One check off the list

This never happens. Hubs has three days off. I almost don't even want to mention it because it might become fake. He normally has one day off each week, but this happens to be his contractual weekend and he also, somehow got Memorial Day off, too.

We slept in. Oh, did it feel good.

Even though it was a cloudy, cool day, we decided to go to Eastern Market for some people watching, picture taking, and.... vegetable plant buying! Sadly, the camera was not working the entire time we were there. It just so happens that I fixed it. However, we were no longer at the market. Too bad, there were a lot of opportunities for good photos.

My test shot when I got the camera to work....


There's something so exciting about being downtown. It takes me back to San Fransisco. Detroit is by no means a San Fran downtown, but for a minute, I just pretended we were there.

There's no where else but a "downtown" where selling pants on the street corner is acceptable.

There's also something fun about taking a picture of a complete stranger knowing that you're going to post it on the internet. They have no idea how famous they are now. ha!


I have to toot my own horn. I've completed a summer time goal ahead of time. I have a container garden. We will have available fresh tomoatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and zuccini this summer. (So what if hubs will only eat the tomatoes, more for me, right?!)

 Because of the rain, I'm showing off my garden through the window. Pup doesn't undestand why she's not outside. We're so close!

Tying it together...

(I have to start with a side note: I can't comment on anyone's blogs. I am not purposefully being non-responsive and I am very frustrated about it! On that side note, I give the centerpiece.)

It's funny how one small thing can really tie something together. My mom and I went shopping and the items at the register got to us. There was the sweetest ring rack at the cashout and as it turns out, mom and I got matching rings. Mine is white, hers is black.



It cost $4 and I threw it on today just before leaving for work. Since it's Friday, it was jeans day and as a plus- it was a half day! So, needless to say, I dressed casually, but put the ring on before leaving. Oh the comments I got! My students and coworkers ate it up. That 1 square inch of plastic sure made my day!

Even the pup likes it! The only thing is that it's quite awkward, so off it came when I got home. I'm greatful to that ring, though, for making me feel special!

Speaking of the pup...

I honestly don't know what D and I will do when we have a baby. This dog takes our lives and our love. She gets more "I love yous" each day than we do. She gets our snuggles and attention; I'm sure our butts would wiggle at the excitement of seeing her like hers does for us.

That girl and her fat lip that gets stuck between her teeth when she closes her mouth. She's really got us wrapped around her multicolored paws.

I appreciate

I appreciate dryers. Having an on the verge of breaking dryer for over a month has now gone ca-put has put a literal damper on our lives.

I appreciate my parents and parents-in-law. Everyone has come to the rescue since the dryer situation. My father in law came over to help us put our new dryer in, which needs a single, small part to save our lives from gas inhalation.

I appreciate generosity. Both my mother and mother-in-law invited us over to do laundry at their houses. I love the love in my life.

I appreciate clean clothes. 

Holy Sh*t That Hurt!!!!

It was so nice out today, so D and I were doing a lot of yard work. D was fixing the deck and I was doing flowers.

So I finished my stuff and was cleaning up. As I walked into the backyard when...... OUCH!!!!
I looked down and a NAIL WAS STICKING OUT OF MY FOOT! My flip flop was nailed to my foot!!

I pulled it out and ran to the deck to sit down. Did I mention the screaming to hubs "We need to go to the hospital!!!!! I need a tetnis shot!!!!!" My lovely husband calmly reminded me that I had the shot for work last year. He then directed me to the bathroom where I continued to hyperventilate and he suggested I wash my foot.

D called his parents and we drove to their house for peroxide since we didn't have any. Thank God my friend is nurse and she pointed me in the right direction on what to do, also.

Now here I sit, bandaid on foot, ice recently removed from foot, and tylenol on hand. So lesson learned, if you have to get stabbed by a nail do not get stabbed in the foot. It really hurts to walk.

I hope my principal okays me wearing tennis shoes tomorrow!

