I can finally come up for air! I'm so busy I can't believe it. I'm drowning in paper and taking some home each night. It's mostly proposals and it wouldn't be so bad, except that I wish we would win some work. It seems like we just keep writing proposals, but nothing comes in. Funding issues, they say.

Had a good weekend. Lots of food, but I also tried to do a lot of exercise. The weather here is gorgeous.

Watched "The Dark Knight" on DVD; it WAS a dark movie. I thought Heath Ledger did a good job. Went shopping with my GF and bought some items for the house.

Melissa, You've rubbed off on me--I'm going through my closets again. I realized that I haven't worn some of the stuff for a while or it doesn't fit that well. I also have some things that are passe.

How is everyone?

Hi Lisa! Well you must have taken the busy work from me I have finished or handed off all of the "big" things I had left to do at work. Only 3 days left now of work, I can't believe it. Yesterday I asked my boss if I could work 1/2 days at home next week if she wasn't here by then because basically I think I will be bored. He said yes, so that is good.

I've been having increasingly more Braxton Hicks. Anxious to meet her and to get labor and delivery over with at this point!

I think after she is here and I get back to losing some weight I will have to go through all my clothes and donate some as well. I had kept everything just in case, knowing that I would want to have kids and would need the bigger clothing afterwards. I'll still keep some of it (just in case I ever need it again!) but not all.

Lori, I know for you that you are ready to have her, but for us, it seems like you just told us you're expecting. : ) You'll be busy when she arrives.

I suppose it's good to hold onto some big clothes but it's different for having babies. I don't have them because I would grow into them. : D

Lisa: Thanks for getting the thread up and running this week!

Lori: That's great that you can work from home next week. When I had DS #1 my boss worked it out that I could do typing from home (before computers came on the scene, lol) and that worked out nice because back then I didn't get paid maternity leave.

For some reason I've been having trouble accessing this web site--I kept getting errors when I'd try to check in; it was so frustrating!

We're heading into our busy time and I'm on a number of committees and the programs we've been planning are now falling into place and will be done and over the first week of May--just in time for the orientation craziness

Overall things are moving along--still having those dratted hot "flash" type moments but hopefully that will improve as my thyroid starts to slow down. I have another appointment next week with the doctor so we'll see what happens next.

It's really dreary here this morning--raining and cool, the only upside to this is that I'm inside all day! The rest of the week is looking great with temps heading up to 80 on Saturday!

Another gorgeous day here today. So far today I'm OP; had a nice salad for lunch. I'm going to play golf with some guys from work--company golf league. I just hope they're not fantastic golfers because I'm not!

Lisa - I've always been afraid of growing back into my larger clothes! That is why I want to get rid of as many as possible after Phoebe is here and I lose the weight

Melissa - I don't get paid for maternity leave. I have to use sick time and vacation time. Luckily, I have a whole bunch saved up that will cover the time I am taking off! I'm glad you are feeling well and hope the thyroid calms down soon.

Lori: We have to accrue our sick time too but we only can get 12 days a year for the first 1-5 years and at that point I was only there 3 years and didn't have anything major saved because of doctor's appointments, etc. The way our leave works we have to accrue for 900 hours (6 months) because we don't have a disability policy for the staff. The nice part is that because I've been there so long now I accrue 2 days a month and I have over 700 hours again after my surgeries the last 2 years. It's kind of crazy.

The weather is supposed to be great for the next five days--temps climbing up to 80 on Saturday/Sunday and then in the mid 70's on Mon/Tues so it's going to be really nice. I'm hoping the cold is behind us.

I went to my meeting today and was up .2 which isn't bad because this past weekend I went to a microbrew fest and drank more than enough beer along with some snacking, etc. My goal this week is to track...

