Yellow Wallpaper

I think we're down to weekly updates on this blog; I keep meaning to write more frequently but it just isn't happening right now. I'm still working on prioritizing my time well and getting enough sleep. Generally things are still going along pretty well here. This week was busy with some visiting teaching, soccer practice and games, a Relief Society meeting where I taught a class, and a quick trip for the baby to the doctor to get her ears checked for infection. She did have an infection (and lots of wax) in both ears, but the antibiotic seems to be clearing things up. We checked her weight while we were there at the doctor and she is now over 14 pounds--a good sign that extra calories are helping her grow. As of this week she is officially weaned and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it. I know my body made the decision for me, more or less, but it seems a little sad nonetheless. Yesterday I spent the morning at a conference for adjunct instructors and I ...

I'll be honest and say that going to church for the last little while has been hard. I've been tired and stressed, and even though I like 9 o'clock in the morning as a starting time, we've ended up with 9 o'clock for several years in a row now through moving and I'm kind of tired of it (yes I'll change my mind in January when we start at 1:00). We stayed out too late on Saturday and I just didn't feel like getting there yesterday morning. Then we got to the meeting late and found it was completely packed with visitors. I found us a few seats on the back row and we squeezed in. The first meeting was hot and uncomfortable, and then Sunday School was moderately successful except for the fact that I can't hold a Bible and a squirmy baby at the same time. Besides the fact that the kids love Primary, I also mainly went because I like my job playing the piano for Relief Society. This week the opening song was "The Lord is My Light", and as I start...

Thanks for all the support on my whiny rant the other day. Teaching and everything else this new school year has really knocked my ego down a bit lately. After spending some time thinking about things I have come to be reminded (again) that it is good and necessary for our lives to get shaken up every so often in order to help us grow. I'd much rather have my current stresses than some of the ones I have experienced in the past. Nothing going on right now is really too unmanageable. It's just that the solutions tend to be things I dislike: prioritizing, cutting back on extra things, going to bed on-time, and focusing on the 'best' rather than the 'good' or 'better'. I hope that I can use this experience to polish off some of my rough edges. I've been avoiding posting for a few days in order to get in a better mood. Thursday wasn't any better than Wednesday was. I still felt awful from my cold and spent most of the busy day with a sinus headache....

Starting teaching this year has really done a number on my psyche; I think I'm struggling because things were going well for quite a while and I felt like my life was in control and not too full. Plus I have not been giving myself enough sleep. I need to sleep or things get crazy. Don't ask me why I am blogging instead of going to bed like I should. Maybe because reaching out to other people helps me feel better. I'm also hoping that shaking this cold that has been plaguing my entire family (myself included) will improve my mood. I can tell when my brain isn't doing well because I start obessing over things instead of doing something about them. First of all, I feel like a constant refrain for the last year or so is "Little Dude is driving me crazy". He is really clingy and I have a hard time getting him to entertain himself much. I'm discovering that the hardest part of having S-Boogie do so many activities is dealing with a four-year-old who won't ge...

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell It was interesting to read this book so soon after finishing Middlemarch , since they both cover similar social issues during a similar time period. They are, however, very different from each other in many ways. I had never really heard of Gaskell or her work until a few years ago and my impression is that she is not studied nearly as much as other similar writers like George Eliot, the Brontes, or Jane Austen. I think that's a shame because this is an excellent book on many levels: romance, social commentary, political and feminist criticism, etc. I think I need to read more of Gaskell's work to see if it is all as good as this one. One Small Boat by Kathy Harrison This was a book that caught my eye at the library. It was a nicely-written memoir about one woman's experience as a foster parent; she writes so lovingly about the children she took care of that it almost convinced me to become a foster parent. At the same time, she is hone...

Yes, we've still been plugging away at our countries project. It's been a bit more difficult as our schedules have gotten busier, but the kids love talking about different countries and I think they're learning stuff. We ended up skipping the letter L entirely; sorry Laos, Luxembourg, Latvia, and Lithuania! Mexico: We actually already know quite a lot about Mexico, but it was fun for the kids to learn even more. We read several books, including this one , this one , and this one . For dinner I made frijoles (in the crockpot ) that we ate with fresh salsa, queso fresco , and corn tortillas that the kids helped me make. I also made some flan for a treat and we ended up watching the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua since it mostly takes place in Mexico. Not that anything in the movie is remotely accurate as far as Mexico goes, but the kids thought it was great. Mongolia: The library only had one picture book about Mongolia, but at least it was a good one and S-Boogie wanted...

The first day of school was a week ago, and I'm barely finding time to blog now. I'm sincerely hoping that the beginning of next semester is not so crazy. Starting a course more or less from scratch has taken up a massive amount of my time. I've also realized that the last time I taught we only had two kids and Mr. Fob was in school and not working full-time. That being said, he has been a big help and we are so blessed that he has a flexible, at-home job. I'm becoming more and more convinced that outsourcing is a great way to strengthen families--and it helps the environment because there is no commute (but that's a post for another day). I teach at eight and nine in the morning and I usually get home a little after ten o'clock. I just get up, get ready, nurse the baby, and go. Mr. Fob gets the kids ready, sends S-Boogie out the door to school, puts the baby down for a nap, gets Little Dude a video, and then goes to work about 9:00. So far things have gone smoo...