gbellamy76

I remember fondly the days when I would snuggle back into bed after a late Saturday breakfast and spend hours reading and relishing the feel of my pillows and comforter.   Pregnancy has taken away my love affair with my bed.  I now dread the thought of another long night, and usually spend the night partly in bed, partly on the couch, and partly in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal and writing in my journal or reading the latest issue of Parenting. 

 I’ve heard this is all God’s way of preparing me for nights of waking to feed my little one.  Maybe that’s true, but I have to think that even when I am waking every few hours with the baby, the sleep in between has to be better than what I am getting now.  Or maybe I’m just a dreamer.

 My husband and I are eagerly awaiting the arrival of this little one.  We can’t wait to see this baby, rather than watch it slosh around in my belly.  We have names picked which are strictly top-secret, but which have made me even more excited about what is to come.  I am in the midst of one of those rare places in which you can actually see almost every part of your life changing before your eyes.  It’s terrifying and completely wonderful.

The person who invented this proverb must have never been pregnant.  At 16 weeks, my closet is slowly filling with other women’s maternity clothes and my mind is swimming with offers of baby furniture.  I am grateful for this sisterhood of mothers that I am now entering.Unexpectedly I find myself walking through the delightful experience of suddenly having a deepened relationship with women I have know for years.

 School is a mere two days away.  Today was the designated “sit down and plan out the week” day, but I have been invited to two cook-outs within the past 12 hours.  The perfectionist planner in me tells me to stay home and sit at my kitchen island with my books and papers in hopes of a well-organized week of teaching.  But the big-picture socializer, with a slightly louder voice, tells me that I should go enjoy the company of people I enjoy before the craziness of school starts.  A dilemma to be sure.

I flew in Sunday night around 11 o’clock after a very long day, including a traffic jam on 287 in NY and a four hour layover in Detroit. I am enjoying games of Candy Land and creative moments involving playdough with my 2 1/2 year old namesake and her big bro. Their mom and I went for coffee and cheesecake last night, for old times sake. I am 12 weeks, 3 days pregnant now and doing heavy duty maternity clothes shopping before school starts. Lots of snacking and lots of naps are my survival keys. I will fly back home tomorrow to my wonderful husband who dislocated his finger playing softball last night, thus further substantiating my theory that no good can come from sports. I am loving August.

It’s a strange thing to wake up and realize that the summer institute- my last summer institute- is done.  I’m thrilled to have time to sleep- and hopefully have time to do all of those things that have been hanging over my head for a month now- get the oil changed, my hair cut, review those new reading and language curriculums, finally finish that cross-stitch I started for a friend’s baby three years ago.  But I am also sad that it ended.  This summer was magic for me.  It’s been an amazing ride.

We’re spending our second-to-last afternoon in an air conditioned lab in the science building. The scientists get air conditioning; the teachers don’t. This is actually wise since most of us will be spending September in classrooms that are a similar temperature. This helps to avoid environmental shock to our systems.

Can’t wait to post some of my writing. Maybe I’ll start with my news article from today. Or maybe that “how-to” piece that I started. We shall see. . . .