Monday Mind Dump

My husband is back from Chicago where he presented his new paper (success!), and I enjoyed a lovely weekend to myself. The house is spotless, dusted, vacuumed, swept, cleaned, scrubbed, 8 loads of laundry done, dishes done, and rent paid. Booyah.

I even took time to pamper myself with an amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing 90 minute prenatal massage where I learned some sweet pillow tips (thanks, Elisa!) for sleeping and relieving pain in my back. I got my hair cut and wanted to cry because she gave me short layers even when I said PLEASE JUST CUT IT ALL THE SAME LENGTH. A little Baskin Robbins fixed my almost melt-down as did a cute baby Gap sweater for $3 (how could I not buy it?!). I was so fed up with all this that I hurried myself home to give myself a pedicure and watch back to back episodes of Chopped. An (almost) perfect day.

My good friend Julia had her baby on Thursday, and it needs its own post. They had a very crazy experience and they are handling parenthood a little differently than I thought they would and differently than I think we will. BUT, there is an adorable tiny half-Chinese, half-white baby that I get to hold. I could feel my son moving while I was holding her and I couldn't help but think about what it will be like to hold my own newborn baby. Freaking adorable.

Work is crazy because we're in the busy season, but I don't mind because my days fly by. I did my student evaluations, and for the first time in my career, my students were all over the map: one well above extraordinary (she will be my temp in my maternity leave), two at a good level, one at needing improvment and the other was almost fired and is now on probation. It really sucks to have to tell someone what they're doing wrong, but it's a learning experience for them. For most of them, this is their first job - and it's in their second language. I have the utmost respect for their attempts, and the one on probation has already impressed me today with her efforts to step it up.

Also, I baked cupcakes from scratch last night because I HAD TO HAVE THEM. They were delicious, and I brought them to work so I don't eat them all myself...and I feel guilty for being so tough on my students.

Next week, my mom comes to visit! I'm so pumped. I love my Mom.