Great Debate

In trying to make my 4th grade class stay focused so late in the year, I am doing some different things. One report card mark is that students will write a position paper. Lame. I chose the topic of "Do boys and girls learn better together or seperately?" Before we started writing, the kids split into teams and they had to come up with arguments of why they think they should be separate or together.

So the debate began. One person stated their opinion, and hands shot up to disagree with him. Before that, I told the students they need to "respectfully disagree" with their classmate and give a reason why.

Each of my students started their debate sentence with "I respectfully disagree with you because..." It was awesome! I should probably mention that all of my students are bilingual and oral language is a challenge for many of them.

Their position papers turned out great, too. I loved it! I will miss these guys next year.

so sleepy

Well, as you might have figured out (and by "you," I mean the imaginary people in my mind that are reading this everyday) I am obsessed with my dog. We are sitting here snuggling on the couch while hubs is at softball once again. I was invited to watch him play, but since it's currently 43 degrees in MAY (grr) I declined. I'm also completely exhausted. I've been so sleepy since I got home from work. My eye lids feel like they are 10 pounds each. I think it will be an early night.

Something sweet...

Since it's so cold out I needed a hoodie so I got one of D's from the front closet. We found a centipede this morning and I've seen a bunch of spiders lately, so I was quite apprehensive about putting this hoddie on because I could only imagine spiders waiting to scare me from inside the sleeves. I gave D the hoodie to inspect jokingly and he put it on over his hoodie and said, "No spiders." It was so cute the way he did it. I just love him.

i don't have a title...

Tomorrow is my only nephew's 2nd birthday. He's so unbelievably cute.

Not only is he my only nephew, but he's also my God son.. pretty awesome. So his birthday party is tomorrow afternoon and I still need to buy his gift. He just got a bike and that would be too hard to beat! I should have really thought ahead, but that is something I haven't done in a while! As long as I have something by the party, I think it will be fine.

This cutie only has about 3 weeks left of being the only grandchild in the family since sis-in-law and brother are due for a baby in the beginning of June. Wahoo! I'm so excited. The only bad thing about hubby and I going on vacation is having to leave the new baby a week after he/she comes. They didn't find out what they're having, which is all the more exciting. I think it's a girl.

By the time their baby comes, hubby and I will know if we're having a little one too. It will be super fun if we are. I will find out maybe on Wednesday. That's a little early to take a test, but I probably will anyway.

Well I didn't expect that

I started "temping" because I'm a control freak last month. On babycenter, they kept yelling at everyone who didn't temp. I kind of do it wrong, though. You're supposed to take your temperature before even stepping foot out of bed. However, my morning routine goes as follows:

1. Alarm goes off
2. Let Soco out.
3. Take my temp. 

So to make this short story long, I will provide you with the details you might not care about, but that contribute to the story.

I got myself a cold on Sunday, and Monday, I added to that cold with a bladder infection. This made for no baby making. Plus, hubs had a softball game. So yesterday, we were planning on doing the deed since I felt so much better... But hubby came down with the flu or something. I was a little irritated and so was he. We didn't understand why we had to have such awful timing. This was prime baby making time, according to my new found temping.

So this morning, I dreadfully followed my morning pattern with a bit of irritation in my step and as I entered my information into the fancy website that figures out what all of your temps mean, it tells me my belly was ready to catch a swimmer on Sunday! This was very unexpected and I don't understand how it didn't tell me this on Monday, but it happening on Sunday was a good thing! ;-)

So anyway. I'm hoping that our timing was actually right. I guess we'll see in 9 days now when I test! I think I can, I think I can. (wait to test)

A day of pampering

This is a tradition I've been in on since Hubby and I got married. His mother, grandma, aunt and two girl cousins go out for mani/pedis and ice cream to celebrate mother's day.

