Wow--what a whirlwind the past week has been. After getting Grandma situated in her new place and starting to clean out her old apartment, we finished painting Amy's nursery. It looks darling with the paw prints and dog faces stamped on the newly painted walls. Her midwife said it's unlikely she'll make it to her due date, which is very exciting. At 8 months she was dilated 1 cm and things were starting to move so we're getting ready--the bags are packed and everything's set.

I hosted Amy's baby shower on Saturday. It was a great success--there were about 17 people (I never did get an accurate head count) and Cherri even came over from Bend for the event. We played some fun games and ate some great food and Amy got some really wonderful gifts. The neatest gift was the custom baby quilt that Delyn made for her. They designed it together and then Delyn sewed and personalized it for the baby with his name on the back. It made Amy cry, even. Then again, everything makes Amy cry these days.

So now I have a cold. I was trying to avoid it last week, pretending I wasn't getting sick but by Sunday I couldn't fake it any more. My ears are plugged and my left one feels like it's trying to fight off an infection. It rings and aches a little from time to time. My soft palate is irritated and the nasopharynx region at the back of my throat is irritated and raw. It tickles when air rushes over it and that makes me cough some. It's not the worst cold I've had but it's certainly making my body tired. My glands are swollen, especially on the left. I've not had much in the way of runny nose--it's a very strange cold, indeed. But it's knocked me out. I slept well last night and then after being away for two hours this morning, I had to go back to sleep for 3 more. I hope it goes away soon. Everyone I know is either sick or just getting over this same weird cold. I'm the last in our family to have it.

I can't remember if I wrote about my plans to start teaching Kinder music or not but I'll be starting in September. I was thinking about doing it in July and Aug but I'm thinking I want my summer open. At least that's how it's looking so far. I'll be teaching the babies through age 3 and I'll have 4 classes a week. I'm really excited about it--I think it will be a great experience! I need to get started on the training, though. I think it might be a good idea to wait until after the baby is born, though. Then again, I guess it doesn't make that much difference. I haven't got much on the agenda for this month because I've intentionally tried to keep things open so that I don't have to make a lot of calls when Amy goes into labor. Ooh, I'm getting so excited for this I can hardly stand it.

Amy has just one more day of work--next Wednesday--but she's not sure if she'll go or not. I'm kind of hoping she won't. It would be fun to play some next week before the baby is born.

I finally broke through my weight loss plateau. I was stalled at 36 lbs. for about 2 months. Of course, that two months included Christmas but even in January, nothing was happening. Then finally in early Feb, I got on the scale and saw some movement. As of last Friday, I'm down 41 lbs. That two months was very frustrating, though, and in the past, I would have just given up, I'm sure. But I've learned in the last 9+ months that I just need to hang tight and ride those plateaus out. They won't last forever. My body just needs time to readjust its setpoint. Interestingly, the plateaus seem to happen on the way down at the same places they happened on the way up. Hmmm...something to think about.

Well, Joey's going to be home from school soon. She's decided to give up one of her afterschool commitments. She was in the school choir that met on Wednesdays but she's decided that she doesn't like it anymore. Since she's already in another choir, I can understand her wanting to drop the most boring one. I'm fine with that. If she were quitting because it was too hard, I'd have something to say but she's quitting because it's boring and she feels too busy.

Later...

--L