Potter Family Update

So, I need to start posting on my blog more often. It's a therapeutic thing, really, to write about life and thoughts, but it seems I've been so busy lately that blogging is the furthest thing from my mind. To catch up on everything, though, here's what's been going on in our lives:

1. Baby Boy Potter is well on his way to joining our family! As of today, we have two months until his due date. Stephen and I are both excited, a little nervous, and wondering just how much this new little guy will change our lives. He's getting strong, and likes to stretch out into my ribs :-) But I love to feel him move; it lets me know he's okay.
2. I just finished the Yearbook at work (well, technically my students finished it), which has taken a huge stress-load off. Now I'm working on getting my Sterling Scholars ready for competition this next Tuesday. Once that's over, I'll be able to surface for air and actually prepare for Baby Boy Potter.
3. We're going to have a house built this summer. After four years of hard work and saving, we're ready to take the plunge. More on that to come as we begin the building process.
4. I've decided to keep my teaching position (after I found out that I could get nearly 6 months maternity leave). I'll be working with a full-time substitute; she'll fill in for me until about March or so. Then, I'll teach for three months and be off for the summer. The decision felt right. Before we had done our research on different part-time and maternity leave options, I was having a hard time making a decision--amazing how powerful knowledge is in helping us make decisions. So, with my newfound knowledge and some time on our knees, the decision became much easier to make.

So, there you have it. I feel like I've fallen off the face of the planet with being so busy and all--really, I would love to spend more time with my friends and such, but right now we're trying to get this baby here safe and get through my teaching obligations. Looking forward to the summer off . . . and to our new little addition :-)

Weight Loss Plan

Last Friday night, me, Stephen, and Hayley went on a diet. If you would like to easily cut 500 calories out of your evening, follow the procedure below:

1) Put 6 cups ice cream in blender.
2) Put 1 cup Nestle Quick mix in blender.
3) Mix up ice cream and Nestle Quick.
4) Taste-test ice cream. Mmmmmm.
5) Turn and lift out the blender/pitcher
6) Realize that you forgot to connect the bottom of the blender to the pitcher . . . the pitcher was just kind of sitting on top, tight enough to hold in the shake, but not actually connected . . .
7) Watch as your lovely milkshake flows through the bottom of the pitcher and all over your kitchen.

I really can't describe how I felt at that moment when I lifted off the pitcher. Time seemed to slow down. It was one of those moments when your eyes see something, but your brain can't quite grasp what's going on because it's so unexpected, because it's not something you realized was possible. WHAT? How is the ice cream coming out of the BOTTOM of the pitcher? AAAAHHHH . . . and then we burst into hysterical giggles. The irony of it all. I really wish I'd taken a picture . . . but who thinks to do that when there's ice cream spilling all over the kitchen? Come to think of it, though, it was quite an aesthetic experience. The chocolate smelled wonderful, and it flowed very uniformly out and down. The movement of the chocolate was like that of a gentle wave. Haha. What is that art called in the Humanities? A "happening," where the art comes from the process of creation, rather than from an actual finished product? That's what it was. See, we were actually getting in touch with our unconventional artistic sides . . .

And . . . we're back.

I wonder how many people start blogs, only to write a few posts on them and then forget about them . . . or get too busy to update them. I suppose if I had internet at my house I'd be a lot more likely to update a blog, but then again, maybe not. I usually blame my lack of blogging/scrapbooking/crafting on my lack of time. Sometimes I imagine how nice it would be to do some of those fun projects rather than grading multitudes of English papers and projects. Really, though, when I get home from work around 4:00 p.m. I only have time to do some essential things:

1. 4:00: Straighten up/dust/throw laundry in the washer/eat a small snack
   
2. 4:30: Sit down and catch my breath/take some "me" time . . . usually I am answering questions at school all day, and it's nice (not to mention essential!) to have a few minutes of quiet.
   
3. 4:45: Call Hayley and go exercising
   
4. 5:45: Take a shower after exercising
   
5. 6:00: Welcome Stephen home; cook dinner together; eat dinner; clean up dinner
   
6. 7:00: Go to meetings/work on gardens/take a walk with Stephen/do some catch-up grading/read a few chapters in a book/play the piano/clean the apartment
   
7. 9:00: Get ready for bed and go to sleep.

Hmmm. Based on this list, I guess I do have some free time--I have time to exercise, and I choose to use that hour for exercising rather than working on my other projects. And, I usually have an hour or two to spend with my husband or on one of my hobbies. It just seems that there are so many other projects that I'm always wanting to do. For now, I'll just have to prioritize the most important ones as best I can.

And yet--it will be so wonderful when I have the summer off from work. I'm excited to have time to clean my house, design my wedding book (I know, it's been three years . . . ), clean out our "junk" room, and spend more time working on my flower bed. I'm excited to have three months off of grading papers (the stack always seems to be looming over my head . . . ). And I'm excited to have more stress-free time to spend with Stephen.

Two more weeks!

School starts again . . .