At first, his cousin and I were both "not mothers" together, and the rest of the ladies were. Now, however, I am the only non-mother of the group. Last year, I sat awkwardly as the ladies read and exchanged their mother's day cards to one another. I didn't even bring any cards last year because I see Mom-in-law and grandma on Mother's Day. I felt so stupid! This year, mom-in-law called me and said that no one will be exchanging cards this year, only hugs. I'm thankful for that, but I hope it's not because I'm the odd one out.

Hopefully next year I will be able to be in on it, though! 


Speaking of, hubs was so cute last night. We were goofing around in the kitchen and he rubbed my belly and asked, "Do you think there's a little baby in there?" It kind of stinks to know that there is nothing "real" happening in there for a while, so it's not like I could actually be pregnant at this time. He doesn't really know all that stuff.

But I can tell he's just as excited as I am which makes me smile like crazy. He will be a good daddy.

The only thing that worries me is his stupid, stupid job. Many days he doesn't get home until 7 or 8 pm and I already worry about how a baby would be asleep by then and he wouldn't see him/her. It's hard to think about that.

ish

by Peter H. Reynolds

I recently read this story to my 4th graders. I realized how much I love "ish"

First, I have to tell you about this story.

A little boy named Ramon loves to draw. His brother, Leon, made fun of a vase he was drawing because it didn't look like the vase sitting at the table. Poor Ramon tried so hard to draw perfectly, and with each imperfection in a drawing, he crumpled his paper and tossed them to the side until he inevitably gave up.

He wanted to give up on his dreams, until his sister made him go into her bedroom and he finds the unexpected. (SPOILER ALERT) She has kept all of his crumpled drawings and posted them on her wall. He looks at his most recent and says it is not a vase. She says, "It's vase-ish." He begins to realize that all of his drawings are "ish" and he lives out his dreams being an artist-ish artist.

I then realized....

I'm wife-ish

I am certainly a wife, but I'm far from perfect! I complain to my hubby when I have to housework, and don't do it with pearls on. I don't make the bed and sometimes, I don't even make dinner. But I love my husband and I love having a home and a dog with him!

I'm daughter-ish:

I'm married. I have a house of my own. I have a grown up job. I want to have my own babies! But when it's my birthday, I still want my dad to call and sing me "Happy Almost Birthday" and I still need his hugs when I see him since they feel like home. I need to talk to my mom when I have a problem or when I don't, or even when I don't have something to say because last time we talked, I probably forgot to tell her what to most is insignificant, but to us is hilarious or sentimental, or somehow turns into a meaningful conversation. Yes, I'm 24, but I still need my mommy and daddy!

I'm mom-ish:
I take care of 27 kids each and everyday. I've ponied many ponytails, and tied many shirt ribbons, I've bandaided boo boos and hugged many sad and happy bodies. I've been called, "Mom...Oops, I called you mom!" lots of times and I take it as the biggest compliment. I spend 7 hours with someone else's kids each day. I've been told that "My mom forgot to wake up this morning so I made my own breakfast!" they say it with pride and I smile at them for feeling independent as a 9 year old but feel sad under my smile. (Then I feel extra thankful for my mom and dad for waking up each morning. Even until the day married my husband, my mom would sit in the living room with me as I ate my breakfast and drank my coffee before school and college classes. Dad did this sometimes too, but mom was there each morning with me!)

I'm happy to be "ish." Thank you Peter Reynolds for making "ish" feel so perfectly imperfect-ish.

Maybe someday we will see each other

Hubby and I have had horribly conflicting schedules lately. On Monday, he worked really late, he didn't get home until about 8:00. Tuesday I went out for drinks with my girlfriends, which was really fun, but I missed mr. hubby. Yesterday, hubs got home from work after 7 again, and my brother invited me for ice cream. Who can say no to ice cream!? Plus I got to see my nephew, who ended up being asleep on the couch when I got there. Too bad!

I thought we'd see each other today since he didn't work, but I had a meeting and he has a softball game.

Here I sit, snuggling with the best, cutest dog in the world.

