Snazzy Pillow vs. Snazzier (and Obviously Way More Practical) Mermaid Costume

Sometimes in life you have to make tough decisions. Like, should I enter the mall at JCPenney, or Macy’s? And how many cups of whole wheat flour can I sneak into the pancake batter before Rick will notice? And should I use my Blistex to make a miniature wax sculpture of Adam Levine, or the entire band of One Direction, or Kim Kardashian’s baby bump? And should I do this before, during, or after the faculty meeting?

I didn’t think my recent Joann fabric find was going to spur on any tough decisions.

It was going to become a pillow cover, duh, and it would look like I had spend an entire decade carefully stitching each little scale, and I would blow everyone away since the last pillow I made a decade ago looked like this:

True, this would absorb my drool better.

But then I realized that the fabric could also be used to make the tail of a mermaid costume. And I haven’t been a mermaid since my 6th birthday party. And that was only with the help of a cardboard cutout and some wonky looking shell boobs.

I am proud to say that my left tata is no longer located on my left arm. Happened when I hit puberty.

Just think, with a few whips of the needle I could become this blank-eyed vixen. (Maybe she was whipped in the eyes with that needle?) Conch shells the size of my cat can’t be hard to find.

Source

Like I said, tough decisions.

What’s your vote: pillow or mermaid costume? Or maybe none of the above and instead a pillow sewn into the shape of Adam Levine’s face? That would be totally normal, right?

Another Heartbeat {The Post I’ve Been Wanting to Write}

This is the post I have been wanting to write for seven weeks now.

It’s the one in which I tell you that there is another heartbeat inside of me, and I get to meet the owner of that heartbeat in October.

My version of Pregnancy, 10 Weeks already includes a poochy tummy. So long, pencil skirts.

People—women—have all kinds of tips and advice when you’re pregnant. Eat crackers before you move in the morning. Don’t change the litter. Expect your boobs to feel like they are going to detach and plunge into the earth.What nobody mentions is how to handle the fact that while it took a couple of weeks—both of which, for me, were marked by a fair amount of disbelief—I am now in full-on mommy mode, or as least as much as one can be when your baby is the size of a kumquat. I pray for my baby’s safety and health every day, and to be completely vulnerable, my biggest fear has nothing to do with the pain of childbirth or raising a child. My biggest fear, instead, is of losing this baby, of never knowing what color its eyes are or what its first word is or what it will look like sleeping.

My fear is somewhat unexpected to me, because we didn’t directly ask for this baby. Yes, we’ve prayed for the Lord’s perfect timing with starting a family, but we weren’t trying to have this baby. But I can’t say how blessed I feel to have been able to look at a pregnancy test one night with a mixture of surprise and gratitude, laughing and crying with my husband because we were both so overwhelmed with the idea of it all, an idea that hadn’t been ours, making it wholly perfect.

For all of these reasons, I cycle between excitement and nerves, at the core of both being that I want the best for this baby and the simple truth that although I haven’t held it in my arms or kissed it goodnight or watched it sleep, I already love this baby. I whisper those words to myself when the nausea rolls through or when I wake up sweating and can’t fall back asleep, remembering that this is just the beginning of more loving sacrifice than I have ever, ever known.

I already love this baby.

I already love this baby so, so much.

And I can’t wait to tell it that in person.

BlogHer Publishing Honor: Teaching Post

Remember this post I recently wrote about teaching? Humbled and honored I am to have had BlogHer ask to syndicate it on their website. I hope it can encourage anyone who knows the challenges and rewards of being in the education field. I also hope that the ELA state test in April doesn’t ask my 7th graders what the major U.S. political party is in addition to Republican, because they will answer with things like “Americans,” “the President,” and “terrorists.”

The previous represents my classroom LOL moment of the week, even though I tactfully waited to LOL until the kids were gone.

You can check out the BlogHer page here.

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)