I’ve ransacked Sydney’s closet and am now shopping for tents

On a lighter note, Sydney and baby and I have made it 30 weeks into the pregnancy.  We’re on the home stretch!  So far, all is going well: all tests are clear, I’m still feeling pretty good and mobile, and we’re able to focus on our work.  I have pushed all remaining baby-related mania back to March (when I’ll do taxes, scour the house, wash baby things, etc.).  I have found that all the baby pressure in my stomach seems to demand that I walk regularly, so I’ve been making regular pilgrimages down our road and into the surrounding country.  If I don’t walk, I feel like a tire that someone is inflating a bit too vigorously.  It makes me laugh to think that some of our neighbors may catch sight of me on occasion and wonder, “Good grief.  She’s out here walking regularly in the cold, but she’s still expanding around the middle.  What’s she eating?”

On a related note, the university librarian was chatting with me after a meeting recently and asked why she wasn’t seeing me at the gym this semester.  I told her I was working from home more and had taken up walking outside instead; I thought I’d leave the gym to those undergrads who seem desperate to get ready for spring-break bikinis.  She laughed and said something very complimentary about my not having to worry about wearing one, either–which made me think she hadn’t looked too hard at me recently.  Or my scarves are bigger than I think.

Erin