The countdown has begun!

Actually, I've had a pregnancy countdown going for a long time, but it's just now starting to sink in: 35 weeks/almost 8 months pregnant. January 26th is just a little over a month/5 weeks/36 days away!!!

Rather, I should say January 26th-ish; due dates are just estimates, right? George is hoping for January 27th, because he and I were both born on the 27th. I think that'd be pretty cool, too, but wonder if baby boy will come early; don't know why, just a feeling. Mom wonders if I'll be late, because she was at least 2 weeks past her due date with both of my brothers.

Who knows? At any rate, time has slowed down to a crawl. Counting down to baby, counting down to Christmas break (1 1/2 days! YES!): time has never gone slower. Part of me is scared to death of labor and the thought that sometime next month we'll have a baby to care for (and the idea that we'll do something wrong and/or screw the kid up completely); the other part is completely tired of being pregnant and can't wait for pregnancy to be over. Oh, the good old days where I viewed pregnancy through rose-colored glasses! The days before carpal tunnel syndrome, getting winded walking up seven stairs, depression, feeling fat and ugly (all the time, anyway), and a multitude of other stuff that doesn't need to be detailed on the blog!

Everyone tells me that I'll forget what pregnancy, and later labor, was like, and I sure hope it's true! Right now I can't imagine doing this again.

Damn Marine Corps

All right, so I know that's not very respectful--and I really do have the greatest respect for servicemen & women, especially the Marines.

But when my brother Zack makes it through 9 weeks of Marine Officer Candidate School and then gets sent home a week before graduation for being "Not Physically Qualified", I get somewhat bitter. There's something wrong with his right leg: it was swelling so badly below the knee that he was on bed rest for the last days of training. The Board told him Friday that he'd missed too many days of training, he can try again next year (application process, tests, and all) and sent him home Saturday.

We are so disappointed, upset, and in shock, especially Zack. He's still mostly in the shock stage: said it's crazy being able to do what he wants, when he wants, eat whatever he wants, etc. I think he'll really have to grieve over the whole thing like someone has died. He wanted this so badly, and worked so hard, and the reason they let him go was completely out of his control.

So now he's stressed out about getting a job, making student loan payments, making it to physical therapy (Marines are paying for that, luckily), etc., and I'm stressed for him too. The good news is that he'll be around in January when his nephew is born! Small consolation to him, though.

So please keep Zack in your prayers. I'm really worried about him!