September: Reflection & Rejuvenation

Image courtesy the Nikki McClure calendar

Phew! I somehow managed to make it through August. Well, it wasn't so bad. It was just a lot of work to make it not bad.

The month started with a trip to Las Vegas for a national conference. I spent a lot of time in July preparing for the conference. We took at side trip to Zion National Park in Utah, and I had to make sure that I didn't overexert my pregnant self while hiking. It was also challenging to continue to eat healthy food and to stay hydrated.

Then I was thrust into getting ready for school. It would have been so easy for me to spend all day and night getting stuff ready because I enjoy doing it, but I had to remind myself to make time for rest and rejuvenation. I also had to make time for exercise (despite the sweltering Houston heat!) and cooking meals and keeping up with my chores (which I neglected to do for three whole weeks!). I've also been trying to make time for naps.

Overall, I've been doing a really good job with balancing everything; it's just taken a lot of metacognition and willpower and coaching and cajoling. I really want to honor the work that my body is doing to create a new life. I also want to make time for the rest of me to come to terms with what it means to be a parent and to fully embrace the ways in which our life is about to change.

Here were the intentions I set out for myself at the beginning of the month:

1. Enjoy a mini-vacation with Matt as we trek to Las Vegas for a conference and spend a few extra days at Zion National Park. Yes!
   
2. Have fun participating in my Purposeful Conception course. Yes!
   
3. Accomplish my massive to-do list before school starts. Get to a place where I can actually sit and meditate in my classroom before school starts. I accomplished many, many, many of the things on my list. And I did have time to sit on the floor and meditate (for about 1 minute) before the kids came in on the first day!
   
4. Prepare to present a workshop at a conference in September. Yes! I have the PowerPoint done and the handout ready. It will require probably another 1-2 hours of tweaking before the conference.
   
5. Organize our office. I did this on the last day of the month! It was a huge undertaking. I went through our craft boxes and files to purge, purge, purge. My plan is to tackle one room a month, leading up to the baby's arrival in February. I scheduled the hardest room first.
   
6. Spanish, Spanish, Spanish. Enough said. No, no, no. Aack!
   
7. Finish learning all I can about pregnancy. I'm getting tired of reading about pregnancy. So much of what I read creates a culture of fear. "This could be happening--look for these symptoms!" I think stress is one of the worst things during pregnancy. I'm trying to stay as relaxed as possible. I've been moving on to books about parenting, instead.
8. Relax and rest! I've been trying my very best...

My intentions for the month of September:

• Work on Halloween costume
• Organize the bedroom
• Learn about taking care of an infant (breastfeeding, sleeping, bathing)
• Attend a conference for public Montessori teachers
• Travel to Indiana for an awesome wedding
  
• Work on birth announcements
  
• Relax and rest

I'm looking forward to it!

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