Nothing special

My Dad suggested Romulus as a baby name as a joke (I hope). I have taken to calling him Romulus in my head. Poor thing.

I've been a little scatterbrained recently, something which I don't do well. It's sort of getting me down. Hopefully it will pass, but I feel like the last 24-48 hours, I have been seeing things through a sort of hazy wall. I hear foggy-brainedness can be pregnancy-related - although apparently it's particularly severe in the third trimester - and I pray to dear God that this is just a passing phase and not something I will have to fight through for the next 15 weeks. I feel like I am constantly in need of a caffeine boost, that sort of cottony, distant feeling you can sometimes get, making concentration nearly impossible. I am sleeping well and have maintained a pretty normal schedule, so I am a little mystified as to where this is coming from. However, I have been a little sad over the last few days, so maybe it's a physical response to an emotional state, which I am hoping will turn around.

I have a variety of tasks I have to take care of this week, and I'll admit to slacking on a good portion of them already. It's a combination of laziness, disinterest, and distractedness. I think I am normally quite focused, maybe I am just coming down from the frenzy of moving and constant activity, and my brain and body are just taking a moment to recuperate? Let's go with that as an explanation for now. At any rate, I don't have a choice about the work I have to do this week, so I'm going to powerhouse through it all somehow. It will give me the incentive to being extra proud at the end of the week.

Fortunately, I was required to take a guilt-free break from work and responsibility this weekend because C came up for a quick 2-day visit. It's always good having her around... I worked on Friday and then the two of us went out to dinner, but Saturday we spent zipping around town hitting up some of the spots she likes to haunt while here.

She introduced me to the Palais des Th�s, which I am sort of ashamed I had never been to before. I don't know what it is about that place, but the set-up or the atmosphere wants me to buy every type of tea imaginable. I much prefer it to the famous Mariage Fr�res, which usually stresses me out more than anything. I feel tea-shopping should be a calming experience, much along the lines of tea-drinking. Although enticed by the yummy deliciousness of all their teas there, I managed to restrain myself and only spent eleven euros. I made a silent promise to myself that I will finish both teas I purchased before allowing myself to re-visit the shop. Tea can be dangerous in the same way yarn is. You knitters out there know what I mean.

C and I did a fair amount of walking, which was especially exhausting because of the Saturday crowds. I am happy that at almost 25 weeks, I don't feel that I have to slow down very much. It was a beautiful day -- not too cold, not too windy -- and we weren't the only ones to take advantage of it. Afterwards, we met up with Kathypath for dinner and the three of us were ready for bed by eleven. Coming home on the metro, C and I mentioned how good it was to get home at a reasonable hour, how it's better just to have a glass or two of wine instead of a bottle (I didn't have any, of course), and how it will be great to get up early in the morning. I was in bed by midnight, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I feel like an old lady, but maybe I'm just a pregnant one.

I'm at a bit of a blah phase now -- both Sunday and today have been a bit of a downer for me. I am not too concerned as I have been blessed with an enthusiasm that I wasn't expecting throughout the majority of this pregnancy, despite a lot of the challenges and fears and worries that it has entailed. If I have to throw in a few sad days, that's ok. I just hope they pass and that I can get back to concentrating on the things I have to get done.

C asked me to put together a baby wish list, which I am working on. Any of you mamas have suggestions as to must-haves?

I've also noticed that my vision is not doing so well. I know this can happen during pregnancy, but it's such a pain. It's especially noticeable when I am on the metro and I can't read the signs at the end of the platform. I'm not willing to go dish out the cash for new contacts or glasses, as I've used up my insurance coverage for eye care this year. Apparently, your eyes go back to normal sometime after birth, which makes it all the more pointless to change my eyewear now. So I guess I am just going to have three+ more months of squinting. I am making an effort to wear my glasses more than my contacts, as I figure my eyes are already straining; they probably could use the rest.

To end on a positive note, I did better than I thought on my Arabic exams, so I have a bit of breathing room for this second semester (our grade is the average of the two semesters' exam results). That's nice, as I am a little concerned about making it to classes towards the end. The finals are pretty much right at my due date, so I may have to skip them altogether and take the exams during the September session. I figure that's ok, as long as I manage to make it to the majority of my classes. I am so much more comfortable in Arabic this year than I was last year, and I think that is making all of the difference in the world.

And as one more positive note - tomorrow morning I am babysitting my friend's 4-month-old daughter. As my friend said, "You can get in some practice." Her baby is adorable, and I am happy to lend her a hand for a few hours by hanging out with the little goober. Hopefully, she'll be a doll and I won't walk away wondering what the hell I've gotten myself into...