Now that the holidays are behind us, it's time to turn my full attention back to school preparation for this upcoming spring semester. I have meetings and advising already in the planner for next week before returning to full time teaching in mid January so am attempting to get everything squared away for the two subs as well as myself regarding spring due dates/deadlines/etc. in the next few days. While the task seems daunting right now, I know I will be grateful that I am spending so much time on the preparation now for when maternity leave starts and for when I plan out future semesters as well. My goal is to have everything printed and in separate binders/on flash drives for each of my four classes, have all the classes and corresponding files uploaded to Blackboard, and to have meetings scheduled with the subs to step by step go over everything next week by this Wednesday night!! Can I do it??? As I look ahead to this semester, here are two reflections from the start of this past semester in late August...and what a monumental one the semester was! Being the first semester of teaching with a new name, a new office, a new home, in my new vocation as a wife, a new puppy who just refuses to learn housetraining, and of course going "public" with our family news halfway through the semester, Fall 2015 went down as a memorable semester that's for sure. I can hardly wait to see what is in store for Spring 2016 when our family grows by a sweet little bundle of joy!
Thursday,
August 20, 2015: 11 weeks 3 days
Today was the first day back at work
with the faculty and staff mass in the morning, a meeting immediately after it
followed by lunch and, finally, a faculty meeting that started at 1pm. I was also able to share the news with the last gal from the
Education Dept. I hadn’t had the chance to tell her up until today so I did it
before mass just before she and I entered the church. I thought she would be the only one I would
share the news with today but at the end of the day when chatting with a
colleague in the Engineering Dept. and one of my former housemates in the Psychology Dept. from last
year, I shared that we were expecting.
Their reactions were SO sweet! When
I confided in Marita my worries over miscarrying based on our being high risk
and on the track record of so many of my friends/family she said something to
the effect of, “Embrace the moment. You
are carrying a baby right now and you know what. That means you are a Mom now and Adam is a
Dad now!” Wow. I so
hadn’t thought of it that way. She also
shared the story of how her friend had gotten pregnant once and the couple
miscarried then could never have children after that but that she and the
husband were parents based on that
one pregnancy. Again, wow! I love the way she views the world and how
she helps me to see things from a completely
different perspective.
Then, as Marita and I were chatting
outside our building, saying goodbye to folks as they left, another colleague
joined our conversation. He noticed the
brown shopping bag that held a gift wrapped in light pink wrapping paper and
asked if I had news to share. I said I
believed it was a belated wedding gift and he said, “Oh, I thought you might
have other news to share but I won’t press!” once he saw what must have been a deer
in headlights look on my face as I was caught off guard. I agree with Marita’s sentiments about the
fact that it’s nice how we work in an environment where most of the men are
probably sensitive to the issue and respectful of privacy. Fr. Nathan even joked during our morning
meeting when speaking of and introducing one of the new employees by
highlighting the fact that there are nine children in the family by saying how
that number was approaching the Franciscan median. LOL!
My boss also commented this morning that I have a baby bump….! I fear that it is not a baby bump but rather
is from the lack of exercise since July 1st. I’m glad that Katy and I are going to go for
a walk later as I need to get back into a workout routine ASAP…especially with
so many now or will be soon scrutinizing my stomach!!!
Friday, August 21,
2015: 11 weeks 4 days
At mass today, while at work, Fr. Sean talked about Pope
Pius (today’s his feast day) and how he was credited with saying something
along the lines of give of yourself so fully and totally to others so that they
can fully receive you or something like that.
I wish I had been able to write it down as he shared it during the
homily. In light of it being back to
school time, I assume Fr. Sean was sharing that quote with the students,
faculty, staff, and families who had gathered for mass to encourage and
motivate us to put our all into our studies/work/interactions with others. However, sitting in the audience in the
fieldhouse this evening, the quote took on a whole new meaning for me. In a sense, I am giving my body over to
receive the new life that is growing inside of me. I love this little one so much and I’ve not
laid eyes on him or her yet. In a way,
it reminds me of the years of praying for Adam before having even met him; of
praying for my future spouse even though I didn’t have a face or name to put
with the prayers that were sent up above seeking his wellbeing and hoping he
had had a good day that day. It’s
amazing how much love and tenderness you can feel for someone before you even
meet the person in the flesh as was evident during that fateful January evening
in Charlotte in 2014 when I picked Adam up from the airport after three loooong
months of getting to know him. On the
one hand, I can’t wait for March 7th to get here but on the other
hand, the thought of birthing a child and going through the physical/biological
changes that come with pregnancy and beyond petrify me. I keep coming back to that quote though. Give of yourself fully and hold nothing back so that others can receive
all of you and not just a part of you. No matter what comes our way over the next
several months and days that follow I’m going to give it my best shot in the
name of love and trusting God!
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