Note: I just finished writing this entry, and it gets a lot more optimistic as it goes along. Don’t be put off by negativity early in the post.

What a butthole of a day (work-wise). Lots and lots of things went wrong, and the normal demands haven’t slowed down any like they’re supposed to after the first week of classes. One reason it was buttholey was that my project co-lead is out dealing with some serious family health issues (which of course makes it ultra-buttholey for them and I shouldn’t complain, because even though work is driving me nuts, at least I have never in my whole life been the subject of an ER visit).

We still haven’t decided where to go on our getaway weekend, or even when we’ll go, but RIGHT NOW is sounding pretty good. Current frontrunners include:

Quebec City and/or Montreal
PROS: All other things being equal, my top choice–I’ve heard it’s like going to Europe without the crappy exchange rate, long flight, or jet-lag. Cool, fairly affordable hotel choices.
CONS: Flights are expensive unless we fly into a U.S. city near the border, rent a car, and drive over. I’d rather not have a car in either of those cities, though. It might be cold come October.

Sedona, Arizona and/or Grand Canyon area
PROS: Cheap flights, cool and affordable hotels, will be warm in the fall.
CONS: This is a vacation we could take with kids, so it doesn’t really have the “adults only” cachet I was wanting for this final trip.

The Northeast (Vermont, Maine, or other places in that area)
PROS: Reasonably priced flights, kids would find it boring, lobsters galore, maybe whale-watching
CONS: Lodging options seem to be largely the cloying B&B type where you have to chit-chat with strangers

Can somebody help me make a decision? I told Denny to decide, but he’s not gotten any further than I have.

—

In other news, the weekend was mostly fun, except I had to spend a few hours handling a work emergency on Saturday. I got to see a lot of family and my parents’ friends (my parents had a party), many of whom were enthusiastic about my abdomen. I think, though I’m not sure, that I felt Bisquito move. From what I understand, it’s easy to confuse fetal movement with gas, but I felt at least one such sensation that wasn’t accompanied by anything noticeably farty or burpy. I guess it will become more obvious as Bisqui grows and fills up the space more.

We also got to hang out with my friend Pam and her 6-month-old twins. That was really fun, because they were very cute and good-natured. Denny practiced holding them and did a very good job, dropping them exactly zero times. Pam even gave us a pack of newborn-size diapers that she had extra.

We also got some nice and totally unsolicited/unexpected gifts, including a front/back baby carrier from Suzy and Joe and a really soft blanket and baby bathrobe from Larry and Lily. It’s fun to imagine a squirmy little human in there.