I don't really know what to write--the past two weeks have been busy, but good. So this will be short. I just started my third year of teaching, and I have discovered for myself that things really DO get easier. I now have a "toolbox" of past lessons from which to draw, and I have an added confidence and strength that comes from experience.

I guess I could compare teaching to a balancing act. At first, before you've had much experience, you're exerting all of your effort in order to not fall. You're trying to simply survive. But once you start to figure it out, once you become comfortable with the balancing and develop the appropriate muscles, teaching becomes an entirely different experience. Though it is still tiring and still requires great strength, it becomes almost . . . dare I say it . . . fun. Exhilarating at times. Exhausting at others. Endurable and rewarding on a daily basis. And yet, sometimes it would be nice to just worry about my own education (as when I was taking classes, not teaching them) rather than having to worry about so many other peoples' education. It's definitely been a growing, stretching, uncomfortable experience to be on the giving (or teaching) end of education after being on the receiving end for 19 years.

August . . .

Well, I finally finished my grad school program--and what a relief it is. I'll be going back to work within a few weeks; it's hard to believe how quickly time flies. This will be my third year teaching at Duchesne High School, and it seems like I just began! Hopefully the year will be a good one. It seems like I measure the beginning of new years not by January, but by the start of a new school year. And it's always an exciting time. After a few months of a break, most people are rested and ready for a new challenge. Funny how we, as teachers and students, look forward to the break so much, but when it comes down to it, we're often ready to go back to work after we have a breather.

And that's all I can think to say. Oh yeah, I bought some new composition notebooks. I love buying school supplies; they smell wonderful and new. If only all of my students saw it that way :-) Happy August.

What Stephen calls the "Circle of Influence"

It's no secret that I am something of a worrier, and tend to get overloaded when I take on more projects/responsibilities than I can handle. (I told Stephen the other night that I should look at how many different projects I think I can handle, then subtract three to four from that number to find my ideal "project load"). One thing that has helped me, since marrying Stephen, is the concept of "The Circle of Influence" and "The Circle of Concern."

Imagine a diagram with two circles--one very large, the other small and located within the larger circle. The Larger circle is the "Circle of Concern," or the things that we tend to worry about and stew over. The smaller, inner circle is the "Circle of Influence," or the things that we actually have control or influence over--the things we can actually do something about.

So, whenever I start worrying and "What-if" -ing, Stephen looks at me and says, "Little circle. Stay in the little circle." Focus on the things that you can actually do something about, and move on from there. There's no use worrying about things that you have absolutely no control over.

The great thing is, as we focus on our inner circle of influence, it gradually becomes bigger because we are spending time on what we can do rather than spending our time worrying about a host of other things. On the other hand, if we focus too much on the larger circle of concern, our circle of influence becomes even smaller because we are spending all of our time worrying instead of acting.

I wish I knew where this concept came from--I think it's from some kind of management book that Stephen's had to read as he has begun working in managerial positions. We live in such a busy, crazy world, and the only way to navigate it successfully and keep up with our responsibilities is by focusing on the "little circle," the things we can actually do something about.

Now, I need to go apply this. I have three more days of Graduate school, and all of my final projects are awaiting my attention. I've gotta focus on what I can do instead of worrying about what I can't. :-)

Stephen doesn't know about this yet . . .

Funny that I have never had a blog before, considering that I'm an English teacher and all. I'm going to be having my students use a blog as part of my curriculum this next school year, so I guess this is a good place to start and get familiar with the program.

Stephen is going to roll his eyes (possibly) when he finds out I set up a blog for us. But here's my justification: mostly the blog is for our personal "history" benefit--I tend to have a hard time keeping up on my journal and our everyday "ah-hah" moments, and this will be one step towards recording that information.

An update with what is going on in our lives right now: We are currently living in Duchesne, Utah. I am in my final week of graduate school, (in fact, I am in class right now--guilty), and will earn my M.Ed within the week. I'll be more than relieved to be done, and Stephen will be even happier because he'll get to see me for more than a few minutes each day :-) It seems like I am finally reaching burnout, and it's time to move on from school. I've loved my learning experiences, and am excited to continue to learn through life, but I'm ready to be done with homework, at least for the time being.

Stephen is currently working at Wells Fargo as a service manager. He's been looking for managerial positions, which could mean a move within the next few years. It's hard to think about the possibility of moving because we've gotten quite comfortable with where we're at, but we can't afford a house in Duchesne. I'm a little bit bitter about this . . . we could afford one in St. George, Cedar City, Provo, Logan, Idaho, Arizona, Salt Lake City . . . but not in Duchesne. Prices are still inflated here, and we could get a new house for HALF the asking price of a home in Duchesne if we lived in a different town. (I've been doing lots of price comparisons on RE/Max.) We'd love to stay in Duchesne, but if there's a position somewhere where we can actually afford a quality home, we're going to take it.

There's my little rant about the economy and the housing market. Interesting how writing can take you in directions you're not expecting.