Laissez les bons Temps Rouler

My friends and I are busy planning our ten-year Teach For America reunion. Almost ten years ago, we arrived in South Louisiana ready to help work toward the closing of the achievement gap.

We'll be heading to Baton Rouge for the reunion (I taught in a small, rural town called Franklin). On Friday night, we'll be having a Black Bean Burrito night (one of the rituals of our impoverished teacher selves!). Saturday, we'll do a service project at a school (and we're inviting our former students to volunteer with us!). That afternoon, we're having a crawfish boil (which my vegetarian self was never particularly fond of) and then traveling to the Fesitvale Internationale (oh, how I miss those Louisiana festivals!). On Sunday we'll have brunch at a friend's house and then play Ultimate on the lawn of the Capitol.

I've been trying to think of a craft project. I haven't done one since February. I'm thinking it might be cool to try and make a dress for Saturday afternoon. There's nothing better than dancing in a twirly dress...

I've only made a dress once in my life, and I'm absolutely terrible at following patterns. However, if I can convince my friend, Katy, to let me work on it in her presence (hooray for craft dates!), then we should probably be able to figure it out together.

Now I just need to decide on the pattern and fabric...

Share |

Ah, Summer

Even though I'm in my eighth year of teaching, I've honestly never had a real summer break. The first summer, I won a grant through the National Endowment of Humanities to study Utopian fiction in the Bay Area. Pretty amazing, but definitely not a lie-around-and-wallow-in-your-pajamas kind of summer.

The next summer, I worked as a Corps Member Advisor at the Teach For America summer institute in Houston. The next summer, I moved from Louisiana to Houston and taught summer school at KIPP. The next summer I did two weeks of professional development in New York, taught summer school again, got my classroom ready, and then traveled to nine Guatemalan cities during my seven-day break. The next summer I worked as a School Director at the Teach For America institute in Philadelphia. The next summer I was working full-time for Teach For America. The next summer I moved from Houston to Denver and started my Montessori training. The next summer, I finished my training, got married, bought a house, and moved back to Houston. The next summer, I was working full-time as an educational consultant.

And now I'm here. About to head into my first real summer. I can't imagine doing nothing, but I also don't want to feel obligated to do anything either. Let me brainstorm some ideas:

1. Buy a fancy camera and learn to take photos.
2. Learn Spanish.
3. Spend two weeks traveling with my Partner-in-Awesomeness.
4. Go to a yoga retreat with my best friend.
5. Spend a week at the beach with my family.
   
6. Write 100 lesson plans to teach character in daily community meetings.

Is there anything else I want to do? At this point, I should just immerse myself in the collecting and developing stage.

• Are there things I want to explore around Houston?
• What about getting my body in shape for the challenge of pregnancy?
  
• What about teaching myself to can things like tomatoes?
• What about sewing, sewing, sewing?

Share |

Backyard Oasis

I'm trying to turn our backyard into an oasis. Right now, it's not very comfortable. We have different fences on three sides, and it creates a very incongruent feel. Because it doesn't feel very nice back there, we let it get messier than it needs to be. We have pots and bags of dirt strewn about, as well as two random IKEA chairs in haphazard places, which makes the situation worse.

We're in the process of getting a consistent fence all the way around the backyard. I also want to get some furniture, so we're more likely to hang out in our new backyard.

Occasionally, we host dinner parties out back, and we pull the furniture off the front porch and out of the house. It would be nice just to have it already set up. That makes me think that we should probably get the same kind of furniture we typically try to assemble out there, which would be a small couch and two chairs.

Hmm...maybe we could use the two IKEA chairs that are already out there instead of wasting our money and contributing to more stuff in the world. That would mean we would just need to buy a couch and a coffee table.

I like this couch from Amazon, but it doesn't look like it would be as comfy as other plusher couches.

I also like this couch from Amazon. However, it's really low to the ground, and it might be difficult to try and mix-and-match it with our existing chairs:
Then there's this one from Target.

Oh how I wish we could just win some backyard design contest on HGTV.

One last idea: I should check on Craigslist!

Share |

Fancy Pony Land

My friend, Camella, had her wedding dress handmade by Lorna Leedy of Fancy Pony Land fame.

During that time, I saw a profile of Lorna on Offbeat Bride and I swooned. What a fun wedding!

When Matt and I trekked to Marfa during spring break, we stopped by Fancy Pony Land for a visit. I'm quite shy about things like that, but I try to challenge myself whenever I can stand it. I walked right in and asked, "Are you Lorna Leedy?"

I feel like I met a bona fide celebrity. Plus she shared some of her trade secrets. For example, she uses a glue for plastics to set her vinyl appliques in place, so that she's able to sew them on. And, believe it or not, she uses regular scissors to cut out her designs. I'm stunned.

Her husband works for the National Parks service (on the river in Big Bend!), so they travel for his job. They spend half the year in Marfa and half the year in Washington state.

I try not to covet other people's lives, but her life is definitely on my If-I-Could-Live-More-Than-One-Life-I-Would-Try-That List.

Share |

My Newest Ailment: Eczema

I know I admitted to having hypochondria earlier in the week, so I might seem a little like the boy who cried wolf.

