Quick Update

I realize that I haven't touched base since last week. Work has been incredibly busy (with no signs of slowing down) and I was exhausted last week and through the weekend. That experience certainly took its toll.

The good news is that I have a second interview for that fantastic position I believe I mentioned previously. It was originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon but they needed to move it to next Friday. Which kind of sucks because I will be working 10 or 11-hour days next Mon-Thursdy and expect to be exhausted on Friday. Which means that my thinking will be much slower than I would like. I am going to try to work a short schedule that day so that I can sleep in a little later on Friday morning before the interview in the afternoon. Please wish me luck. I think this might finally be a good fit for me. I still have no idea of the pay range - the recruiter didn't answer my question via email - so I can't be sure that they will pay me more than this place. But this place is telling me that I need to take a lower pay for 3-6 months until their budget increases. It wouldn't be tragic - we could still pay our bills - but it would mean that money would continue to be a little tighter than we would like. So, let's hope the other job works out better in every way, including salary. I do know that the benefits are significantly better so even that's worth trying to dazzle them next Friday!!

The bad news is that I realized on Sunday night while checking my account online that the burglars did, in fact, steal some of our belongings. Like a box of new checks. Two of which they cashed at Sh.aw's for a total of over $200. Then Mr. LIW realized that they stole 2 of his cameras as well. I was freaked out, to say the least. Now we are scrambling to get an alarm system installed and to replace two of our doors which could stand to be replaced. A company came yesterday with an estimate and a plan - all relatively reasonsable - but they don't know if they can fit us in before we go on vacation on the 20th. Did I also mention that the fence in our backyard has succumbed to the terrible Boston winds? Ah, yes, another expense. We learned on Sat that our tax returns will basically wipe out the credit-card debt that we have been struggling to pay off ever since it built up last year following a confluence of expensive events. But now it is clear that we will quickly build it up again. We can never get ahead, can we?

Anyway, the BEST news is, of course, that I have had no strange leaking or fluid incidents. Sure, the discharge has increased a bit overall but nothing that seems strange. So it looks like we will successfully hit 15 weeks tomorrow. Which is great. I even went out on a limb and bought maternity clothes this weekend. I needed professional shirts and so I decided to buy a couple of other things as well. Mother.hood Mater.nity has some really good deals so I didn't break the bank. I was scared driving home with a big bag of maternity clothes but I talked myself through it. I reminded myself that maternity clothes would not make losing Little Life any more excruciating than it would be otherwise. There's no doubt that I would be devastated no matter what......

But I guess I can be confident that everything is going well in there. In most clothes now I clearly have a pregnant belly. It's still relatively small but when I stand up it is the classic shape. Most of my pants still fit, thank goodness, but I am slowly weeding things from my wardrobe. I still can't bring myself to think much about parenting as I am still getting used to accepting the fact that there's a baby growing in there. I look at the u/s pics every morning and evening - especially the 3D ones - to remind myself that there IS a healthy baby in there. Well, we won't know how healthy until we get all of the prenatal screens back in a few weeks but I simply can't let myself think otherwise. I do, of course, but I actively fight it. Women have healthy babies all the time, why can't I be one of them?

I have started talking to Little Life, especially in the shower. And at night. Mr. LIW said that he would sing to him/her but then the kid would worry about the fact that he/she is going to be born into a family with terrible voices. :-) Overall, I am taking one step at a time and thanking the universe for each day that there is no blood or other sign of disaster or problems......

I need to catch up on all of your blogs. I hope to have the time to do that by the end of the week....

XOXOXO