This is always the longest stretch of the school year for me...I think most teachers will tell you that they dread March. Not even ONE day off all month. Let me tell you, it's a hard life... :)
We are counting these 8 weeks (between February break and April break) as they pass, trying to keep the boys encouraged as we look ahead to our Costa Rica vacation. It's been a difficult couple weeks for both boys; I think they've reached the point in the school year where they are wanting to be DONE (and, maybe, the point in the seasons--yesterday, nearly 60 degrees, today cold and snowing all day). Apparently students enjoy March as little as we teachers do.
In happy March news, we are anticipating two family birthdays this month--Orilus' on Saturday (he'll be 13, if you can believe that!) and Jason's on the 25th. Those celebrations help to break up the month for us, and give us some ways to mark time as the month creeps by.
I'm also happy that I do have one break this month--from classes at UMass, as their spring break is next week. I'm looking forward to having an extra week to write a weekly paper due in one class, to begin some additional reading for another paper due later in the semester, and (perhaps) to continue with some reading I've been wanting to do for a couple months now. I have some books out from the library there and renewed them once already, and they are coming due at month's end, so that's a motivating factor. I've begun some reading for my dissertation, so these are books related to refugee studies, immigrant/minority education issues, and critical theory (basically, questioning power structures in society and how these structures marginalize students). Interesting stuff.
We had a good weekend. I did a lot of homework this weekend, both on Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon. I had a class on Saturday morning, too. But from Saturday afternoon on I was able to put the books away and just enjoy time with family. I took the boys to the Y, watched a movie with Jason (I usually spend exactly one half-hour in front of the TV a week, so this feels like a special treat), enjoyed a big breakfast with our house church friends on Sunday morning, hung out with the boys Sunday afternoons (lots of kids ended up convening on the neighborhood basketball court, so they spent a few hours there), and then Jason and I were able to go out last night for a couple hours to eat dinner and go birthday shopping for Orilus.
Jason spent his weekend a bit differently than me. While my nose is usually in a book, his hands seem to be always working. This weekend he went to Home Depot, bought more than a dozen sheets of dry wall, and began dry walling the baby's room! It feels like a huge milestone, to have walls going up and to see fewer studs in there. I was so grateful for a good friend who came by Saturday to help Jason get started (carrying up that many sheets of dry wall to a second floor condo is not that much fun), and then yesterday, a dear friend of ours volunteered her brother, who turned out to be a dry walling machine. Within a few hours, he and Jason had dry walled the entire alcove of the room, and 2 of its main walls...leaving just two left! So exciting!
Maybe here is a good time to say that lately I've been feeling stresssed--not for me, but for Jason. He keeps teasing me about it and telling me he's not nearly as stressed about his life as I am (about his life), but the truth is, he is an absolutely amazing guy, a truly good man. There is no way I could continue in my doctoral studies without him--not only does he "do it all" (and I mean, ALL, including ironing and laundry), but he encourages me to keep at my work, even when I'm tired or discouraged. He doesn't begrudge me the time I need to write or to read. He supports my weekend Panera bagel and hot chocolate habit. AND he somehow finds time to rebuild an entire room of our house. I really am not sure how he does it. Sometimes, I feel like people marvel at how much I do, but the truth is that someday, when I write a book and dedicate it to someone, it's going to have to be dedicated to him, because he's the one making me feel like our life is still balanced, like there is time and space for work and play and spirit, all at once. I think more people should marvel at the families who make sacrifices for those in a doctoral program...it's no small feat.
In baby news...I'm still growing. :) Sometimes I feel like there isn't much else to report, though I do enjoy the more frequent kicks and movements, which remind me she is still there, and growing.
Off to do some reading (surprise, surprise). Please do keep our family in prayer as we help our kids to navigate these long weeks ahead.
