be learning something new every second. Since no one else was around, I found myself making the dumbest noises around him in a seemingly instinctive effort to teach him words, music, rhythm, and sounds.

When I heard him uttering sounds and babbling to himself, I began thinking of the reverse of childhood–the childhood of senility, adult dependence, and aging. This childhood (and sometimes infancy) is obviously not the childhood most find endearing. There is a loss of hope that comes with observing babies and children, for when watching this group of tiny people, one is yearning for growth and learning. One thinks, “When will he take his first step? I wonder what he will be like when he is a teenager?” The hope for one who is in the second childhood or infancy is more of a time of reflection, regression, and, at times, depression. The hope in this case comes for life after death rather than for physical or mental progression in this life.

Sadly, some children stay in a state of permanent infancy or childhood. One of my students was relating this to me today in a class discussion. Her ten year old sister has the mind and actions of a one-year-old due to her mother’s heart medication while breastfeeding. I think one of my worst fears might be having a child that does not progress physically, mentally, socially, or spiritually. Another of my worst fears is facing the aging of my parents, my siblings, and my husband. I know if the time comes for me to confront any of these fears in the future, I will be given the strength. Who knew babysitting could prompt such reflection?

One of these things is not like the other. I think that a few of these items were related to the headache that led me to sleep from 3:30 p.m. Friday until 7 this morning, but that’s another story. Perhaps it was MSG, the WASL, terrorism tension, or dehydration from soccer. All I know is that it’s the weekend, WASL is over, my headache is gone, and so are my leftovers. And co-rec soccer with Aaron’s company is fun and fast-paced, though tiring. I am sore from playing, but I like being able to break a sweat again! The last organized activity I was in was hip hop dance in January.

So let me back up. I proctored the Math and Science WASL this week from Tuesday to Friday. Monday a search was out on a student who was reported to have a gun. Tuesday morning we had an emergency meeting about it. All week we had new information surrounding the VA Tech shooting and copycat attacks throughout the nation. Thursday we had another emergency meeting with news of a possible bomb threat on a Seattle secondary school, but we were to play it cool and read a vague letter to our class explaining safety measures. News of the threat spread quickly to students and grew out of proportion, making 5th period difficult to control and making Friday’s attendance quite low for the WASL and downright sparse for 6th period.

So…headache indeed. I slept it away and now I am as good as new, although sleepy again (15 minutes shy of midnight!).

…for chocolate.

It all started last Saturday night. Justin and I went to Victrola Coffee for some, well, coffee. However, I had more in mind. Like the Theo chocolate they USED to carry. I can’t believe they stopped stocking it, and I definitely couldn’t get some of their delicious chocolate off of my mind. They have flavors like coconut curry, bread and chocolate, nib brittle, vanilla, and a variety of dark chocolates–not flavors you can get in most places.

The good news is, they are based in Seattle. I thought about ordering online, but with Justin’s latest book order having been stolen, I thought about visiting the factory store. It’s a small building with tours, samples, and a small retail space, but before I go too much into the building, I have to talk about getting there.

I had planned to get there at about 4:30 (30 minutes before it closed) after washing the car. However, with 4 cars in front of me at the car wash and a considerable distance to the location (what I thought was 44th and Phinney), I didn’t get to park until about that time. However, after looking lost and asking the coffee shop down the street where the store was, I found out that it was on 34th instead. I had already parked and walked a couple of blocks.The store closed at 5. I was supposed to pick up Justin at 5 in the U District. I decided to book it down the hill.

The blisters on my feet after walking for 10 or 15 minutes began to throb once I set foot in the store (with 2 minutes to spare). I sampled a few chocolate pieces, glanced around, and, feeling rushed, chose to take home a box with Pearl Jasmine, Burnt Sugar, Scotch, and Ginger-flavored chocolates. If I could do it over again, I would have gotten mint, fig fennel, vanilla, and ivory coast (or perhaps peanut butter or earl grey?). I also got the tried-and-true nib brittle and bread-and-chocolate bars. As I was checking out, I noticed a warm feeling on my heels. I took a peek and my heels were bleeding! Not wanting to keep them open any longer, I limped out of the door and stared at the road ahead of me. I came more than 10 blocks down a hill. It was after 5 and I was late in picking up Justin. I had to trek up the hill quickly with my new-found chocolates (oh, joy!) and my feet on fire.

Next time, I will either order online or park near the building. My feet shall never bleed for chocolate again!

So I was on the Discovery Health National Body Challenge website today, tracking my exercise for the last week. Apparently, one can exercise in church as a valid fitness activity. I’ll have to bring my stopwatch and sweatpants next time. Click the photo for a larger view.

Also listed as a form of exercise is “Bathing: Self-care.” As my husband stated, with no pun intended, I’m sure, “that’s really reaching for exercise.”

This weekend hasn’t been the best one ever, mainly due to one of my ever-so-fun debilitating headaches. I got it early Saturday afternoon and I just can’t shake it. I’ve missed half of film night, most of the Cleveland College Conference, and half of church this morning because I just wanted to lie down in the dark. I REALLY need to get some work done, which is what I’m planning to do now, but really I’d rather just be in bed again. I’ve had plenty of sleep this weekend, so I don’t really need it. I know if I don’t get out of the house this afternoon I’ll go crazy, so we’re going to try to go to a coffee shop and I’m going to try to grade papers this afternoon.

Also, my fairly-new red Motorola RAZR phone that Justin so sweetly surprised me with is not working. At all. So that stinks. If you need to get in touch with me, call my hubby or e-mail me.