Vacation

Greetings from sunny Pennsylvania!  My right arm is twitching, has been for the past hour.  I don't know why that kind of stuff happens.  Like, why, two months ago, did I wake up to find two of my toes stuck together?  They've been touching ever since, where they previously did not.  But this is not the information I sat down to blog about.

We are up in PA hanging out with Grandpa, taking it easy.  We spent a few days down the Jersey shore soaking up sunshine, shaking out sand, wading in waves.  Days on the beach with Wawa hoagies, nights on the boardwalk with funnel cake and fries.  I am not eating with any kind of health-consciousness lately, by the way.  It's about fun-consciousness and/or nausea survival.  There are days I feel I cannot move and nights when I cry myself to sleep.  Pregnancy is tough on this mama.  My growing baby is about the size of a lime right now--totally adorable--and my belly is popping out like a coconut.  But this is not the information I sat down to blog about.

We saw a fox at the beach again.  This time he was walking down the road carrying a fish in his mouth!  We watched the sunset over the bay--the perfect way to celebrate the solstice.  I've got a tan, some extra freckles, and new memories to take me through the season.  I've got lots more family time to look forward to before we head home.  Hopefully my arm will stop twitching sometime soon.  Then I think we'll head over to Trexler Park today for some fresh air and frisbee.  Cool, yeah?

Big News

I lied about not much else going on.  The truth is that there's life going on, as in: life growing inside  me, as in: I'm going to have another baby!  Crazy, right?  My kids are 8 and just-about-5, and come winter time I'll have a newborn. 

I used to be dead-set against this idea; I was happy with two.  I got my body in good shape, transformed my inner life, and made some personal goals.  Motherhood was getting easier as the girls graduated toddlerhood and started school.  Life was good.  But then my mother-in-law passed away.  It was so terribly heart-breaking and sad.  Sitting in the funeral service I thought, Gee, big families are really nice, and I became open to the idea of making ours bigger. 

A few weeks ago, I left work for the day and absolutely had to have some chicken salad.  I was hungry, and I thought of chicken salad, and there was no stopping me.  I went to the grocery store,  bought a half pound, and ate the whole container.  I was talking on the phone with my sister at the time, and she asked, "Are you pregnant?" and I said, "Maybe. This is weird."  So two days later, on the last day of school, I went home and took a pregnancy test.  It showed an immediate positive. 

2012 has been about facing fears, and I can think of no bigger personal fear-facing challenge than being pregnant.  I do not like being pregnant for the headaches, nausea, and extreme fatigue that I'm experiencing.  And thinking about my last pregnancy and birth brings back painful memories.  So now, in these fearless times, I have an opportunity to trust, learn, accept support, and call on the wild feminine strength that I wasn't yet aware of five years ago. 

I'm already over eleven weeks into this.  The midwife gave me a due date of December 31st.  (So much for awareness--I was pregnant for two months without knowing it!)  We heard the heartbeat and saw a picture.  I'm already in love with the lil' peanut.  So that, dear readers, is what's really going on.

Summertime So Far

"Wolfie, bring me that bear!"  That's what I've been repeating for the last five minutes.  I love our dog.  It took no time for him to become part of our family.  It's summertime for our family, and Gershwin was right.  We're taking it easy this week, which is good because, frankly, I don't like taking it hard.  I know, I know...that's what she said.  Point is, I much prefer sitting in my living room playing with the dog to work and car pool and all that official business.  No offense, official business.  ("None taken," it replies as it tightens its necktie.  "Carry on with your bear-fetching tomfoolery; I have a meeting to attend.")  Soon we'll travel, take our dog and hit the highway north to see family and friends and waves and sand, but not before I get a haircut and a little blood work done.  Gotta fulfill my health insurance promise today and get some biometric screening.  Not looking forward to the needle entering my vein.  Haircut tomorrow--I am looking forward to the scissors shaping me up.  Rosie too, since she took the initiative to cut some of her own hair off last week.  Not much else going on, dearies, unless you count the perfectly ripe and juicy peaches and cantaloupe currently available.  Oh, and my recent desire to watch dumb sitcom reruns.  It's like I'm sincerely interested in the plots!  ("Wolfie, bring me that clicker!")

Cafeteria Nuggets of Wisdom

You know that feeling of stepping into a tub full of hot water?  It's the same as getting into a cold swimming pool, really--the extreme temperature change.  I always mutter, like I'm speaking in tongues.  It helps with the transition.  Ohlalalakooshalakalaka.  Something like that.  Or I'll add random actress names into my muttering, like Ohtadadahoocha-Reba McEntire-Swapadaily-Bonnie Hunt-Totolapahl-Cybill Shepherd-dddd.

I googled "Reba McEntire" just now in order to get the spelling of her name.  Weird.  Looks like it belongs in a McDonald's mission statement.  McTake over the McEntire McWorld with McFast McFood!   It's not how I would have guessed to spell her name.

So, I took a bath this evening with my Epsom salts and Japanese incense and brand new book by Martha Beck.  Have I told you lately that I love her?  She fills my heart with gladness.  Meanwhile, my dishwasher was running with nothing but a jar of vinegar in it, and my stove was running on the self-clean setting.  Still is.  It stinks.  These facts lead into my message of the day--the day before the last day of the school year--which is Things I Have Learned from being a Lunch Lady.  

1.  Being a Lunch Lady is hard work.  Lunch Ladies are not just squishy-armed women scooping up fluffy mashed potatoes.  They have muscles, chutzpah, and know-how.

2.  Students love tater tots.  I've mentioned this before.  And they would eat chicken nuggets everyday if given the option.

3.  My home, particularly my kitchen, is disgustingly dirty compared to our school kitchen.  Daily scrubbing of floors and biannual scrubbing of every inch of everything have brought me to this sad realization.  Hence the present dishwasher and oven cleaning.  If I take this realization to heart, I'll spend some time cleaning house next week.  (When I'm on break!  What?!  On Break!!!)

4.  I have become accustomed to the regular and comfortable use of the Southern contraction "ya'll" and have inevitably deepened my drawl.  Drawl, ya'll!  Howryu?  Goo-id, howryu?

5.  Summer break is good and necessary and well-deserved by teachers, students and Lunch Ladies alike.  It starts tomorrow, and it starts with a manicure.

Lunch Lady out.

Mojo Returning

I call it "Jenergy."  Because I recognized what was missing.  Because summer is drawing near.  My intention is to write a little bit everyday.  Today I submitted a story to three magazines to celebrate the return of inspiration and motivation.  Three magazines?  Three cheers!  Here's to the coming season.