Post #1 (for lack of better title)

Please bear with me as I make the plunge into the world of online blogging (man that's a weird word... I'd like to meet the person that chose that one). I read many blogs, enjoy many blogs, but can't imaging my own blog being much of anything to read. And yet, here I am... hoping to document what is sure to be quite the monumental new turn in our lives. Why not, right? Plus, truth be told, I suck at keeping in touch with people. Friends, relatives... I quite dislike the telephone. I'd love to go back to the days where if you really wanted to talk to someone, you'd suit up the horse and buggy. That meant you really had something useful to say, right? I mean, it's just too easy now.

So, here I am... T minus 10 days until my teaching days are pretty much over. I currently teach college chemistry. Love it, love teaching, love the interaction with the students. But, let's be honest here, I'm a little obsessive about it. I work too much. Am I a work-a-holic. Ummm, no... I'd actually classify myself as a stress-a-holic. I seek it out, I relish in it, if it isn't there, gosh-darn-it, I make it up. I'm quite talented at that. So, I work a lot. I go way beyond the call of duty. And now, as I see the end approaching, it's oddly serene. Like the calm before the storm. I'm thrilled with the change. I'm so excited about what is to come. But it is an odd sensation. Let me give you the run-down of the last, ohh, 10 years of my life for some background. (Short version, I promise)

Finished highschool, scholarship says I must go to University A. Doesn't make sense any other way (sensibility will be a common thread here). Go to Univerisity A. Hate University A, but take the money I got from enrolling and doing one year, and transfer to Univeristy B. Take that University A! Little did you know you would be paying me to go spend your money elsewhere. Suckers! Finish a science degree at University B. Get engaged to fabulously wonderful snobpapa the summer before my final year. Hmmm, what to do with my life... let's just apply for more scholarship funding and see what happens. Bam, scholarship funding again makes a pivotal decision in my life. Off I go to graduate school. Getting paid more than I would in the workforce, why not? Graduate University B one day, next day off to grad school (no kidding... next day!). At grad school for a few months, get married, take a week off, return to grad school. HATE grad school very quickly. Must...get...out. Unfortunately, when you come to grad school with funding, no one wants you to take off early. Settle for finishing a master's degree. Made my supervisor mediocrely happy. Plan to go into high school teaching. Up pops a job opportunity. Hmmm, pay for two more years of school, or get paid... again, tough choice. Didn't think I had a chance at the job, so why not try? Yup, got the job... start the day after graduate defense (again, no kidding, next day). Sigh... of I go to the land of college teaching. 2 years later, with a permanent contract in tow, I am finishing off my final semester before a well-deserved semester of vacation and "professional development", followed by maternity leave. A whole year of it. God bless Canada!

So, yes, I am currently 4 months pregnant. Ok... 15 weeks and 6 days. Which, can't really be called 4 months. If it was 4 months, I'd have 5 to go, right? Nope, 6. Do the math. 10 months. The whole 9 month thing is big sham. So, call it "around" 4 months. I'm due in January (the 15th, to be exact, but when do due dates really mean anything?).

We are thrilled, snobpapa and I. Snobdog would be thrilled if he had any idea what was to come. Snobfatcat really won't care. Seriously... I doubt if she cares about much of anything, except avoiding snobdog and getting fed. I guess she will care, cuz she'll have one more terror to avoid. Maybe it'll take some of her weight off. We did the responsible route, waited for the jobs to be in line, the house mortgage to be in place, the marriage to be secure... I honestly felt like I got to a point where I was bored of being selfish. Bored of sitting around watching t.v. in the evenings, or being able to just up and go out and the drop of a hat. Seems like a great time to mix it up.

I've wanted to be a mom for quite some time. And yet, I'm so good at being the "professional". Make sense of that. And, to top it off, I'm not that good at regular "motherly duties". Examples...

#1. I suck at cooking. I can follow a recipe, sure, if I ever had the ingredients. I guess the real explanation is that I suck at shopping. I hate grocery shopping with a passion. I've turned it into more of an olympic event: speed shopping. In and out, as fast as you can. Making a pre-prepared list, from a pre-prepared meal plan... just haven't got the hang of that yet.

#2. I'm good at cleaning. Why is this bad then? I'm also quite obsessive about cleaning. I like things clean. It really bothers me when they aren't. This + child = oh crap. I'll need to figure out a few adjustments. Stay tuned for details.

I'm sure there are more to list. I'm sure I'll list them in the months to come. Until then, I've rambled enough.