geek

i have been a geek most of my life..... although i have tried to hide it at various times, it usually creeps up and shows itself no matter what i try. right now i have become what i consider a "baby-geek," reading and studying all i can on having a baby, what is best for a baby, and how to raise a baby. i guess i should, seeing that i am starting my 3rd trimester any day now, and well it seems inevitable that i will have to give birth sometime in the not-so-distant future. there is just so much to find out, and to be completely honest, up to last fall, i never really cared about it! i had loads of friends who had babies of their own, and i loved to see them... i just didn't want to know any of the details! bottle vs. breast, natural childbirth vs. c-section... it was all the same to me! but now i care, i care alot because it is happening to ME and my baby......
so if i talk to you on the phone or by email, i may bore you with my research into cloth diapers, what sling or car seat i want, or why attachment parenting is great. i am sorry, and i won't say it will go away anytime soon... i will be a mom now FOREVER, so it will probably get worse. just tell me to shut up or yawn really big in my face.
and to my friends who have kids, and i was uninterested and i changed the subject on you.... sorry!!!! NOW i understand!

nesting

yep, that nesting instinct has really kicked in, and it seems that i do not really want to go too far from the house or garden. i am also completely obsessed with getting everything ready for the baby, and i still have 3 months to go! yeah, i know it seems like a long time, but after waiting for 6 months to get to this point, it feels to me like july will be here tomorrow! and all of you who know me.... well i can be a control freak and i like to get things done today!!! balance that with the gestation process, and you can understand a little of the battle that is going on in my hormone infested brain.

we had friends visiting from the states last weekend. i taught with Mike and Mary at FGHS, and they came to Scotland for about 5 days. it was nice to catch up and take them around to some of the local sights (this picture is from the roof of the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh). visitors always have that way of reminding you of how good you got it; you get to see your daily surroundings from a new viewpoint and i love that! one of the highlights of their jaunt over here was a dinner that we had in edinburgh with 4 former students. it was slightly weird for all of us to be here together in Scotland, but at the same time it felt completely normal. so often i have students that i adore and i wonder what will become of them when they get out into the big bad world, will they make it? will they become what i know they have the capability to be? i mean, i knew these kids kicked ass when they were 15, and here they are all grown up and just as amazing as they were then. i am so proud of them, and am glad that i got to play just a little part in their lives.

see, this pregnancy thing really makes you sappy!

spring break

the states has nothing on the UK's 'Easter Break' .... the kids here get 2.5 weeks off! imagine all the trouble that could be caused in the states if that was the norm! i have been enjoying my days off from the grind of substitute teaching, and know that my weeks are numbered. we are thinking i will end my gig the beginning of may, just about the time where my belly may be too big to fit between the desks, and walking the narrow halls might be just a little too harrowing an experience.
i have been puttering in the garden since the weather is finally looking up! this picture is of my hyacinths in the back garden.... my spring bulbs are doing nicely and i managed to get my summer bulbs in before we left for Paris. david and i have been scouring the local nurseries for new and colorful plants to add where some died over the winter. i didn't lose too many, but we also have the front garden to think about! we should begin revamping it soon!
like halloween, they don't really go all out for easter the way we do in the states. it seems that it is still seen as a religious holiday (not a psuedo-pagan capitalist family get together), so if you aren't into going to church there isn't much else to offer. instead of a huge family dinner filled with political arguments and sarcastic banter, david and i took gratch for a walk and then had fish and chips for supper.... well, it is a trade off!