This working woman has got to work!

So, time is ticking down to the arrival of our little bundle of joy! At my last appointment with the midwife, she said that Baby K was in good position and even though my due date is still a few weeks off, just consider ourselves at "any day now" status. How exciting!

Well, now that I am clearly walking around with a stomach akin to a regulation size women's basketball under my shirt, I'm getting lots of questions from strangers about my worklife. People are amazed that I'm still able to get to work everyday (but not so amazed that I can manage to walk around a mall or up and down the streets). Then when I inform them that I am only going to be off for 6 weeks post-partum, they are completely flabbergasted? Six weeks?!

Apparently, around these parts (and maybe its a West Coast thing), women go on maternity leave 3-4 weeks before their due date. Why? What the hell am I going to do around the house all day other than watch Judge Judy and play don't-blink contests with Figaro? How boring! It would be nice to only be on a half-day schedule, because I start to get a little tired around 2:30, but nothing to run home about!

Also, women generally will take off 6 months to a year after the baby is born. I think that's nuts! Of the 13 moms in our childbirth classes, 1 was not returning to work at all (which is completely reasonable to me - though not my style), 1 is returning to work after a year, 8 are returning to work after 6 months, 1 after 3 months, 1 after 8 weeks and myself after 6 weeks. The rest of the class thought us two "short-timers" were completely nuts. How could we even imagine to manage that we would be able to return to work so quickly. Won't we miss the baby? Won't the baby still need us to be home with them?

After explaining (not that we needed to) that some of us need two paychecks to run a household, their scorn turned to pity that our poor husbands can't provide for us. Of course they didn't say as much, but you could see it on their faces.

I'm sick of these crazy people around here making me feel bad about my mothering before the baby even gets here! I don't think I'd take off more than 8 weeks even if I could! How boring (in my opinion) for me to be sitting around the house with no companionship other than a baby. I need the stimulation of adult conversation. I need work day lunch with my favorite coworkers. I actually love my job and will miss it while I'm on leave (though, I won't miss the actual working part of it). I am blessed in that Baby K's daycare is about 150 yards from my office, so I can go and see, cuddle, snuggle, spy on, breastfeed, kiss, and hug my little one whenever I please.

But sheesh! Give me a break! Sorry, just had to vent about that. Meanwhile, Purdue broke my heart (as expected) last night by losing. We always get sooooo close!

Relaxed and refreshed!

My husband is awesome. He sent me an email Thursday afternoon with the confirmation # and check-in/out times for an overnight stay in a very fancy hotel suite this weekend. When I called to ask him the reason for this romantic getaway, he told me that it was for me - by myself - because he thought I deserved the rest. And you know what? I did! I packed a very small bag with necessities only, a novel I've been meaning to start and my pregnancy scrapbook and headed out Saturday afternoon. The first thing I did was bolster myself on all 6 pillows on the bed and sleep for an hour. My hubby came by and took me out to dinner, then politely dropped me back off, took of my shoes for me, got me settled on the couch, and went back home to hang with Figaro for the rest of the night. I spent my hours sleeping, reading, cutting/pasting and watching the NCAA tourny. It was bliss and I am blessed to have a guy like that.

Today, its back to real life. Back to work. No more room service. No more maid service. No more made-to-order breakfast (made by someone else). But, I feel rested and renewed and am ready to tackle the week!

So, what have you done to honor yourself, or how have you been honored by a loved one lately?

Oh! You would never guess, but I absolutely lurve wrestling. Not WWF wrestling, the real deal greco-roman wrestling. Fell in with it in highschool when my cheering activities required attendance at matches and never got over it. I happened to catch the final match of the NCAA wrestling tourny on Saturday and watched a brutha from NC State take the 149lb title. It was a history-making moment and I was proud to have witnessed it.