Happiest Ten Months Ever!

My little boy is growing up so fast!

Jenny needs...

I saw this on one of my friend's blogs and thought it was kind of funny. Have you ever googled your name? Well, this is sort of similar. You go to Google and type your first name and then the word "needs" and then search. Here's what I need, according to the world wide web:

Jenny needs...
1. a roadbike
2. a job
3. space
4. help
5. some sleep
6. a good spanking

I actually agree with a couple of those.

What do you need?

Mother's Day

Jared at about 4 months

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. It was my first real one. We had a wonderful time with our families. My husband is so good to me--he was the main chef at our big family dinner!

Last year Alan wrote me a beautiful sonnet for Mother's Day. I was pregnant at the time. He is a very talented poet, and I enjoy the romantic that he is. I'd like to share it with you. (You English critics should appreciate the iambic pentameter and rhyme scheme!)


How wonderful that special thrill I feel
To know that our pure love will never cease.
I marvel at this bond we share: so real,
So pure, so true. Can anything increase
Our happiness and harmony complete?
God's gift of life will cause our love to grow
As we behold the marvelous and sweet
Miracle of birth. We will come to know
Far greater joy than we can comprehend
As we devote our hearts and hands to him--
Our precious son. This love will never end,
But saturate our souls up to the brim.
Dear, I cannot comprehend another
Joy so grand as seeing you a mother.

Recurring Dream

Last night it happened again.

I get called in to the principal's office. No, I'm not in trouble. The school is short on teachers. They know it's last minute, but they would really love it if I would take the last available position. Please? Okay, I say. When does school start? Next week, they say. My heart starts beating a little faster.

I go and talk to the department chair. What classes am I going to teach? Geometry. Great. I haven't taught geometry since I was a student teacher, and the textbooks are new. I go to talk to my mentor teacher. She taught geometry last year. I ask to borrow her outlines and lesson plans so I can start to prepare. What lesson plans? she asks. I sigh.

I start to make a mental list of everything I need to do: find my classroom, put up my bulletin boards, write a disclosure document, make thousands of photocopies. . . I start to panic. Then suddenly I remember that I am a mother and I have to figure out what I am going to do with my child since I spontaneously agreed to teach again!

The dream sometimes ends here. Or, it will take me all the way to the first day of school where I realize that I am still dreadfully unprepared. I wonder how long these "nightmares" will continue. I used to have them all summer long when I actually was a teacher, and I sort of figured that they would end when I "retired." Hmm. I guess I will take this one over the recurring dream I had when I was little. No, it did not have E.T. in it, but it did have those freaky green pig-looking creatures from Star Wars. I will spare you the details.

Do you have any recurring dreams?

Cute Video

I really wanted to post a YouTube Video to my blog, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. So I will have to send you here to see it. However, it is darling! It is a cute little 2-year-old girl singing the Lord's Prayer. (I don't think that the tape my family has of me singing "I am a Child of God" when I was two comes even close!) Watch it to the end! (Thanks to my mother-in-law for sending it to me.)

Graduation!!!

Last weekend we went to Alan's graduation. It was a little weird, since he actually finished in December and has been working these past few months. However, it was nice to get some closure to our college life, and it was special since he got to walk with his sister (and my dear friend) Amanda. We will always have fond feelings for our alma mater, but we are both glad that this chapter in our lives is finally over.


Congratulations, Master Alan!

I'd rather be a...

Here's some random fun: on our cruise Alan made up a game that kept us entertained for longer than I'm willing to admit. Most of you probably know the Simon and Garfunkel song that includes lines such as "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail. Yes, I would..." Anyway, we spent an evening or two coming up with alternative lines that would rhyme with that one. We pretty much exhausted every letter of the alphabet, but here are a few of my favorites.

I'd rather be a minnow than a whale
I'd rather be a woman than a male
I'd rather be a shovel than a pail
I'd rather be from Harvard than from Yale (no offense to my Peacock friends!)
I'd rather be the whiskers than the tail
I'd rather be a Nancy than a Gayle
I'd rather go to heaven than to "hale"
I'd rather be a sandstone than a shale
I'd rather be expensive than on sale
I'd rather get a passing than a fail
I'd rather eat fresh-baked instead of stale
I'd rather be quite tan instead of pale
I'd rather be in prison than in jail (???)
I'd rather be a pigeon than a quail
I'd rather find the lost ark than the Grail

Ha, ha! I'm laughing as I type them. Can you top any of these?