Thankful Tuesday

• My tulips are almost blooming! I absolutely adore tulips, so this is always a favorite time of year for me. I was so disappointed a couple of years ago when a spring hail storm destroyed all of my tulips after they'd only been out for one day. Hopefully this year I'll get to enjoy them longer!
  
  
• Taxes are done, e-filed, and accepted. That's always such a relief. I am so thankful for the software programs that make it as painless as possible. Unfortunately software programs can't substitute for a brain that's fully functional. I messed up and only caught it today after already submitting them. So now I have to file amended returns for both federal & state. And those have to be printed & mailed, so I'll finish them tomorrow, since the mail has already come today. I'm still thankful that they're (mostly) done, and that I caught my mistake before getting too excited over getting money back (and more importantly, before I was late and owed penalties or anything).
  
  
• I made L some banana buttermilk muffins over the weekend. They're low-fat, and low-cholesterol too if I remember correctly, made with half whole-wheat flour. He LOVED them. I may have to see if I can continue to nudge the percentage of whole-wheat flour up and see if/when he complains. He might not ever; he loves whole-wheat. And I love that I can bake treats for him that are much healthier for him than typical bakery items.

Making My Home A Haven

I missed joining in last week when Tammy first took over Making Your Home a Haven, but this week she's talking about getting to bed on time.

Not that that's something I ever struggle with. (snort.)

Since writing that post a few weeks ago, I'm doing better as I pay attention to the time and don't let myself get distracted in the evening. Recognizing that in order to be in bed ready to sleep by 10:30, I need to back everything else up and think about how long it takes me to get ready for bed, how long to wrap up whatever I'm doing, etc. I try to really start thinking about heading towards bed at 9:30, and 10:00 is my absolute get-myself-moving deadline.

And it works. Amazingly enough. I've managed to wake up shortly after 7:00 without an alarm almost every day - weekends included. I seem to need significantly more sleep currently so I'm going to gradually see if I can nudge that wakeup time earlier without it demanding a bedtime any earlier than 9:30; anything earlier than that just doesn't work well if I want to spend any time with L in the evening.

I think the pregnancy is not only causing me to need more sleep, but also to have a shift in the timing for my energy levels - used to be that I was much more productive in the late afternoon/evening. Now, I find that I have better luck tackling stuff earlier because after about 5:00 I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally. This is also motivation for me to get out of bed and start working in the morning - I got lots done last Saturday before noon and I think most of the credit goes to the fact that I got up at 7:15 and got right into my morning routine.

And now, on that note, it's definitely time for me to get to bed!

Monday night/Tuesday morning update:
Was in bed by 10:30, although not really ready to sleep until 10:45 or so. I did sleep as well as I ever do now, and woke up without the alarm at 6:50. Got up immediately too, thanks to my need to visit the bathroom which keeps me from lazing about in bed too long.

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning update:
In bed on time, and although I didn't sleep well I still woke up before the alarm at 6:45.

Wednesday night/Thursday morning update:
Yeah, not in bed on time at all. More like 11:30 - I made a phone call when I should have been making my way to bed and then I talked for much too long. Then I compounded this by reading for another half hour before finally heading to bed. Still woke up at 6:30 though somehow. (Somehow in this case was definitely due to the shrinking bladder space)

Memory Verse

Acts 4:12, New International Version

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Weekly Menu Plan

Sunday - Out for a big lunch, so we'll just have leftovers or sandwiches for dinner.

Monday - Beef, mushroom and barley soup. With sourdough bread.

Tuesday - Homemade pizza (or that turkey tart I never have made yet).

Wednesday - Bacon pasta with lots of fresh mushrooms.

Thursday - Black bean soup, if it's cold enough, or black bean quesadillas if the temperature is too high for soup.

Friday - Leftovers/sandwiches/scrounge.

Week Twenty-Six

This was probably my favorite week of pregnancy so far. I felt pretty good, I had enough energy to get stuff done, and I managed to not feel like a complete slacker at work (like I have since, oh, November.) My productivity at work this last week probably eclipsed December and January combined.

I still can't really believe that I'm ending the second trimester. I feel like I had a 5-month first trimester and a 1-month second.

This week also brought my first Braxton-Hicks contraction! And it sure was a lot of fun, what with instantaneously doubling me over wondering what on earth was going on. Then when it ended I realized what it was.

I think I've been forgetting to mention one fabulous thing I've been experiencing just about every day (multiple times a day really) since I don't remember when exactly. Heartburn. Major, flaming, searing heartburn. From eating anything. Or nothing sometimes.

I've noticed that the baby has some definite preferences. Specifically, he does NOT like me sleeping on my left side. Or even attempting to sleep on my left side. Or curling up on that side, as if I might be thinking about possibly trying to sleep. He will KICK KICK KICK if I'm on my left side. When I'm on my right, he has gentler kicks. On my left side, he gets progressively firmer with them, and more frequent. Then when I finally give up and roll over, he quits. He's won, so no more need to kick (or punch, or elbow, or whatever it is exactly he's doing). The nice thing is that it's an easy way to let L feel some baby movement - stretch out on that side, relax, and within 5 minutes he'll make his presence known. Apparently he hasn't read the baby books and websites that state that lying on my left side is best for him.

The biggest news from the week though has to be that I'm registered finally (much to the relief of L's family). Babies 'R Us, Target, and Amazon even. Lots & lots of stuff it seems like. It was ... kinda fun? But exhausting still, and I am so not a shopper, that even registering is too much in many ways.

Thankful Tuesday

• We've made good progress on L's office. And by we, I mean 90% of it is L, if not 95%. It has to be cleared out enough to make room for me to move my desk & file cabinet & book case in to join him. Then we'll be able to set up the baby's room in what was my office.
  
