in other news

Beyond the baby, (which given, is taking up most of my attention at the moment):

1. We've located a rocker which we will be borrowing for the duration of baby time. We've moved some furniture around so the desk is now outside the baby's room. For those of you who will be visiting, our place is going to seem kind of small. (only two rooms which are really public, and then a back bedroom)
2. I've figured out how to make bread rise in this high altitude. (no small task) I'm now making bread about every week or so. They are never as good as the first loaf I did, but still tasty.
3. I finally dropped off the box of stuff from the previous owner. (only 3 months late) and mailed a few packages which have been lingering around here since...oh...2004. (merry christmas!)
4. I've finished 2 weeks of working at ACME as a part time designer. Though I usually need to take the afternoon off to get my feet up, it's been educational to be around the office and get a feel for where I'm needed in the coming months. The current designer will be leaving at the end of May, so whatever I'm going to learn from her, I need to do it soon. Her job will be split between 3 people, none of which have normal schedules. I'm also hearing rumors that leadership plans to remodel the first floor this summer, and are thinking of adding a nursery. So, now we might be able to have tobo in the office with us during the days I'm working. The alternative is that Paul works 3/4's time and I am working at odd hours for awhile. Not sure exactly how this will work, but it certainly looks promising.
5. I got the taxes off to our accountant. I can't even tell you how much of a mess some of that was this year. Nothing major, but what a pain. I'm thankful we have an accountant to deal with it.
6. I finally got some checking done, though I'm still up to my eyeballs in paper receipts. I'm about to thrown them all a bag and have done with it.
7. I did get some filing done (a must if you're prepping taxes) so I feel I can actually put my hands on statements in a pinch. This also allowed me to work out a new budget for April 1st so we can get back to planning for expenses instead of scrambling to deal with payments.
8. I got the car seat installed officially yesterday. That puppy is not coming out. I'm glad I went and asked, because I totally had it in there wrong.
9. We've been trying to plan for the next step in our partnership development. Though we aren't setting any dates yet, the plan is to do some traveling in summer and fall to visit Pa, Fl and Mi. Some of this will be family related, but we're also hoping to get a few people together for a bible study or two about missions and why it's important to the health of the american church. These are still very much in the works, but you might be hearing from us soon to try and put something together. And of course you will get to meet tobo in person. :)

So, I have been keeping busy.

We've got one more lamaze class (topic:postpartum) and then our evenings will be freer. It's been alright. The instructor is right nice, but has a tendency to run long in the tooth. I think we could shave off an hour each night if we could stay on topic. There is also a cpr class we'll be going to in a week or so. And then we are done with the classes. Doesn't mean we have any more of an idea of what we are doing, but we certainly look educated.

Now that we are so close to the end, and I can look over the majority of the pregnancy, I've decide that I don't hate being pregnant. In fact, it's been good in a couple of ways I didn't expect. The only way I can describe it is my body feels better when I'm pregnant. Oh, there's still aches and pains. I'd love to have a second cup of coffee, but I feel like I'm more in sync with my natural rhythm than before. I rest when I need to, I eat when I'm hungry, I tune out when I'm over-socialized, etc. I hope to take some of these habits with me into the next stage, because I think they will make me a happier person overall. I'm happy that there will be closure soon, don't get me wrong, but it's more excitement about starting a new part of our lives, less escaping a medical condition that has impeded me for the last 8 months. (like a broken leg or a enflamed gall bladder, both of which I've had) I might not have been so happy about this if my job hadn't been adjustable, or if Paul was less enthused. I can't image having to work 40 hours a week at this stage of the game. For these things I'm really thankful. Anyway, just wanted to get that down before I go into labor and change my mind. :)