happy birthday, plummer!

i hope zoey either comes today or that the hospital gets cable because there's a Boston series this weekend. heehee.

it would be great if Zoey decided today was the day and she shared a birthday with MJP over at the nerd hut. Mike is seriously one of my favorite people in the world. Without he and Emily our Baltimore experience would have been seriously lacking in good times. And I never would have been able to witness the awesomeness of mike and nick playing crossbows and catapults: the late night intoxication version - which is VERY intense. You just don't meet people like the Plummers very often in life and it was very lucky that we did. The sad thought is, we may never live in the same town again, but it was such a fun time when we did that we will all be friends forever, and for that I am so grateful.

April 2004::

Cinco de Mayo

I wasn't actually sure what Cinco de Mayo celebrated, although I was pretty sure it was celebrating Mexican freedom. WRONG. I'm such a gringo! Thankfully, wikipedia informed me all about Cinco de Mayo which is basically the Mexican-American's version of St. Patrick's Day. A celebration of culture. I wish there were a parade in Binghamton for it. :/

It's also Jay Koz's birthday so if Z were born today she would share with him. Who knows what will happen...she's on her schedule and I'm just along for the ride.

Although I can't wait for her to arrive I also have been thoroughly enjoying my early morning peace. Perusing facebook updates, drinking my tea and eating my delicious corn flakes and home-made granola cereal. oh yeah, my new fave!! I have wanted to make my own granola for a year but was too preoccupied with other things to take the time to do it. Then I found the easiest recipe ever and tried it. delicious! or since it's cinco de mayo i suppose i should say "es muy delicioso!"

You can find the recipe here.

cousin o' mine.

My littlest cousin is 5 today! heehee. I love having a cousin who is 25 years younger than me - it's fun to play cut throat CandyLand - you can't do that with your 3 year old students. I would never chant "peanut brittle! peanut brittle!" in hopes that one of my students would have to move back, because that's just not behavior you want to model...but with E. it's different because he's a Miller, he's tough. He gives it right back and it's okay because we're cousins, I'm no authority figure. It rocks.

So, if Zoey is born today she will share a birthday with E. I share a birthday with his oldest brother N. (18 years apart on that one). It's also Seth H-V's birthday! We'll just have to wait and see... :)

lazy blogger

I've been off for a month and haven't blogged. As you can see, I changed the look of my page but haven't been inspired to write. I use most of the little energy I have picking up the house, doing the endless dishes and then I sit down and read the 40 other blogs that I love to read.

Today is Zoey's due date. I'm not banking on her arrival - and hoping she doesn't come until I at least finish this load of laundry, it has some serious essentials in it. :)

I hope I never become housebound. The past week I have had little energy to do much outside of the house. Luckily, my sister moved back and kept me company at the end of the week and I had some visitors at the beginning of the week. However, it's not about the lack of contact with people it's just being inside these walls day after day without being able to tackle big projects. It makes me realize just how lucky I am to have my health, even whatever variation of it I have now. I can't wait to get back on my Wii and walking and hiking and jogging! Especially hiking and kayaking. I hope I can get up to the lake this summer and kayak around. In our birthing classes when they told us to well, basically go to our happy place, I just thought about being in a kayak, alone on Chase Lake.

i'll just have to wait...i'm getting really good at it...

Easter

Here's to renewal, rebirth, forgiveness, fresh starts, blooming flowers, buzzing bees, the bursts of leaves but mostly... baseball. ♥

Let's go Yankees!

week 35

my life ticks by in weeks until the due date of my daughter. this week is my last week at work. With such impeccable timing spring break is the first week in april and I am taking 3 weeks before my due date off as I have enough vacation time to do so. Thank God. Being a preschool teacher is exhausting so is being pregnant. Doing both is ridiculous especially now at the end of this pregnancy.

How weird to be so close to the end of my second year of teaching. How different this year has been than last. On so many levels.

It is going to be very hard to say good-bye to my students this week but at the same time it will be such a relief. I am normally such a hard-worker and hands on teacher always running around with the children and getting down on their level. Racing on the playground, pulling the children in wagons. Now I am like a big blob. Obviously, there is reason behind this but it's annoying. It will be a relief to know my co-teacher has someone who is physically able to help her. Also, it will be a relief not to feel like I'm letting the children down when I tell them I can't do something because my body isn't able any more. Selfishly it will be a relief to just lay on my couch and be exhausted for a little bit cuz that ain't happenin' for a long time after Z comes!!

baseball and birthing...

My mom told me one of my favorite "tiny kate" stories last night. It the one where I come home from being born in the hospital and she and my dad put me on the card table to watch the world series. That was back when the world series was in the beginning of October. That year it actually began on Oct 10 (day of my birth)... is it no wonder that baseball is the most soothing thing on Earth to me?

So, yeah I purchased The New York Yankees Fall Classic Collector's Edition 1996 - 2001 DVD set to take to the hospital in lieu of "relaxing music" for labor. I don't care what your opinion is about this idea. I love it. It refocuses my attention to something and that is the point of soothing music or whatever right? You're supposed to go to your happy place? Well, my happy place is wherever the Yankees are playing. If you know me, you may remember back in 2004 when I was having debilitating panic attacks. There were only 2 remedies: milk and Yankees games. Seriously. My poor inlaws were kind enough to listen to a midday game the entire way from Binghamton to the Albany airport that August.

We start our final baby class this week: birthing. I don't want to go. I am so fricken tired of baby stuff. I want to go crash a graduate English course at BU. A year ago 3/15 I started my Master's Thesis which was about a billion times harder and more interesting. Plus no one gave me that knowing look or an annoying comment when I was writing my thesis. I have to start writing again or doing something intellectual. (and don't you dare tell me "good luck with that, you'll have a newborn soon" I swear to the HP...seriously.) my soul is withering away...but it's march so i guess this is the annual sh*tstorm before the joy of spring...