  
• Plans for a last-trip-before-baby are being finalized and I am really looking forward to it. We're headed for Texas! I need to figure out some more specifics (minor little things like where we'll stay and such) but what I've spent more time on is looking at places to eat. I've already warned L that I plan to eat my weight in Tex-Mex, so he'd better be prepared. And then I'll eat his weight in Blue Bell ice cream.
  
  
• I'm registered! I went to a couple of stores yesterday with my mother-in-law and spent forever, but I'm registered. Still need to straighten up the registries a bit (finding items cheaper at the second store so I want to get them off the first store's list etc), but I'm mostly done with that. And a good thing because L's family was about to riot if I didn't get the info to them.

Week Twenty-Five

Pretty much the same as last week. Although I've been forgetting to mention the horrific HEARTBURN that I'm experiencing every single day, and have been for several weeks. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, how much I eat, or when I eat. I will get heartburn.

I bought maternity clothes this week. Haven't worn them yet, but I've got two pairs of pants that I can wear to work (black and brown; the brown isn't a shade I'd usually pick since I like more of a true khaki, but I can't be that picky), and six shirts. One of the shirts is 3/4 length sleeves so I won't want to wear it once it's full summer, but it was on major clearance so I bought it anyway. I'd like to get a few more shirts that will be ok for work, and for our upcoming trip. That's my real wardrobe concern right now - that I have enough clothes to get me through this vacation without demanding a visit to a laundromat. Hopefully I'll cobble together enough items to manage it.

I've also started to really think about what all I need to get done at work before I leave, which might seem a little early, but considering how fast time is flying by, probably not. Especially since I hope to stop working at least one week before my due date, and preferably two or three. We'll see if I can manage that...

My View on the NT Use of the OT

NT Use of the OT -- Test Your View!

Single Meaning, Multiple Contexts and Referents view You seem to be most closely aligned with the Single Meaning, Multiple Contexts and Referents view, a view defended by Darrell L. Bock in the book “Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament” (edited by Kenneth Berding and Jonathan Lunde, Nov. 2008). This view affirms the singular nature of the meanings intended by the OT and NT authors when OT texts are cited in the NT. In spite of this essential unity in meaning, however, the words of the OT authors frequently take on new dimensions of significance and are found to apply appropriately to new referents and new situations as God’s purposes unfold in the larger canonical context. Often, these referents were not in the minds of the OT authors when they penned their texts. For more info, see the book, or attend a special session devoted to the topic at the ETS Annual Meeting in Providence, RI (Nov. 2008); Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Darrell L. Bock, and Peter Enns will all present their views.

Fun quizzes, surveys & blog quizzes by

I will be completely honest. I've got what I think is fairly good Bible knowledge, although my knowledge of theology is quite scanty (which is why I'm working to strengthen it). That might explain why I'm not completely sure what this is saying precisely, and whether or not it correctly reflects my view on the NT use of the OT. I'm feeling somewhat ignorant right now.

Thankful Tuesday

• That I have a slew of PTO days still available. I used one yesterday and I think I'm going to use another one tomorrow. I am so glad I've been stockpiling them for years.
  
  
• L moved the dresser and one bookcase as I continue to work on my closet. They both fit perfectly.
  
  
• The weather has been absolutely beautiful here lately. I'm enjoying being able to open the windows and get fresh air in the house.

This might be a sign that I'm nesting.

This weekend I was supposed to work on our taxes. I didn't. Instead I tore into my closet and have purged and cleaned and rearranged like I finally had some real energy. Oh, wait, I did finally have some real energy. I had to intentionally pace myself since I knew my energy level was higher than what my back could actually take (and I should have paced myself more carefully).
Let me first explain. My closet is HUGE. It extends the length of the master bedroom which is generously sized. Hanging rod all down the long side, and wrapped around the corner. The shorter side has 3 long shelves and a dresser.

The closet is so big it became a problem - I'd kept it fairly organized until our big bathroom remodel last year. During that undertaking, the closet that was in the bathroom (L's closet) had to be emptied, along with all the bathroom items. Everything got shoved into my closet. Once the remodel was completed, L had a closet again, but it was much tinier than before, so some things had to remain in my closet. And then I just couldn't deal with it so I ignored it. And what was bad became much much worse.

Until I finally couldn't take it anymore. I had to rearrange things to make room for the bookcase from my office; it's the best place to put it and once it's tidied there will be plenty of room. And then I just got on a roll. I went through every drawer in the dresser and purged. I went through my lingerie cabinet and purged (oh, how I purged there. I had some really ratty undies that should have been tossed ages ago). I found lots of random things that had been tossed in there and now are going into the trash or on to Goodwill if they're usable.

I've got the space cleared for the bookcase. Now I just have to empty the bookcase so L can move it. I even cleared additional space so the dresser can shift down and an additional bookcase can take that spot. Yes, we have a lot of bookcases in our house, because we have a lot of books. I am so thrilled with this.

It's not completely done; I've got to sort the luggage and figure out a better way to store it. First though I need to figure out how much luggage we really need. There are several pieces that I don't think we'll ever use, but I'll see what L thinks first. Then one of those shelves has some items that can probably be purged. It's mostly language books (as in, French/German/Italian/Spanish/ASL) but surely I can acknowledge that at this point in my life, I am not using them and am not going to be using them. Well, most of them anyway. That's going to be hard.

I'll try and get a picture of the new-and-improved closet once I get the luggage stowed. Currently it's spread out in groups - duffle bags / garment bags / rolling suitcases / totes, etc.