4 weeks!

Four weeks to go until kiddo is due. I've still got a feeling that we might have an early arrival - I'm contracting and thinning out enough to suggest that he probably won't be late. But I'm also a little mournful of losing my big ol' belly and this oyster world of mine. I'll never be living just for me ever again.

So I've been trying to train myself to enjoy the breaks and gaps in the daily grind while they still belong to me. This weekend was good practice. We were originally thinking of escaping the cottage and all the little projects for a respite near big trees and ocean, but instead saved our money and tried to make a point of moving a little slower than we have been. I headed out of work early on Friday and spent some quality time sitting in our garden just reading before heading over to Alameda for a yummy dinner prepared by Lindsey and Jason. I took Saturday off and we enjoyed a sunny picnic up at the UC Botanic Gardens - all the azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias, and cherries are in full blossom, as are those cute little daisies that bloom all over the lawns around here. On Sunday we chilled in the backyard some more, checked out some video cameras at Best Buy (our nod to the holiday sales) and then went walking around the Gourmet Ghetto scoping baby slings and chowing on vegan japanese (perfect for a pregnant person.) Today I've been balancing my time between more reading in the backyard and getting off the lawn chair to work on the gardens - weeding, pruning, planting, composting, and planning what the baby and I will try to put in the ground this Spring. For the first time in many weeks I actually feel pretty rested and relaxed, nevermind the wakeful nights, swollen ankles, painful reflux, aching ligaments, and a new one this week - carpal tunnel! I have such respect for people that have to deal with physical ailments all their lives, I feel so lucky that mine have an end date (perhaps to be replaced with whatever comes with labor and breastfeeding, but at least none are constant!)

Tomorrow it is back to work, but I'm going to make mor of an effort to enjoy the little moments of rest to be found there, too. It makes a bigger difference than I ever expect.

With Big Child

In Rome I loved to photograph all the Madonnas. Now I'm just happy not to feel as big as she looks!