Relief

My piano student officially changed her lessons to Fridays. I thought for a while that she wanted to quit, but I'm glad she is continuing.

We finally got the car registered! The part ended up being less than 10 bucks, not almost 40, which was great. All those little things that were bugging me have now been taken care of and I can focus my attention on more important things.

We had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. I will admit, spiritual-wise, this year has been a really tough one for me. I blame it mostly on the pregnancy. I've had such a hard time doing anything outside of going to church, praying (which I am bad at at night), and reading the scriptures. My temple attendance has been terrible - maybe once a month. That is pretty lame since I live 12 minutes away. I wasn't super excited about going to the adult meeting because it was Saturday night and I just wanted to watch TV. I am glad I went. One of the messages that stood out to me was on looking for joy in everyday life. I am really trying to be happy. I just don't like always having to make the effort, especially at this time of year. I dread the holidays a lot.

I have finally figured out that eating 3 meals a day is my best bet. That goes against what all pregnancy advice says, but it works for me. It's how I normally eat anyway, my meals are just a little bigger than they would be non-pregnant or nursing. When I was eating snacks, my blood sugar would always go up again and I'd feel terrible for several hours afterward. It's better for me to eat healthy meals and deal with the spike only 3 times. After breakfast I do all my housework and exercise, so the spike is brought down by that. After lunch, I take a nap, and after dinner, I'm usually tired anyway. I still need to work on not eating after dinner, but I feel so emotional then that I just don't deal with it very well.

They lied when they said I'd worry less about subsequent pregnancies. I feel like I worry just as much as the first time -  maybe even more sometimes. It doesn't help that I am already an anxious person about things I can't control. I get freaked out about minor things, and I know it's unreasonable, but I can't seem to help it.

We've had a good week, not much to report event-wise, just the same self-reliance class today, preschool yesterday, and general housework. I did a couple of hours of cleaning out on Monday, so that felt good.

My strategy for the holidays (or really, the rest of the pregnancy) is to stay busy. My goal is to completely use up my craft supplies, including ones I'll be getting from James's grandma when we're visiting. On the list are several more gift bags, baby blankets, a latch hook rug, and a king-size denim quilt. I'm also going to test and try a few new recipes (and tweak a few old ones) which will actually be possible when I have my blender. Setting up for Lewis will be a breeze, so that almost doesn't make the list of things to do, and I don't want to do it too early and get too anxious about him being born, since I'm counting on him being a few days late like my last two.

We just barely got our first snow today, about a month later than normal. If it's due to climate change, then I say bring it on. It's always a sad day when I have to start wearing socks inside. (Keeping the house at 68 is required for me not to feel like I'm dying.)

It's going to be a great 10-11 weeks. I am starting to get geared up for Christmas. Getting credit card rewards is one of the smartest things we've ever done, because it pretty much pays for Christmas. I love it.

Sick Week

Friday morning was crazy because I had to retake my glucose test and take Katie to the doctor. I passed narrowly, but it took a lot of stress off my mind. I was even able to take a nap after lunch, which made my afternoon so much better.  After dinner, James hung out with the boys while I took Katie out for a mother/daughter date. I had her pick out some clothes using her birthday money from Grandma. She picked an Elsa shirt/leggings set and a bag of cheese puffs.

Last Saturday was supposed to be all nice and relaxing, but Kenny threw up so we didn't go anywhere or do anything. I did go play the piano for a baptism. It was very touching. He even started crying.

James kept the kids home from church. Primary was kid of tough because I didn't have much of a voice and they were crazy. I made it, though. No one else ended up getting sick, so that was nice. Kenny told me that he prayed that Jesus would help him feel better. I guess it worked!