But I cleared up my constipation (by eating a high fiber breakfast in the form of cereal or oatmeal) and am now ready to move onto a new ailment: eczema.

I never had eczema until I moved to Denver. The dry air really did a number on my hands, as well as two patches of really dry skin on my belly. A doctor confirmed that the dry patches were eczema and prescribed medication.

Since I'm always skeptical of medication (so often it covers the symptoms but doesn't get at the root cause), I avoided using it. The doctor said I could also use regular lotion; it would just take a lot longer to heal.

When we moved back to Houston, I thought my dry-skin troubles would be over. But here I am again with those two incredibly dry patches on my belly. Let me consult my Prescription for Nutritional Healing book to see what it says:

Okay, nothing really there. Let me see what I can find on the trusty internet:

1. "Controlling stress, nervousness, anxiety, and depression can help in some cases." I definitely have stress. I'm working on it...
   
2. I definitely need to stop scratching it. That will only make the skin more leathery. I am definitely guilty of scratching it.
   

I wasn't able to uncover much else. I think I should just start ensuring that I apply lotion religiously, both morning and night. It's not a severe case, so I'm optimistic that it will get better.

Share |

Mid-Month Reflection

March is already drawing to a close. Craziness! Before April is here, I want to take stock of how I'm doing on my goals for this month, so I can hurry and accomplish any remaining things in the final week.

(Full Disclosure: I took a significant break after I typed that first paragraph to go and cross another item off my goal list!)

Eliminate at least two commitments in my life, as a way to make a clearing that allows me to pursue my life dream and make more time for relaxing.
Yes! I just did this. It was so, so tough. I am not a quitter. However, I need to stop over-committing and focus.

Finish all my work before we leave for spring break.
Pretty much, yes!

Enjoy spring break to the fullest!
Why yes I did, thankyouverymuch.

Eat in a way that makes me my healthiest self (and drink plenty of water!) as part of my "pre-mester" (which could be years!).
I haven't been as rigid as I originally wanted to be, but I think it's okay. I am still two months away from trying to get pregnant, so it's okay to not eat as well as I want to eat when I'm actively conceiving and pregnant. In general, I've been pretty good. I'm also realizing how much preparation it takes to eat well and travel at the same time.

Try to sail through another potentially stressful month (and stop filling up my calendar with so much darn stuff!).
Yes! January, February, and March have been packed tightly, but I see bluer skies in April and May. Hooray!

Send my friend a good birthday present.
Yes! Matt and I went to a funeral at the last minute, so I didn't get anything in the mail, but I did create a gift that I could send electronically (see photo above).

Learn as much as I can at the American Montessori Society conference in Boston.
I'm going next week.

Plan a fun get-together for my friends.
Yes, Bocce Ball and a potluck!

Finish our fence project.
Working on this desperately. It's a huge pain in the rump roast.

Buy comfy furniture for our backyard.
Working on the fence part first.

Plant tomatoes.
I'm getting really depressed by how little my seeds have grown since I planted them in January. Argh.

Schedule doctor and dentist appointments (for real this time!).
Hooray! Finally! I have really been dragging my feet on this one...

Start acupuncture.
I did do my initial visit. I decided against it for a variety of reasons, but I will go back to it if I can't regulate my periods through stress reduction, nutrition, and exercise.

Do yoga regularly (I mean it.).
Yes! Yes! (Keep in mind I only do 15 minutes of yoga at a time, but it's a start.)

Really track my cycle.
Yes, I've been doing this as much as possible.

Get an earpiece for my cell phone.
Not yet. Old-school earpieces are really hard to find.

Start walking after dinner.
No, we have not done this. It's hard to cook a meal and then fit in a relaxation ritual every night. Hmm...

Start relaxing at 8:30pm every night.

Yes! Even when I thought it would be impossible to get home by 8:30 every night, I managed to pull it off. Hooray!

Wow. I am on a roll this month. Posting my goals each month really holds me accountable for getting my butt in gear and getting stuff done. So thank you for existing out there in the ether and serving up a major dose of motivation and accountability!

Share |

Fear of Not Ovulating

I've suffered from hypochondria for as long as I can remember. When I was in 7th grade, I thought I had prostate cancer because I read a magazine ad that asked, "Do you suffer from frequent urination? Do you take a while to start urinating?"

So part of me hopes that my fears about not ovulating are connected to my personal history of paranoia and not to actual medical fact. I've been peeing on ovulation test strips every day for this entire cycle, hoping that the test line will get darker than the control line. It's a nerve-racking process, although I guess it's good preparation for peeing on pregnancy test strips!

According to my calculations, today is the day I'm supposed to ovulate (although it's kind of hard to predict, since my cycle is so irregular). I did pee into my cup and dip my test strip in, even though we were at a campsite in Big Bend. How's that for dedication?

The control line and the test line actually appeared to be the same color, but it was hard to tell if the test was accurate, due to the f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g temperatures. I'm sure the test strips were stored below their optimal temperature (in a bear box, no less!). I should repeat the test right now, since we're settled into a comfortable B&B in Marfa.

My goal is to make this process a normal part of my day, so it doesn't feel stressful or annoying. Ideally, we would do what doctors recommend and just have sex every 2-3 days, but since I'm already 32, I think it makes sense to be a little more strategic with the process.

Share |