Memories & Thoughts from Lent into Easter and back to Ordinary Time

So the beginning of Easter did leave us with sickness in the house, but it was short-lived. Andrew got sick on Easter night, after an early morning Holy Saturday boating adventure and then a hot and sugar-filled Easter Sunday. I think Lucy got sick the next Sunday evening, the day after a friends' birthday party. Andrew got sick a day or two before or after that. I don't remember. As paranoid as I was, no one else got sick. Thankfully. I was, and still am, really thankful of that. Also, that Chris handled most of all three disasters, including the one in the top bunk.

For Lent this year, I listened to all four gospels with the Truth and Life Audio Bible using the app on my phone. Most of the listening was done in car rides home. I'd had the audio bible a few Lents prior and didn't actually listen to it. However, there was a daily schedule for Lent that they had for the gospels, which kept me motivated and on pace. Sometimes I'd go a few days without listening and then caught up. It was worth it. I loved hearing the similarities between the gospel. During the Easter season, I started working through the rest of the New Testament, also on car rides home. As of this past week, I am ready to start Revelation. I hadn't realized some of the letters, especially 2 & 3 Peter were so short! Although reading the New Testament had always seemed daunting, this really helped me and I'm glad I stuck with it. Next, I'll need to find an audio version of the Old Testament... I wish the Truth and Life creators had a version of it.

Also during Lent I gave up Facebook except for Sundays. It was nice to take a step away from it, because I already knew and still know how much (pointless) time I spend scrolling through it. I keep considering implementing that in my non-Lent life but I haven't done so yet. I had also given up TV for myself, but would watch only when Chris did. I'd done this a few years ago, but it kept me focused on reading books on my phone or being more present in my life. Some nights, it was hard to stay awake (which is often what I use TV for since I don't usually watch it during the daytime to keep myself disciplined).

I am now 34 weeks so baby boy will likely make his appearance at some point in the next six weeks. All of my kids except my first were early (Andrew was on his actual due date). I am personally still undecided on a name, but my husband thinks the baby has been named already. Two and three weeks ago, the pregnancy was going exceptionally great, but over the past week I've been struggling to be comfortable when sleeping and have woken up with a mixture of back, leg, and neck pain. I don't know if part of it relates to his growing larger and filling up more space, but he definitely works himself into uncomfortable positions at times. Nevertheless, I love feeling him move, rotate, kick, and more. It's an extra reminder that he's there and alive. We are so excited to meet the newest member of our family. This past week, Patrick has been saying that he wants to meet his new baby brother now. Mary has been saying she wants to "hold it" and "pick it up" and "hug it." They both come over and hug my tummy. Andrew and Lucy are excited, too; Lucy (and Patrick) usually prays for her new baby brother and Andrew is more reserved, but says he likes his family growing. Chris rearranged the boys' and girls' rooms when he got home early one day last week and the kids were bounding through the room as he moved the bed into Lucy & Mary's room and then converted the toddler bed back into a crib in the boys' room. Mary's been climbing in and out of the crib since; we'll have to curb that by the time baby boy is born.

I've also made the decision to not return to teaching in the fall. I'm looking for other opportunities outside of teaching at the moment because it had been hard to manage 90 students at this point along with my growing family; also, the rotating schedule for teaching at my school wouldn't be consistent enough for my childcare situation. I had an interview which made me realize I really want to have a consistent part-time schedule or even a flexible schedule or possibly remote work. I'm still figuring this out, but even though I will miss teaching, I relunctantly have started to embrace that it was time for a change. I still just don't like the unknown and not knowing what I am going to be doing after my paychecks wrap up at the end of August.

I hope to start updating more regularly once I start my modified bullet journaling and do more monthly goal-planning.