I've been working on crafty stuff this week too. Last week I finished 8 drawstring bags to be used as reusable gift bags at Christmas. I even made my own cords from braided scraps of fabric. The bags were from scraps I had after making 5 baby blankets of various sizes (receiving, swaddle). I have enough material for 5 more, but 3 of them need additional materials (batting, backs) since they are crib size, 1 won't work on my klunky machine because it's stretchy, and the last one I can't do anyway because I need a new bobbin case. The screw won't stay tightened in mine anymore, which means the tension is way off and the stitching turns out really loopy. (I am a little annoyed with my machine, needless to say!) After the blankets and bags, I used those even smaller scraps to make almost 30 hairbows and several bracelets. I was able to use a lot of the fun buttons Melodie gave me on the bracelets. They will be gifts for my daughter, nieces, and hopefully one or two future nieces. All I have left to do it glue clips to the back. I only got 1 blister from the whole process, so I'd call it a success. I am also officially out of scraps. That makes me feel pretty good.

The epic saga of registering the car continues. James got one part fixed, but the other was wrong, so he ordered the right one. Hopefully I can return the incorrect part, because it was almost 40 bucks. The website wasn't working, so I'm going to have to call. My favorite. (Not.) Hopefully by this weekend we can get it inspected and registered! At least the geography stuff got sent in, so that isn't bothering me anymore. And, we both voted! I was surprised by the outcome of the election.

We had preschool and visiting teaching yesterday, both of which went well. I have another piano lesson today (I assume) and my second self-reliance class on personal finance. I have really enjoyed the class so far. It's fun to get out of the house and talk to some adults. I'm glad for the spiritual aspect of it all. It's something I need to work on more.

One awesome thing: I've been saving up for a nice blender since January this year, and I finally made my goal! I ordered my Blendtec last night. It's been really tough not to have a blender, so I am really excited. I need some green smoothies in my life. A food processor just doesn't do the job.

Procrastination Week

It's been an all right week, but a few things have been bothering me: our still-unregistered car that needs parts to pass inspection, James's unsubmitted geography endorsement application that was due in October, and the fact that I failed my first glucose test when I have been really good about not eating Halloween candy. I did come home from it and eat my first pieces of chocolate. Hey, I was sad. I get to (have to) retake it tomorrow, but I think I will pass since I'll have been fasting all night. If not, I'm going to be pretty upset.

I was so exhausted last Friday that James took the kids the to library Halloween activity and came back with pizza so I could attempt to get some rest. It was wonderful. I was able to inventory and put away all the craft stuff I got from Melodie without too many interruptions. He went to see Evan McMullin in town hall after dinner.

Saturday was Super Saturday. I took soup and hung out but didn't do any craft. I was fine with just hanging out after a really busy week. I took a nap while James and Devin went hunting. After dinner, we went to the Jensen pumpkin festival - our third year in a row, so you could say it's a tradition now. I always love seeing the different displays. There are fun activities for the kids too.

Sunday I had ten kids in my class again. They asked me if I needed help, but I said I would manage. They also asked me again if I wanted to be released when I have the baby, and I said yes. I have been in Primary going on 3 years in February (around the time they'll release me, I assume), so I feel like I've done my duty. I still end up subbing for piano at least once a month too. Having a newborn and trying to teach a big class just won't work when I am nursing. I pulled that off in the past because James was my co-teacher, but since he is ward clerk, that isn't going to happen.

Monday we had our ward trunk or treat and soup for dinner. It was a lot of fun. I was too tired to think about taking the kids anywhere else to trick or treat. They were happy with the candy they got. Thank goodness it's gone now too.

This week hasn't been too bad. I've just been stressing about things I can't control (see above). I know they will all resolve soon, but I still worry a lot that they won't. My OB appointment was okay aside from failing the glucose test. I'm not measuring so big anymore. (6 cm big before, now only 3)

I have my second self-reliance class today. The first one went really great last week. I decided to join a group on personal finance. There is always room for improvement, and I am looking forward to getting a more spiritual outlook on it as well. As for Friday (tomorrow), I think I'm going to start digging into the craft supplies. I can't help myself. Unfinished projects call my name loudly.