Welcome to the Mote!  

The Good Life

Host: arkymalarky

Are you a newbie?
Get an attitude.

Jump right in!

Mote Members: Log in Home
Post

Go to first message Go back 20 messages Messages 2901 - 2920 out of 5155 Go forward 20 messages Go to most recent message
2901. Jenerator - 4/8/2005 10:06:59 PM

Thanks Webbie.

As you may or may not know, I am a teacher by trade. Although I make decent money because of education, experience and stipends, I am still not rich. We can't afford a nanny or a regular babysitter. My mom has been the real blessing with giving us free time.

When I found out I was pregnant - which was pretty miraculous because we weren't planning on another one and had taken no different precautions than during the three years Dylan has been around - I was somewhat scared. To be honest, my first thought was, "Oh no, I really amnever going to have any free time or sleep ever again!"

;-)

But it's been an answered prayer in so many ways. I had begrudgingly resigned myself to not having any more children; my husband didn't want anymore and I was not going to sabotage him, and yet I came up pregnant!

I started praying about it because I am due smack dab in the middle of the fall semester, which is a horrible time to have a baby if you're a teacher. We literally have the worst maternity policy in the state- probably the nation. I wouldn't be surprised.

I get a whopping 6 weeks total. So, if I have to be on bed rest before the pregnancy for say, two weeks, I only get four weeks with the baby. In other words, in order to get the maximum time with the child, I had better work up until the day I start having labor pains. Secondly, I want to breast feed,a nd how on earth am I going to be able to do that once I go back to work and have to put in 50 hours a week? And where would I pump any way, the girl's locker room? No thanks.

I decided to talk to my principal about going part time, which is alternating days. If I could work every other day I would have time for my new baby and I would be able to feed him/her. Plus, with some of the problems I have been having already (pulled my back badly last fall and the pregnancy weight is aggravating it), I just know that I will be having a hard time come August.

My mom then surprised me that she will be able to step in and take care of the baby this fall. She is officially retiring in December and this will help us so much. I alreadypay $500 a month for Dylan, which is cheap, and the best price I could find up until now for an infant was $650 a month. She is saving us so much money.

I was really nervous about cutting my pay check and then adding a significant bill.

But God has a cool way of answering prayers.


I just hope my boss says yes!

2902. Ronski - 4/9/2005 4:36:41 AM

Good luck Jen, and blessings.

2903. Ronski - 4/9/2005 4:39:15 AM

And here are some tulips, given to us for Easter, in the last of their glory:


2904. wonkers2 - 4/9/2005 4:10:10 PM

Some of the "socialist" countries, Sweden, for example, have policies which are infinitely more supportive than those in this American Culture of Life or at least of life support.

2905. Ronski - 4/10/2005 3:13:45 PM

Down the road, coltsfoot:


2906. Ronski - 4/10/2005 8:33:37 PM

Yesterday morning, at a nearby dam:


2907. alistairConnor - 4/10/2005 8:44:38 PM

We had snow this weekend, too. Nothing serious, nearly covered the ground Saturday morning but mostly gone in the afternoon.

I spent this afternoon fencing : cutting off branches and trunks that had fallen on the electric fence, pulling up blackberry etc, replacing the electric ribbon, I've done about a third of the paddock. I was a couple of years behind, as with all the outdoor work.

By the end of the summer I hope to have the place looking decent, in my eyes at least.

2908. Ronski - 4/10/2005 9:24:12 PM

The snow at the dam is the last of a huge amount of snow and ice that catches there as winds whip across the lake. The last snow we had was some wet snow last weekend, that didn't even collect.

There's one little patch left near driveway, where the plow leaves a huge mound of snow during the winter. It formerly was more than ten or twelve feet high:



2909. Ronski - 4/10/2005 9:26:45 PM

But there's also this, in my little garden by the road, where I mostly have wildflowers. This is not wild. It's iris reticulata.

2910. Ronski - 4/10/2005 9:28:13 PM

And a white crocus, by the driveway:

2911. Ronski - 4/10/2005 9:29:33 PM

The dam again:

2912. Ronski - 4/10/2005 9:30:35 PM

As you can see, I've been having fun with the camera.

As for the weather, my partner made me put the snow shovels away this afternoon. (But I didn't put them too far away.)

2913. judithathome - 4/10/2005 9:43:57 PM

Beautiful work with that camera, Ronski! Love the close-ups of the flowers.

2914. Ronski - 4/10/2005 11:23:50 PM

Thanks, judith.

And not to forget indoor plants, Lachanalia, blue form:


2915. wonkers2 - 4/11/2005 12:32:37 AM

Cap'n Dirty sez, "The Cap'n prefers bachanalila!"

2916. jayackroyd - 4/11/2005 1:25:49 AM

My posts per page put thoughtful's redwinged blackbird (2816) at the top, and I gotta say that I agree with her. I've an affection for ravens, but redwinged blackbirds are both really attractive, and fun to listen to.

2917. thoughtful - 4/11/2005 1:35:09 PM

nice shots ronski...keep'em coming!

2918. jayackroyd - 4/11/2005 2:25:56 PM

Ditto.

2919. ronski - 4/12/2005 3:48:21 PM

Photoperegrinations yesterday:


Pink daffodils, Rhododendrum mucronulatum, Brooklyn

2920. ronski - 4/12/2005 3:55:56 PM

Chinodoxa, or Glory of the Snow, Grammercy Park


Go to first message Go back 20 messages Messages 2901 - 2920 out of 5155 Go forward 20 messages Go to most recent message
Home
Back to the Top
Posts/page

The Good Life

You can't post until you register. Come on, you'll never regret it. Join up!