Wow that is a lot of sick leave! I get 4 hours every pay period (2 weeks), so 1 day a month just about. We have no limit on how much sick leave we can have on the books. I get 6 hours of annual leave a pay period, and we can carry over 240 hours to the next year. We can go negative in our sick and annual leave, but we have to apply for it. I applied to go negative for sick leave during my maternity leave (the first 6 weeks when the doc says you can't work) so that when I go back to work I still have some annual leave on the books just in case I need it. I was negative sick leave for a long time after my diagnosis, so I was working to build that up for a long time!

.2 isn't bad at all! At my appointment last Thursday they told me I lost 4 pounds. No I didn't! I just was wearing lounge pants for the first time instead of jeans haha.

I feel "puffy" today and I did yesterday too. I need to mention it to the doc when I see her later this morning.

For some dumb reason I've been having trouble accessing this site at work...my computer freezes and then explorer shuts down...how aggravating!

Lori: I hope your appointment went well today. I can't imagine that your jeans weigh 4 pounds! I actually dropped weight the week before I delivered both of the boys...I joked with my boss after my doctor's appt. w/DS #2 that I lost and that when I was pregnant with #1 I lost right before I delivered...I was 2 weeks early with #2...lol. I hope all goes well with your labor and delivery. I'll admit that at the time it seemed to take forever but once it was all done it didn't seem that long at all. You're going to be fine!

I did manage to get out today for a nice walk over the lunch hour. It was cloudy and windy and of course right after lunch the sun came out! Go figure! It's supposed to be warm here tomorrow--mid 70's and then the weekend is supposed to be in the 80's...doesn't make much sense because it's still April.

Busy weekend ahead...Saturday there's a rugby tournament in Slippery Rock and we'll be there for the day. I'll have to make sure to take sunscreen because it'll be warmer there than here!

Thanks Melissa! No, my jeans don't weigh 4 pounds haha. I went to my appointment yesterday in the lounge pants again and was up 4 pounds from the week previous. Must have been a fluke, I think. That means since two weeks ago (when I wore jeans) I've probably gained a pound. Which is what my home scale tells me. I'm up 45 exactly now. The rest of the appointment went well. I have another appointment this coming Thursday (40 week appointment) and if Phoebe is not here by then, they will schedule an induction (they don't let anyone go over 41 weeks).

I was up for a few hours again last night with contractions. Thats the 3rd or fourth night that has happened. Really glad today is my last day of work. I wouldn't want to keep doing this until she's born. From now to the end I can sleep in and that makes me feel good. I'm pretty tired today!

Melissa, Hope the rugby game was fun. I played golf with a man (sub for our company team--me) and he is a former rugy player. He talked fondly about it. I'm glad your weather has cleared up.

Lori, Soon you'll be a Mommy. It must be so exciting, but also scary at the same time.

Busy weekend so far. Did a 5K Saturday morning, then walked around the art festival. Played some golf. THEN I dragged to a play: Arthur Miller's All My Sons--an excellent production. Today, we are going on a river cruise to celebrate 50 years for my professional group. We expected 50-60 people to sign up, but only 26 did. We'll still have fun. I'm guessing it's the economy. Even the lady who come up with the idea isn't going to be there.

Well, I work 3 days this coming week and then we're off to California for my aunt's and uncle's 50th anniversary. It should be fun.

Lisa, we had a great time at the rugby tournament. Both of my sons played as well as DH for a little bit. It was exciting to see both of the boys on the field at the same time. The tournament started around 9:30 and they played 3 games. It was sunny & warm and thankfully there was a nice breeze. I used a lot of sunscreen but I still got a little burn where I missed with the sunscreen. Afterwards a bunch of us went to North Country Brewing and got something to eat (and drink). It was a long day but fun! This weekend the club hosts a tournament at home and next weekend they have an alumni game so it'll be fun. It's hot here today again but tomorrow is supposed to be a lot cooler with temps in the 60's. I'm not a fan of heat, lol.

Lori: I hope everything is going well! I know now that they don't normally let women go too much longer than their due date. It's hard to believe you're at the end of the road. I'm sure you're ready to be able to sleep without getting poked & jabbed.

I took my car in to have the body work done on it and I've got a nice bright red Cobalt to drive for the next 5 days.