And Just Like That...It's April.

I know. April…how did we get here? I came back to you for two brief posts last summer and then disappeared off the face of the digital earth again. I can promise you it was my intention to get back into posting this year. I couldn’t wait to share all my tips for traveling to out-of-state weddings (we had 5 this summer/fall); I was going to document the challenges and triumphs of married life (namely sharing a kitchen with gluten and dairy products again); I was going to take you on my adventures around Boston, discovering new Katie-safe hot-spots to take the temporary place of the ones I had to leave behind in Baltimore. I was going to regale you with tales of my days back in a 2^nd grade classroom, navigating a daily life that once again involves morning snack time...and of course 7-year-olds only love gluten-filled, dairy-filled snacks. I still have half-written wedding advice posts that are sitting in a folder on my desktop, just pleading to be finished and shared. However, as you know, none of that happened since August.

There are a few good reasons for that. First, I started teaching at a new school…and as you teachers out there can understand, this year I found myself graced with “that class”. They challenge you in ways you never imagined, drain your energy in ways that it just doesn’t seem a group of 7-year-olds should be able to do, consume your thoughts even hours after you’ve walked out of the classroom…and yet you can’t help but love them because after all, they’re 7 years old. None of what is causing you such angst is really their fault. Well, most of it anyway. I knew it on Day 1. As soon as the dismissal bell rang, I walked (and by walked I mean dragged) my exhausted self to the Physicist’s new office (which is conveniently just a few blocks away) and asked him for a hug. Then I went outside and sat on a bench in the middle of a Harvard courtyard, took out my rosary app, and proceeded to pray an entire rosary asking God what I should do. I mean, if I left then, I’d just be that crazy lady who showed up for a day and disappeared. But by the end of the the third decade, I already knew the answer- I was here for a reason and those kids needed me…and perhaps I needed them too.  And so I woke up on Day 2 and marched back in there and I continued to do so every morning until last Friday. Which brings us to reason #2. Just over a week into the new school year (so 9 days after my rosary chat with God in the Harvard courtyard), the Physicist and I found out that a little one would be joining our family. Now this had always been our plan…but as you may remember from previous posts, part of True Life as a Celiac had been hearing for 5 years that I may never have children of my own…so needless to say we were equal parts “over-the-moon excited” and “let’s-try-not-to-get-our-hopes-up-yet terrified”. So take the craziness of the first few weeks of a new school year, add in 1 handful class, 3 Boston-Pennsylvania weekend trips in a row for back-to-back-to-back Villanova weddings, the normal exhaustion/nausea of first-trimester pregnancy, AND the added stress of keeping our news completely to ourselves (again 5 years of warnings take its toll on a person)…and let’s just say that leaves no time to even consider working on a blog.

So I made the conscious decision to take a hiatus from writing. Now don’t think that means I forgot about you. I can assure you I didn’t…and the countless notes I have about various posts to share regarding how to navigate a gluten-free, dairy-free pregnancy can back me up on that. Our little one is scheduled to arrive in just under a month…which basically means anytime between today and 6 weeks from  now is considered reasonable. Spring Break comes to an end for my students and colleagues on Monday morning, but I will be home- beginning maternity leave as they finish out their 8 weeks left in the school year. My hope is to have some time to post between now and arrival day, but of course that’s all up to the little one. Regardless, I can assure you that at some point – though it may be late summer/next fall before we settle into our new life enough to do so- I fully intend to catch up on writing and share all the posts I’ve been mentally composing (and forcing the Physicist to take pictures for) over the past 8 months.

Until then, here are just a few exciting tidbits to share. Consider this your preview of coming attractions:

• Starbucks now has almond milk!! I know this is bad news for any nut-allergic readers…but for me it meant my first Starbucks Peppermint Mocha in 4 years this past December. Pure heaven.

My 1st Peppermint Mocha in years!

• There is an allergen-free chocolate company that actually makes good chocolate! It’s based in New Jersey but they ship nationwide. You’re welcome in advance.

My beautiful stocking :-)

• These little tags? A necessity if you’re sharing a kitchen. We learned early on that our own color-coded system works great…until company comes over. If a guest sees a toaster, they’re going to use it. If you put one of these on it, they won’t. Problem solved.

• GET READY FOR THIS: There is now gluten-free, dairy-free Bailey’s! This is brand-new….as in just released a few weeks ago. The Physicist was sweet enough to put a bottle in my Easter basket and it is now safely stowed away until the days when I can drink again. I’ll be sure to update you once I’ve tried it.

• There is an entirely dairy-free ice cream shop less than a mile from our new apartment! Come visit anytime and we can walk there. Bonus: they serve coffee too! J