Coming Up for Air

I went to a local discount store and bought some maternity jeans and a pair of regular jeans in a size larger than what I usually wear. I also picked up some big tee-shirts that cover my growing belly. I was amused by the lady who waited on me in the maternity section. She was about 4' 11", a size 2, and looked to be about 17-years-old, but she apparently had lots of experience breastfeeding and caring for babies. She was eager to share lots of knowledge.

After shopping, Hubby and I ordered avocado rolls and teriyaki at a Japanese take-out place. I also drank a big bottle of fruit punch. It was nice just relaxing and talking.

On Friday, I am having a combined birthday party with one of my friends, who was also born in October. We will go out for dinner, have some kind of dessert, and hopefully watch a scary Halloween movie. I am looking forward to it. In fact, I am enjoying this entire week because I just turned in two papers. I actually finished most of my writing last night, so I was able to hit my water aerobics class too, which I love.

After Friday, however, the fun appears to be over. I figured out that, in order to get everything done, I will have to be working on papers every week between next Monday and the end of the quarter. It is the only way I can meet all the deadlines.

Cold and Rainy

I am sitting in a coffee shop on a cold rainy night, trying to get some work done. I actually have two papers basically written and that feels good. Just a few small revisions left and then some reading and organizing notes for a presentation. Today was one of those dark fall days, when the sun barely came out at all. I think I saw it for about five minutes as I was leaving my prenatal yoga class. I tried to soak up every bit of that.

I have been thinking about adding some creative writing time to my day this quarter. I realized my writing is a way to take care of myself and I shouldn't feel guilty about making time for it. After all, I make time for the gym and yoga because it's good for stress. So, as long as my work is getting done, why not plug away at that story I've been putting aside for the last six months. Even an hour a day of my own writing (beyond blogs and journals) would be great.

On a totally different note, I just started to eat meat recently. It still seems kind of gross and I know some of my friends and acquaintances are freaked out. I had been vegetarian since 1987 and turned vegan in the late nineties due to milk and egg intolerances. I also have gluten intolerance. I recently made the decision to go carnivore because I was worried about getting enough protein for the baby. I started with free range turkey and have been gradually trying other offerings from the meat world. I find I manage it best if it's disguised in sauces or soups. Frankly, it still seems kinda gross, but I am viewing it as a food supplement during pregnancy. I also had allergy testing and found out it is probably safe to add some eggs to my diet, which I have been doing very slowly and in small amounts (like eating muffins made with egg). I do find the extra protein from these animal products has given me added stamina. I know my husband's personal trainer once told me that she became hypoglycemic as a vegetarian and I am now wondering about myself in that regard. I do find I have more sustained energy and feel less hungry with the higher protein intake. Still, I do feel weird switching to this carnivorous lifestyle after 20-some years of being veg. Sometimes it feels hypocritical to do yoga and then consume animals of any kind. So far, I always eat a tofu and rice based meal after taking class. I guess overall, I still try to eat vegetarian meals most of the time. But I still think I will be supplementing with animal products as long as it feels like the right thing.

Summer Ends

I'm just sitting here at work munching on hummus and wishing I could motivate myself to study some more. I am so sick of all this pre-reading, but have to do it because classes start tomorrow and I have two papers due right out of the gate. Part of my lack of motivation is that I am 14 weeks into my pregnancy and still feeling worn out. I think I have been doing too much at times. It FINALLY occured to me to put my damned feet up Friday night. It isn't so much the active stuff I do (hikes, the gym, and prenatal yoga) that are the problem. It's all the other running around that I do when I should just chill out. I always seem to come up with more chores and errands. For instance, I actually enjoy cooking, but I'll take on major projects that keep me on my feet for hours on weeknights. It's lame. Especially when I am in school and carrying the relentless weight of deadlines.

I'm totally hoping to set up a schedule this quarter where I sleep enough (especially when I work late) and start homework shortly after breakfast. If I can get things done early, maybe I can chill when evening rolls around. Even if I have an hour or two of reading to do at night, at least I can get the big stuff done before my energy lags. I really want this to work because grad-school totally stresses me out, even under the best of circumstances and I suspect it might be worse with the pregnancy.

On a happier note, I had a great time hiking with my friend Doug last week. We did a pretty light one, which was perfect for me. I noticed I get really tired carrying my backpack these days, so Doug graciously took on the burden. We walked some trails off the beaten path and saw a garter snake. That made me jump cause I didn't expect it, but it was kind of cool because I hadn't seen one in a long time. We also stopped along the way and bought a huge apple and a peach at a farm stand and passed by a calm lake that was filled with green and gold lily pads. It started to rain on us, but I didn't mind too much. Later that evening, we met up with Hubby and checked out some aquariums (love the neon tetras) and had a tasty Chinese dinner. It was a great day overall because I forgot about impending schoolwork and about all my pregnancy symptoms for awhile.

The sun was out today, so that was awesome. Hubby and I walked in the neighborhood before I went to work. He also started a mammoth vaccuming project, which made me really happy. The annual deep cleaning was long overdue. I put up a few Halloween decorations and did some pre-cooking for the week to save time this week.