Summer

Back in February, I was dreaming of a time where I would have hours a day to devote my time to hobbies. I was also hoping, fingers-crossed, that by this time, my morning (and afternoon....and evening) sickness will have alleviated (it has, thank God) and I would be able to also eat and be awake for the summer. Of course I didn't mention all this, because we hadn't publicly announced our pregnancy at that time. Yes, we are old-fashioned and waited awhile to share our exciting news with the public. Yes, we are old-fashioned, and are not going to find out the baby's sex until the baby is born. And though we have a few names picked out, we are not settled on any yet, and will probably wait to meet the baby before we officially give a name, to make sure the name fits. Soapbox aside, we are excited, and we won't blame you if you want to do all the opposite things of us, announcing your pregnancy the day you find out, and the name on the same day you find out the sex. A parent's prerogative. And this post is about summer, anyway. Not about opening Christmas presents in August.

And I need some motivation. Apparently when I have hours a day and no structure, I lean toward spending a lot of time playing Angry Birds. Not only is that not on my list, but it is not fulfilling in any way. Also, even though doing nothing and having nothing pressing to do sounds awesome....it can get old fast. I need some structure. So back to my old list. Also, I will add some more things and give some explanations (in purple).

Here is the list I made in February:

1. Figure out container gardening. Because our yard is not our own...and because the idea of planting and growing some of your own food is so appealing. I pinned it awhile ago, and there is some information here. I need to get started on this. Also, if all else fails, there is a Farmers Market in my city every Monday. I just need to remember it sooner than Monday at midnight (when it is apparently no longer open).
2. Relearn to crochet, and practice with the giant hook you bought (perhaps you know that I crochet extra tightly. I would like to crochet in such a way that it is enjoyable (more crocheting less wrestling to get the hook through my tight tight knots), less painful for my hands, and more productive (it takes me forever to accomplish anything. See the parenthetical thought next to "enjoyable."). I think I will make a couple of cute baby hats. If I can get the hang of it in a non-tightly-wound way.
3. Finish that mini-quilt you started a last year. The quilt is tiny and fall-themed and gender neutral, just like the Babe! Who would have known?
4. Master making your own laundry-detergent (using a bar of soap you made). I did actually do this already, and have used it several times. It works just fine, thank you. For next time, I will grate the soap even smaller, so it blends better with the other ingredients. It takes some effort, all that grating, but other than that it is super easy to make your own laundry detergent.
5. Read for fun. So far I have been mostly rereading for fun. I have read the first two book in the Chronicles of Narnia (The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), and plan to finish them all soon. Then I will move on to rereading the Harry Potter books.
6. Canning. If I ever grow anything, or remember to go to the Farmers Market, I will have something to can.

Things I am adding to the list:

7. Make soap outside. Other than feeling sick and tired and busy for much of the semester, I also haven't been making soap lately because, even though our apartment is quite drafty, it is not well ventilated when it comes to making soap. I am a cautious preggo, and don't want to breathe in any unnecessary fumes (that may or may not come from soap-making) and cause unnecessary injury to the Babe. But now that it is summer, I think I will try to bring the fume part of soap-making out on the stoop and make it there.

8. Get the Babe's room ready. We aren't going to paint or anything (not planning on living in this apartment for the next 50 years), but still need to get the appropriate baby furniture set up (still need to make some room in there, since it is currently both a guest room and an office....and a secret closet).

9. Sort through all of our stuff and see which things we really need to keep, and which things can be given away/tossed/sold. Spring cleaning, in other words. This might help with number 8.

10. Read up on parenthood. My instincts on parenthood are low-ish, and I would still like to figure out a way to make cloth diapers work (and which ones will work best for us). Since we share laundry with students, we are wondering if it is an ok idea to hold a monopoly on the machines to wash poopy diapers on a regular basis. I still think we can figure this one out. Just need to be creative.

Well, I better get on some of this stuff. It is always in the back of my mind that I should be searching for  jobs, because I just graduated and all. And even though I am obvs preggo, people still ask me what my plans are now that I've graduated. Well, my plans are to be an awesome stay-at-home mom with a Masters degree, for the first year at least. 

I sometimes wonder if I should get a summer job, but then I remember that we are planning on going to visit our family in the middle of summer, so I would need to take off then, and I am not getting any less pregnant as the summer goes on. If you would like to hire me for something temporary, that allows me to take a couple weeks off in July, does not require heavy lifting or coming in contact with potentially toxic material, then let me know! Also, I need frequent breaks to eat. And pee. I will need to be done by September. Thank you for your consideration.

The last batch of successful soap I made. In January. Before we knew we were preggo. Because all blog posts are better with a picture.