She's the best snuggler. However, I sure do wish my husband was home with me. I kind of like him a lot.

Another thing is that he really needs to be around if we want to try to make a ball of cells to implant in me!! He's a pretty big part of that situation.

Container Garden

I did a little read about container gardens, and I totally want to do one this summer! I was thinking about planting some veggies on the side of the driveway, but couldn't stop thinking about bunnies eating them up. You would think since we have a dog, squirrels, birds and rabbits would try to steer clear of our backyard, but they seem to love it! Well, I have a great deck, and bunnies don't go up there, so I thought, why not make a container garden?!
 
^Not mine. :)                         ^Neither is this.

All I need now are some containers and I have to learn about how to take care of veggies. I will probably wait until after California to do this, so they don't die while I'm there.

Michigan also needs to realize that, Hello... it's spring. A daily high of 50 something is not going to fly. I need the sunshine. It will help me get through the day, and it will also provide the right criteria to bringing my class out for recess! They're driving me nuts this week!

count downs

I've got a countdown started. Who am I kidding, I've had a countdown since about 130 days until vacation!

All I can think about is sun, blue skies, palm trees and the sound of the ocean.

It's almost one month until our vacation to California, which means it's a little more than a month of work left until summer vacation, and hopefully I will growing a little peanut in my belly by this time too. If all goes according to plan, in a month, I will be freaking out to the hubs that I don't know how we will hide this from our friends while we are on our trip. What if I am nauseas while we are there? What if I get sick on the plane? Will they notice I'm not drinking? What should we buy at the store so I can make fake drinks? ...and if I'm already imagining up these questions, I am sure that I will have 100 more once the time arrives. If it arrives. ....hopefully it arrives!

 For now I will just sit back and imagine myself leaning back in my lounge chair

and looking at the lemon and lime trees that line the pool

and mostly just having some fun, getting away time with my favorite Mister. Sleeping in, eating the delicious mints on the pillow each night. Yes, we are staying at a place with delicious mints on the pillows. I think I would go back to this place just for that reason. The fact that it's fabulous in every other way is a plus too. ;o)

Ahh, sweet countdowns. How I love and hate you.

Where we started

After long, hard consideration, my hubby and I have decided we will start to try for a baby. Of course, as an over thinker, I had to start researching. It all started with

which had so much I wanted to know. It had information about nutrition before starting to try, calendars and calculators. Then I joined the group on this website so I could talk to others that are in the same situation and I could ask all my billions of questions with the anonymity would save me from embarassment and from anyone I know knowing that we are trying. Basically, the hubs and I want it to be our secret. No one needs to know and we don't need to hear the whole, "So, are you pregnant yet?"

I also have to thank all the lovlies on  who listened to even more of my "what should I do's" as hubby and I really decided if we would start this journey at this point.
I think these boards also saved my hubby from me constantly asking him, "I wonder" questions that he could not answer for me. :o) I recall many, "Why don't you ask that board?" replies from him.

Some very interesting things I have learned:
Holy moly, there are a lot of acronyms on baby boards!
  Your temperature has a lot to do with when you can become pregnant.
 You can actually drink for about 2 weeks after conception since you don't share a blood supply. I wouldn't, but it's interesting.
Saliva can kill sperm.
 There are many types of crazy when it comes to trying to conceive a baby.

Your imagination can certainly run wild when you start to think about what could be once you decide you want to start trying.

Right now, I will continue to imagine and bother my dear, dear husband with my hopeful, loud, obvious sighs that mean, "I can't wait until we have a baby." And he knows exactly what I mean when I do this sigh, so he rolls his eyes and smiles and says, "Ugggh, oh my gosh." And I'm pretty sure that when he does that, he's saying, "Yeah, me too." Even though he's being macho and manly and pretending to make fun of me.


So here I am. Making a blog so I can both record the events of the time of my life to come and to preoccupy myself in this waiting game called baby making. Happy reading to you and happy writing to me.