Friday, September 19, 2008

A Little Bit of Fall

It's been beautiful here in Garland this past week, almost fall like. Today I had the privilege as a science teacher to take my students out for them to relish in the sunshine! We recently started a garden at school and the students will be the main ones in charge of maintaining it. They will be in the club called the Ethridge Discovery Garden Engineers. We took the opportunity today to go out and sit in the garden soak up some sunshine, it was wonderful.

Daily life is good. I'm not getting as sick as I used to. Morning sickness has almost replaced my evening sickness episodes. I'm proud to say that there is no throwing up just lots of nausea or an overall feeling of blahness (if that's a word). Thursday is my next appointment and I'm hoping we'll be able to hear a heartbeat on the doppler machine. I'm taking mine as well to see if it will pick up one too. Then we'll be headed to OKC to visit the family for Grandpa's birthday on Friday.

All in all it's been very busy here but busy with things that take up time and not necessarily worth writing about.

I did go to a giant baby sale a couple of weeks ago with friends and found a stroller/carseat combo for about half the price it retails for in stores. It also matches my pack and play that I bought for Olivia when she comes to visit. So our first 'real' piece of baby gear, it was a very exciting purchase!

Tomorrow will be 11 weeks! It's amazing how time flies!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Reflection on my day and perhaps my life......


What a day it has been! As you all know I love to sleep in and don't worry this morning I had the opportunity to do that until Isabelle (the cat) wanted to be outside and my bladder wanted to be emptied. However, that was when the good day ended. Forget morning sickness, today I had all day sickness! I've eaten, I've napped, I've drank lemonade, I've taken tums, ginger, and don't worry I've had my daily movement. It's still here even at 9:30 at night. I'm hoping I go to bed and tomorrow morning the sickness is gone - at least this episode. I'm well aware that at about 8pm every night it will return but no more of this all day stuff PLEASE!!!

Anyway, since I was laid up all day I did get the chance to read the chapter for the classes I'm taking. If you don't know, I'm finishing up my last semester at Texas A&M - Commerce to receive my Administrator's Certificate. This will allow me to become a principal when the time is right. So of my last two classes one of them is my internship (i.e. on some days I get to pretend to be a principal at school) and the other is more like a reflection class to sum up all of the other classes I've taken over the past 2 1/2 years.

We're currently reading the book Caring Enough to Lead by Leonard Pellicer (see above). This weeks chapter really hit home for me. Each week we have to write a reflection about the chapter. Although you haven't read the book I think you'll get the gist of what the author is talking about as you read my reflection for this week:

This chapter discusses the importance of finding acts to let us know we are on the path to becoming the person that we want to become. I agree with the author, we need to take the time to reflect on the reasons we do the things we do and say the things we say to those around us. I feel the people that deserve the most attention from us are sometimes short changed due to our busy schedules.
This chapter really hit home for me. Most of my family lives in Oklahoma City and I get the opportunity to visit them about once a month. Why not more often? The reasons are endless and perhaps not so worthwhile. This summer we learned that my grandfather is dying from pancreatic cancer. The number of visits have not increased but the time I spend with him on those visits has. The author mentioned he continued to visit Bob monthly because “the monthly visits restored a little dignity to Bob, by somehow acknowledging that this wonderful human being still existed somewhere inside that spent body.” As I reflected on this statement I began to wonder if this is why I continue to visit my grandfather. “It can’t be,” I thought to myself. The self reflection began. My grandfather instilled in all of us that we could do anything we put our mind to. He never questioned why I first chose a male dominated career or when I changed careers, why I became a teacher. He knew I had thought it all out and these decisions would make me happy. He never questioned. This ‘signpost’ of him getting cancer has made me reflect on whether or not I am on my chosen path to becoming the human being that I want to become. Sometimes reflection is hard, yet I must remember “that it’s all about the journey, not the destination”.