Back from the dead...

Wow... we were without Internet for quite a while there! We're still without air conditioning, but that I can live with. We're also without organization, which is going to kill me very soon here!

So, a brief rundown for the 82 of you who check this on a regular basis:

We moved. We own a house now, and nobody ever told us how much work that involved! Every spare minute is filled with one project or another. Some are functional, some are cosmetic... It will be a nice house when we do a little fixing, I think. Nobody has loved this place in a very long time. So sad. But we love it and we are willing to do the work to restore it to what it should be (it's very, very old).

Work is work. I had a marathon grading session last weekend that lasted, I sh*t you not, 18 hours. It was awful. Husband is threatening to take the Bear and leave me if I ever do that again! (Maybe now he'll appreciate just how much I do around here. Hmmm.) Anyway, still liking the new job, although it was a full moon last week and that makes children a little nutty. Yeargh.

Finally, an answer to the nagging intense pain! I have a 2 cm kidney stone in my right kidney! It's centimeters, not millimeters. Go ahead, get a ruler. I did. That's really. freaking. big. So, am a little worried about this. No way is that coming out the old-fashioned way. No sir. Not happening. But, they can't break it up with the sound wave thingies that they use because I'm pregnant. So, my OB sent me to a urologist, and we'll see what happens after that visit.

The Bear is still not walking. I'm a little concerned about that, since she's almost 14 months now. Shouldn't she be walking? She'll take a few steps here and there, usually not more than four, but that's still decent progress, I suppose. Then, too, she's saying more and more words. She will poke my tummy and say "baby," she says "dark," "down," "bye," and "eye." Also "mom" and "da." She waves hi and bye, and will blow kisses and high-five on request. Also, when you ask her if she wants more food, she makes the sign for "more" and says "yeah!" She's been a lot of fun lately, and she's adjusting nicely to the new BearCave.

I'll be 17 weeks on Sunday. Feeling little pokes and flutters, but nothing too crazy. I felt the Bear at 15 weeks, and I swear about 13 weeks this time I could feel the bubbles. I'm only up about 5 pounds, which is great compared to last time (20 pounds by now). If it wasn't for the kidney, I'd be feeling great. That and the fact that I pass out on the couch every night about 8 p.m. I have some pretty strong boy vibes this time, which is interesting. We'll have to wait and see what comes out. I'm still waiting for the dream. Last time, I had the dream by about 20 weeks, and I knew the Bear was a girl. Hopefully I'll have a similar dream this time - it was really cool! There's a lot to be said for intuition. We have a nice boy name picked out, so I really am leaning that way. We'll just have to see!

Well, those are all the recent developments, I think. I'm back for good now, so no more 20+ day hiatuses (hiatii?) for me. Off to do more grading - bleargh.

Stir crazy

Ok, people. I'm going crazy here. I can't stand feeling like I'm sitting on my hands, doing nothing, just watching as so many people are suffering and dying. I feel like I have to do something. Now. Husband and I are by no means rich, but we are certainly blessed in that we have each other, our health, good jobs, and a healthy child. I can't help feeling guilty that I have so much when so many others have literally nothing, not even food and water.

Here's the deal. Husband and I just bought a house*. We're homeowners now. And it's big. We have extra rooms. Plural. I am a public school teacher in an excellent district, full of kind-hearted and concerned people. We live just a few states north of Mississippi and Louisiana (several hundred miles). We want to take in a family of Katrina refugees, provide them with food and clothes, let their children go to school, and help them to find jobs.

Problem is, there is so much conflicting information out there, and so many avenues of communication are still closed, that I can't find a good way to get this out there so we can let people know our doors are open. Does anyone out there know who I can contact to get the ball rolling on this? Any information you have would be so appreciated. Husband and I agree - we can't just sit here and not at least try to help someone less fortunate than ourselves.

If you have any advice, suggestions, or contact info, please leave it in a comment, or email me at:

visitjane (at) hotmail (dot) com

Or, if you have no idea what to do either, feel free to comment about what you're doing, thinking, feeling etc. I know we're all feeling helpless and scared at the moment.

*More about the house later. I don't feel like bragging today. But yay!


**Updated to add this tag for hurricane housing***

Subject: Emergency housing drive at www.hurricanehousing.org

I'm sure you've seen the horrifying images on TV of destruction left by Hurricane Katrina, and the many, many people left with nowhere to go.
You can help. MoveOn.org just launched a website, www.hurricanehousing.org, to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm.

You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) on http://www.hurricanehousing.org or search there for housing if you need it.

MoveOn will pass requests from hurricane victims or relief agencies on to volunteer hosts, who can decide whether or not to respond to a particular request. The host remains anonymous until they reply to someone looking for housing.

I just posted my own offer. I hope you will too, or pass this on to people you know in the Southeast:

http://www.hurricanehousing.org

Housing is most urgently needed within reasonable driving distance (about 300 miles) of the affected areas, especially New Orleans.

Thanks!

***end update***