3:28 p.m. - 06 March 2004
I'm back
blows away cobwebs
Like the new look?
So, yeah, it's been a while. And if I had an excuse better than exhaustion, I'd use it. Alas, growing a baby is a lot of work.
I'm now 24 weeks (or I will be tomorrow), and my last ultrasound showed pretty conclusively that it's a boy. He measured a little bit big in all areas, but not far enough for them to change my due date. The doctor commented on how active he was, which is something to which I can now attest: he's kicking like gangbusters. It's not just little love taps, either; he kicks hard. Lee's eyes about bugged out of his head the first time he saw him kicking. The other thing is that he kicks pretty much constantly -- there aren't many quiet periods during the day.
Last week was a rough one at work; we had our triennial JCAHO survey. Medicare reimbursement is dependent on JCAHO accreditation, so you can imagine how important this was. I was elected to be one of the "scribes," which meant that I followed one of the surveyors around for three days, writing down everything they asked. I ended up working 30 hours during those 3 days, and my notes were about 35 pages long (typed, single spaced) when I got finished. I was a pretty tired puppy, and Baby let me know that he was displeased with all the activity and adrenaline.
But we're accredited, so everything worked out for the best. Work has been much quieter since then; people are recovering, although there are a few things that have to be fixed in the next 90 days. Since that time period will end about a month before my scheduled maternity leave, my current plan is to continue supporting the JCAHO teams until I go out and then hand over the reins to someone else. I haven't mentioned this to the people in charge, though.
There are several topics that I've wanted to write about, and just haven't. Considering my standing as a Carolina Panthers fan for the last several years, I had some thoughts on the Super Bowl (they didn't lose, they just ran out of time). But I'm pretty sure no one wants to hear them now. I had some thoughts on the Oscars, too, but I think they're also past their expiration date (bottom line: Woohoo! Maybe Christopher Tolkien will get the stick out of his ass and let Peter Jackson have the rights to The Hobbit. I'm not holding my breath, though). It's also basketball season, but I haven't really watched enough games to have many thoughts about that just yet. Ask me next weekend, after the ACC tournament (or hell, even tonight after the Duke-Carolina game).
Today's been about manual labor more than thoughts, though. I spent all morning cleaning various parts of the house, and as soon as I get finished with this, I'll contine with that plan. Next up: the kitchen, including sweeping/scrubbing the floor and bleaching the countertops -- we've had a bit of a problem with mice this winter. Nothing like going out to the kitchen at 11:30 p.m. and seeing a furry thing run across the counter when all you want is a glass of chocolate milk. It might be a good idea to start planning for supper, too; I've got a couple of artichokes that need to be cooked, so that's probably what we'll have.
Okay, resting time is over. I need to get up and get moving to rock Baby back to sleep and hopefully spare my insides.
