Keeping busy

I was a bit nervous about stopping school around 36 weeks, but I've really done just fine. Mainly, I've been keeping really busy doing all sorts of little projects. Almost every day I go to an acupuncture appointment, or a Mayan Massage appointment to get myself ready, or a Dr. appointment. Here are some of the activities I've been doing:

1. Cooking

I've cooked all sorts of new recipes from the Volumetric cookbook. They all taste wonderful and have lots of vegetables in them. Obviously I modify the recipes so they are not low-calorie, but overall they are really healthy and yummy. Plus, Mateo and Natalia have really enjoyed eating them. I've made minestrone soup, Buffalo chicken wraps with blue cheese dressing, creamy oatmeal and all sorts of other meals. We have also tried some of the smoothies.

I've realized just how much the food processor is my friend when cooking with vegetables. I really don't like chopping up onions, grating carrots etc. It can all be done in seconds with the processor. Plus, I can just chop them all for the week in less time than it would take for me to use a knife and chop for one recipe.

2. Ukulele

As I've mentioned earlier, I am continue to practice the ukulele every day. Today I learned "You are my sunshine." On Thursday I learned, "I've been working on the railroad." So every few days I learn a new song. It is all quite fun and keeps me very focused. I almost always play with the kids. Mateo is learning "Row, row, row your boat." I also learned "Don Alfredo Baila" today! It's easy to practice when the kids ask you to play for them.

3. Languages

Today I took a lesson online through the library from Mango Languages. Don't ask me why, but I learned how to have a simple conversation in Vietnamese. I have students from Vietnam, and I don't know, it sounded like fun. Random, but it was challenging.

4. New Website

I've put together a new website for my class for next year. I've also created four different requests for my donors choose account. (None of them are up yet.) I learned how to use google apps to create email addresses for my students, but still retain the ability to monitor what they are doing and reset or change passwords as needed. Oh, and how to create videos on the web camera and load them to the website.

5. Upgraded computer

I realized that it is easy to order ram to upgrade our Dell computer. I have updated it from 1 gb to 1.5 gb ram, and am going to be moving it up to 2 gb of ram whenever the next card arrives. I also watched an awesome tutorial about computers to learn what the different numbers mean when you look at a computer. I finally get what all those numbers are about! I also ran the defragger (sp?) and the disk clean up feature. The computer runs much faster now.

6. Got Dragon Speaking software working

I was having a horrible time with the dragon speaking software. I thought that there was something wrong with the sound cards on the PC, so I did some research and bought a new sound card. Got the ram, did other things to clean up the computer. The program was still not working. Finally, I had this aha moment. Maybe the problem wasn't the PC after all. Maybe it was the headset. So, I tried a different headset - problem gone! Too bad it took me so long to think of the simple solution.

7. Enjoying family time

Of course I've been enjoying time with Alayna and the kids. We went on a hike at Powell Butte park today. We all did Spanish time (even Alayna!!) for a while. We played a memory game with the kids, pretended to be characters from the Dora books and sang lots of songs together. The kids really play so nicely together. Both of them did a great job riding their balance bikes down the butte. Natalia did have a little crash, but she got right back on the bike a after a few minutes of cuddling. Mateo zoomed around corners on the downhill and didn't bite the dust once! What a fun family outing!

I'm seeing this time before the baby comes as being my summer vacation. I know that life is going to get a bit crazy soon with number 3. I'm enjoying the calm before the storm!

I do have to wonder if all of this activity is my equivalent to nesting that people do in the last weeks before labor. Maybe it's just taking a bit of a different form for me . . .