Laundry night! Yes, I love laundry night. So let's try and figure out the main reason:
a) clean clothes! (duh!)
b) being out of the apartment for 2 hours!
c) the smell of laundry soap
I'll let you think about that... whoever wins can do my laundry next week. ;)
Last weekend was to be a relaxing, catch-up-on-reading weekend. Not so! I wonder why...
a) we had an actual tornado warning late Saturday afternoon (no cheating and looking this up online first, by the way... you have to guess!)
b) Naya caught a stomach bug, so we cleaned up vomit/diarrhea all weekend. blech!
c) we moved apartments
On a very happy note, I did indeed get in to a new doctor. his practice, shared with one other doc, is right next door in one of the hospital buildings. PTL! and he is a very nice doctor, very respectful, sensitive to my questions/feelings, professional... and the clinic is CLEAN! pretty much everything i wrote and more about the old clinic, this one is the OPPOSITE. we are very thankful!! the only downside is he gave me one piece of bad news at my appointment last thursday:
a) baby is currently breech!! :( :(
b) i am exhibiting signs of what may turn into pre-eclampsia, so they will have to do regular testing and perhaps induce me next week or thereabouts
c) for high sugar levels in my blood, he banned me from all sugar until baby is born (this would definitely be the evilest of the three evils, wouldn't you say? haha!)
On a sadder note, the school made an executive decision today that affects me in a non-personal, yet personal way:
a) married ladies with children are now required to clean the bathroom on their floor!!
b) they turned on the boilers today (the heating for the entire school building including apartments)!! HOT!!!!!
c) they want the married ladies with children to take 8.00am classes as well since we're missing some great teaching. so starting next semester i will be taking 8am classes as well! oi vey!
well, rather than make you wonder about the answers until my next blog, here are the answers, which perhaps you guessed correctly? :)
1. my favorite aspect of laundry night is actually the smell of the laundry soap. in case you didn't hear, my biggest craving of pregnancy has been smelling soap. in particular, Irish Spring bar soap. yep, i smell it through the box. it's soooo ridiculous. i love it! :) i can't believe how good it smells, and "i can't remember life before Irish Spring." very strange... i don't think i've ever had a food craving during pregnancy, so don't laugh at me too hard. (i also crave munching on ice. obviously when it gets softer or is crushed.. mmmm. i'm also well aware that that is a sign of anemia, which indeed i have during pregnancy. but mmmmm, ice!)
2. well, we actually did move apartments if you can believe that! we're quite thankful to have more space! we now have 3 bedrooms (the 3rd is a tiny room that is quite ideal for little naya and her toys! one is our bedroom, and soon to be baby's. the 3rd is now an office where noe can study in peace! well, we're in a school as a family, so only so much peace, right? )! the living room is quite a bit larger, so we're sooo thankful that naya has some play room now! no running water or bathroom (maybe next year?), but we're seriously so thankful for the bit of extra room! one of the families that we've become closest to here at NTBI was living in this one, basically right across the hall from us. they were upgraded to a larger apartment with running water (and they definitely can use that, as they're expecting their 3rd in late december!). so friday evening was this massive moving party. between 5pm and 9.30pm, we moved both apartments entirely with the help of about 6 other students including the 4 of us "movees", and we all shared a meal together. it was the epitome of teamwork and fellowship! the dean of marrieds was pretty amazed that we got it all done friday night! this also allowed a couple with one child to move on campus (into our old apt). they were off-campus in a house, and felt a bit isolated. so this situation turned out really well for everyone. the little girl in our old apt is also in naya's class. so naya will enjoy having yet another friend to play with in the hall. :)
3. the bad news from the doctor was the third choice--- the old clinic had not followed through at ALL on my sugar levels after my ER incident of august. he noticed how high my sugar had been (187), and since i'm already 37 weeks, it would be too late/pointless to do the 3-hr glucose test. he said baby wasn't measuring big or anything, so just as a precaution, i am to eliminate all sugar until baby is born. AAAHHH!!!!! indeed, it really is the evilest of the three evils... haha! (trust me, i'm quite sensible that it's not evil at all. this is all in jest!) but no chocolates, no ice cream, no soda... i can have fresh fruit, and he DID permit me to put coffeemate in my coffee. PHEW! to which i responded, "well good then, we can still be friends." he burst out laughing at that comment... it was a funnier moment than i thought it would be.... but anyway, we're happy for a great doctor and looking forward to baby's arrival. baby is also head-down and as of thursday, i was already making some progress! i don't know if the doctor will check again or not, but i was encouraged that there was some progress already at 37 weeks! i will be 38 weeks this thursday. counting down!!!
4. AND the last question... the school turned on the heaters. i WILL survive (i chant to myself!). noe lets me put the window fan in one of our 2 bedroom windows while the heater is on. but we have to consider naya as well, and warm the house up enough for her. i told him he has to take charge on that, because my perception of the heat is WAAAAAAAAAAY off! :) i can't wait to be done with pregnancy and hopefully regain a normal internal thermometer soon!! i know that once it's cold i will start complaining too.. but really, right now.. i can't wait to bundle up in a sweater or a blanket like all of my fellow human beings!!
on that note... do you ever feel like you are always finding something to complain about?
-in the summer it's too hot
-in the winter it's too cold
-i have nothing in my fridge
-time goes too fast
-time goes too slow
-etc, etc, etc...
well, i sure recognize that about myself. i don't think i'm a horribly outspoken complainer. but i AM very aware that i do indeed complain internally or even within the privacy of my family... and i am keenly aware that i have complained about various things here at NTBI more than i used to complain about things. i am pretty sure that between 2003 and 2006 i was much more stable in this area. i used to laugh inwardly at hotel guests, in particular, who would allow themselves to become so utterly disgruntled at little things (molehills into mountains). i thought a great hotel front desk 'uniform' would be a t-shirt that said "Happiness Is A Choice." well, i guess it's time to hold up the t-shirt in front of my own face.
there is certainly a difference between happiness and joy. i searched for joy for several years. it was a desperate, depressing, heart-wrenching search. and you know what, that joy only comes through Jesus Christ. He IS that joy, and He is the GIVER OF that joy. and as He says in His Word, the world CANNOT take that joy away. i think that many times as believers we fall into the mis-belief that when we find ourselves intensely unhappy (that meaning by our circumstances, y'all!), we have "lost our joy." no no no, i beg you, the joy of JESUS CHRIST cannot be taken from you. but circumstances. circumstances! oh how they change!!!! and oh how they can bend us and twist us and distort our thinking. but if we only remember who He is. and marvel continually of His character! dive into Him and let Him fill us and fill us and fill us again. and let Him walk us through each and every circumstance, none of which take Him by surprise. let Him be the King of our lives... we need not be like the (stumbling) 'nations' around us who have their various kings. kings of disappointment. kings of failure. kings of unfulfilled promises. kings who just can't satisfy. but this one King- He CAN and He DOES satisfy.
Lord, TEACH US! may we be content in You.
then we can stop complaining. yes, we choose happiness, but even moreso, we can be overwhelmed with His joy.
JOY, JOY, JOY!
