Tying up loose ends

I have this week off from my nanny job, since it is President's Week Break for the schools here.  The boys are going to a day camp.  So, even though it's only three hours a day (plus travel time), I feel like I have a ton of extra time to get things done.  So I've been creating a pretty ambitious to-do list.  I won't likely finish most of it, but I'll feel pretty good about having at least taken action steps on most of it.  Items include (but are not limited to):

• Scheduling a dentist appointment
• Getting Washington license plates and drivers license for myself and the Honda
• Finding a volunteer doula for me and a pediatrician for the baby
• Doing the 2012 taxes (yet again in two states plus the federal....)
• Getting materials for a special craft project
• Freecycling/Craigslisting a few things
• Deciding what baby stuff to use some gift cards for 
• Edit my part of the presentation for the ASTA conference for next week
• Getting students rearranged around my RI trip
• Pay some bills  Ha!  I already did that today!
• Sending a picture of Jared and me to a friend in Birmingham who needs it for a little project
• Creating Roy's next listening assignment (Bach Cello Suite I Prelude)
• Buy more stamps

Also here are some loose ends I'll tie up for my readers regarding the prayer requests from my December post The Saga of Costa Rica:

• It has turned out for the best that Roy stays with us - no transportation issues.  And he's done a lot of work around the house.  And I learn a lot from hearing his daily practice.  And he gets out quite a bit on foot and on the bike anyway.  And he's a teenager and doesn't mind a sleeping bag.
• Between three LONG lessons a week, violin group class on Tuesdays, and what we have available in terms of CD's and YouTube, I think he is getting all the musical input he can handle right now, so we didn't pursue an orchestra for him.
• His English is improving via immersion.  Plus he also read Nurtured by Love in English and attends church and group class in English.  That is pretty much all he has time for right now!
• It looks like Roy is going to be able to go to Michigan and to Walla Walla for auditions, although the details are still being worked out.  But the finances I think are under control.
• So now I'm praying that he'll get a school situation for next year which will be in his best interest and will be affordable.  And I really hope that's Andrews in Michigan, because the violin teacher there is awesome and tough, and because it's an incredibly diverse school in so many ways.

And here is an updated report on my January post New Year's Projects:

• I think Roy and I have finally hit our student-teacher stride.  It always takes a while for a student to adapt to a new teacher and a teacher to adapt to a new student for maximum effectiveness.
• Definitely have some new strategies for my nanny boys.  But it's still hard.  I often make decisions which may not be the best ones.  And I don't even know whether I did the right thing in retrospect.  (Hindsight isn't always 20/20.)  Sometimes my decisions feel awful, but then maybe there wasn't actually a better alternative.  I don't know.  It's a tough job.
• Snowshoeing has happened on many, many occasions!
• Finished most of the parenting books I have gotten except for the one on nursing.  I may spend more time on that one after the baby arrives.  I've started reading the one called How to Help Your Child Really Love Jesus to Jared last night, and it is generating some fruitful discussion.
• Not done getting together things for the baby.  But I've put a little bit of brain into it at least.
• Studying through the book of Romans - well, I started out rather grandiosely with that one and got side-tracked.  Took a several week hiatus.  But got back to it yesterday afternoon in more manageable chunks.  Hopefully I'll stick with it, because I know I'll learn something valuable.  How could I not???
• Becoming more disciplined in prayer - maybe a little?  Heard a fantastic sermon on prayer yesterday given by one of the missionaries who is "in residence" at our church for a couple of months.  More impetus.  Because more disciplined in limiting internet goof-off time: not going so well.  Except for yesterday and today.  Because I am not exactly the most disciplined person I know...
• Jared and I have gotten ourselves booked at the Baptist church, the Methodist church, the Evangelical Presbyterian church, and our own church.  Good start.
• Playing a recital before the baby arrives.  Um, no.  Not scheduled.  Not going to happen.
• Exercise.  Doing pretty well on that.  I get frustrated with how slow I am getting and how hard it is for the heart and lungs at this point.  But the good news is that I'll probably be in great shape when I can shed the baby and the extra fluids!
• Getting sleep - sometimes going well, sometimes not.  Maybe the difficulties in sleeping during the third trimester are meant to prepare you for the difficulties of sleeping with a nursing-around-the-clock newborn.