Oog. Yesterday was a…

Oog. Yesterday was a long day. Or, rather, a short day, but one that felt long. The morning, I worked on e-mail and Kriti stuff and school stuff; we have a visiting writer coming in on Monday, Gary Geddes, so there were a variety of small things to coordinate with regards to that: his travel plans, his books for sale, a bit of extra publicity for the event, etc.

In the afternoon, I drove up to Northwestern to meet Stacy Oliver and Reginald Gibbons in person; I'll be teaching for them next year as a Visiting Writer in the Center for the Writing Arts, and it was great to get a chance to sit down and talk for an hour, just getting to know them better. Stacy tells me she reads my journal now. :-) (Hi, Stacy!) My office there is really lovely, with a huge window and a pretty view. And it's about a block from the lake, so I foresee some pleasant walks out there before and/or after class. It's going to be a nice spring next year.

On the way home, I stopped at Devon to buy a few things. Two salwar kameez outfits that look presentable and fit my growing tummy; I have a few dressy events coming up, and no dressy maternity clothes. These should be easy enough for a good tailor to take in after baby's born, I think. I got one in black with silver embroidery and one in red with gold embroidery, both sparkly. And then I also picked up some fabric for a quick sewing project, which I will keep a secret for now, because I am not sure if a) it will work, or b) I will actually have time to do it. If it works out, I'll put up photos. I also bought samosas at Tahoora -- yum yum.

By the time I got home, around 5-ish, exhaustion had caught up with me. I somehow didn't get much sleep the last two nights, maybe six hours a night or so, which is deadly when you're pregnant. I just collapsed -- lay in front of the tv for a few hours, and was asleep by 8 p.m. Slept until 7, and feel much better today. But I do take it as a sign that perhaps I've been too ambitious lately with my projects.

I don't know if it's the nesting instinct or what, but I've had this incredible urge to just churn through this huge backlogged list of to-do items this week, finishing as many as possible. Some of them did have urgent deadlines, but others could surely have waited. But it was just driving me crazy, having such a long list. Now the list is half its former size, and I feel calmer. I'm going to try to take it easy this weekend -- deal with a bit of e-mail and some paperwork, return phone calls, but otherwise, just relax and do some writing. That's all. Really.

I am *not* going to try to deal with the car situation, or undertake the nursery closet reorganization, or finish building the puppy relief area on the roof deck, or go try to buy the two pieces of missing furniture, or even deposit checks and return a couple items to Home Depot and pick up a bathroom light bulb. Well, unless I do. 'Cause gosh, it'd feel good to get those things done...