The hostess at the restaurant asked me when I was due.  “End of June,” I told her.  “And you?”

She looked at me blankly, and for a split second I thought: oh, no, I swore I would never ask that question again, and I just did, and she’s not, and I really put my foot in it.  But it must have been the noise of the place that caused a time-delay, for then she smiled brightly and confirmed “In July!”  It’s her first, and she’s very excited.  I can understand.  It’s not my first, and I’m still excited.

*******

At the fabric store on Saturday, standing in the cutting line, I used my belly as a table to hold my bolts – backing for two quilts.  The young woman behind me said, “Oh, you’re having a baby!”

Why, yes, I am.

She then showed me all the cute fabric she was buying for her mother to make something for her sister’s new baby.  I do not want to see this cute fabric.  I am trying very hard to get my own projects finished, and I keep finding new ones.  A few weeks ago, I made a sling.  The last few days, I’ve been helping Katie with her quilt and making water bottle carriers for my kids using scrap fabric.  They don’t cost a dime – and they only take about 30-45 minutes to do.  Each.  Times 6 kids.  Plus others that I make for friends.

Cute baby fabric?  No, I’m not looking.

*******

I went to the post office three times last week.  The last time was Friday, late.  There was a line like it was Christmas time.  I have no idea why.

A woman ahead of me asked me when I was due.  “End of June,” I said.  “I have quite a way to go.”  I just look huge, I thought to myself.

“You seem to have dropped a bit,” she said.  Compared to?  I wondered if my small town is even smaller than I thought…or maybe I’m being stalked.  But I guess this is just pregnant-stranger small talk.  I don’t drop until delivery day/hour/minute.  My babies like to squish my lungs as long as possible.

“I’ll bet you can’t wait,” said another woman.

“Actually, I have a lot to do in the next month,” I said.  “I hope the baby stays put for now.”

“Are you nesting?” asked the first woman.

“No, just getting ready to move.”  I really had not intended to discuss my life at the post office.  Oh, well, pregnant bellies attract much attention and discussion.  At least they didn’t try to rub it.

Saved by the packages.

For the last month, my kids (mostly the fashion-conscious daughters) have been asking, daily, “Mom, what’s the temperature going to be today?”  For the last month, the temperature has been HOT…not horrible, mid-July in Savannah hot, but above 80.  Shorts and t-shirt weather.  The other day, I finally said, “It’s summer.  It will be summer until October.  Dress for summer.”  Except for that first winter we were here, seasons seem to be Summer, Not Quite Summer, and Not Quite Winter.  Summer dominates.

*******

All that remains of the school year: editing final papers with my two oldest, a few tests that need grading and reviewing with students, two sections of a standardized tests for 3 students, and filling in bubbles for the other 8 sections of those tests that were done but the forms got ruined by water (a very sore topic here).

Then I have to do grades.  I hate that part. 

*******

My kids are very unhappy that I’ve decided they will not spend the entire summer watching TV or playing Sid Meyer’s Civilization on the computer.  I know, I know: Mean Mommy.  I have some specific educational assignments (math fact drills at xtramath.org: a free website, typing lessons using Keyboard Classroom, a few minutes of piano, spelling for my bad spellers, reading for my slow readers, leisure reading for all).  All told, I’ll give them an hour of electronic usage for an hour of educational activity.  They complained and said that it was tyranny, unfair, that they had never heard of such abusive practices in the modern Western world.  I suggested that if I could find other parents who made their children do work over the summer they would agree I was right and just.  They thought for a minute and then decided no, regardless of other parents’ choices for their children, they would still find school in summer terrible for them.

My sister tells me that her children need to do 2 hours of reading for 1 hour of TV/computer.  I can’t wait to tell my kids how lucky they are.

*******

Yesterday, instead of finishing up school, I drove westerly for a few hours to have lunch with friend and blog-reader Kris.  She gifted me with some tiny little pajamas for the new baby.  My kids all exclaimed, “Oh!  How cute!” in that special high-pitched tone reserved for babies, puppies and kittens.  We’re all getting pretty excited here.  Last night, I had everybody push on my abdomen where they could feel quite distinctly a hard lump that was either the head or the bottom of the baby.  Poor little thing, getting beaten up before birth.  I think it was the bottom end, because I felt such intense pressure on my bottom of my diaphragm…like somebody was standing on it.

*******

I have somebody coming on Thursday to look at our stuff and decide how long it will take to pack up and what supplies they will need.  The plan is to have the movers come about a month from now to take most of our stuff and store it for a month.  We’ll live in a mostly empty house for a month until the baby is born.  Doesn’t that sound great?

Now I just need to find a house in Tampa that cooperates with the timeline.  Oh, and the baby needs to be born no earlier than June 23rd and hopefully no later than July 4th.  Outside that window, things get even more complicated than they already are.

Peter stood before his father and brother with his blanket wrapped toga-style around his body.

“I am Caeser!” he declared.

After a second’s pause, Billy and then his father, proceeded to stab him with imaginary daggers.

“You should have said you were Augustus,” said Bill.

The Baylor study found that Eagle Scouts – compared to Scouts who never attained the rank of Eagle Scout and men who were never Scouts – were significantly more likely to: 

• Exhibit higher levels of participation in a variety of health and recreational activities,
• Show a greater connection to siblings, neighbors, religious community, friends, coworkers, formal and informal groups and a spiritual presence in nature,
• Share a greater belief in duty to God, service to others, service to the community and leadership,
• Engage in behaviors that are designed to enhance and protect the environment,
• Be committed to setting and achieving personal, professional, spiritual and financial goals,
• Show higher levels of planning and preparedness, and
• Indicate that they have built character traits related to work ethics, morality, tolerance and respect for diversity.

As I expected, my giveaway drawing did not happen promptly at noon, despite having it on my calendar.  I had a followup ultrasound late this morning (all is fine!), and then I went to the grocery store afterward, so I’m late by an hour.  That’s not too bad, I suppose.

The random number generator gave me numbers 13 and 3 which correspond to Christine who is from Minnesota and Karen from Karen’s Adventure’s in Mommyland.  Ladies, email me your addresses and I’ll get your copies out soon!