Wow, I hadn't realized how much time had elapsed since my last blog.

Some good news: things are looking far less frantic at work today and hereafter. I got the July/August issue of the Observer through editing and design and it went to the freelance proofreader today at noon. Monday, her edits will be input, then the pages will go to the printers.

I took care of some budgeting stuff for my boss for the new fiscal year and found I enjoyed it. I usually think of myself as a math midget, but I do have something of a head for basic business stuff. I actually enjoy doing our taxes on TurboTax each year. I'd like to get more aggressive with investing personal savings, but I'm kind of a coward when it comes to risk. I had picked up the "Dummies Guide to Personal Finance" this past winter, but haven't read too much of it yet, other than the sections about life insurance (a big concern with a child soon to be in the picture).

While I haven't had much mental energy for obsessing about the baby like many first-time moms-to-be, our little girl continues to make her presence felt. The activity in my womb seems to be of seismic proportions. Perhaps we have a future gymnast in the making. She still enjoys hanging out nice and low where she can squash my sciatic nerve.

Starting in July, I am giving up the commute by train because I just can't manage the 9-block walk between my office and the station. Joel will be teaching at LaSalle for second summer session and can drive me in before he heads to campus. I never dreamed that I'd feel so incapacitated by pregnancy, but the hip pain from sciatica has become quite intense lately. The twinges I had starting at 15 weeks are nothing compared to the pain level now (32 weeks).

I'm now moved from my nice quiet office on the 5th floor of the building to a cubicle on the 4th floor. The only plus is being next to a window. Otherwise, I have less storage space, less privacy and far more noise to contend with. Of course, this fact should make it easier to convice my employers that I will be far more productive telecommuting several days a week. :-)

Some of things stressing me out at home are beginning to be resolved. Joel has made tremendous progress with the remodeling project. Our future guest room looks far less like the Warsaw ghetto now. The new closet is framed and drywalled, the new ceiling is 75% finished, the new ceiling fan is installed, and some of the new wood trim is up. Plaster repairs continue slowly, because several layers are needed in places.

My in-laws decided against the house an hour away, at least for now. Joel was never too worried, but his parents are far more change-averse than mine. My folks have been fairly impetuous most of their 54 years of marriage, and have not lived in one house for more than 7 years. They often don't share plans until they are already laid and beginning to be put into motion. It has been a real learning experience, trying to figure out the "rules of the game" in my new family by marriage.