Almost Retired!

So, tomorrow is the last day of my full-time professional life for the next few years. I am excited and petrified and sad all at the same time. This week I have been seriously tired and dragging, like my body's way of saying, "look, your job is great and all, but you are DONE with this sucky-crap commute." I know the first six weeks (okay, six years) of having a child are not going to involve a lot of sleeping, but at least I won't have to set an alarm for 6am for the next few months!

There's part of me that's so ready to go, ready to start nesting, ready to get the house all set up, ready to just take a break. And then there's part of me that wishes I didn't have to go and that I could work up to my due date. I find what I do really rewarding and I work with an amazing group of people, so it's hard to leave. The good news is that many of my coworkers have become genuine friends, and I know I'll see them plenty in the coming years (especially my friend Ingrid, who is now "in a relationship" with Jacob. That's right. I'm hand picking my future relatives. Or at least, trying to keep two people who enjoy spending 8 hours working out on a Saturday together, so that the rest of us don't have to put up with them.)

Today we went out for brunch at the Nickel Diner in downtown. My boss had seen it on the Food Network and they were discussing all of their homemade dessert options, and she knew that I would love it. AND LOVE IT I DID.

First off, they make their own donuts. Including: a maple glazed donut dipped in bacon bits, a red velvet donut, an Irish car bomb donut, a nutella donut and a strawberry donut. So, we had some of each for breakfast, along with home made poptarts. And actual entrees like French toast. Then we trekked back to the office and went into diabetic comas.

We also got dessert to go, including a "salt peanut" chocolate cake (it had peanut butter and potato chips!), home made cookies with chocolate ganache, ding dongs, red velvet cake, and a sea-salt butterscotch pudding (not pictured.) We tried these delicacies around 2pm (and then all yawned and complained until we could finally leave the office for the day.) It was all absolutely amazing. Oh, how I wish I could live downtown.

Tomorrow I have one last big report to finish up and send, and then other than my exit interview and making sure that I try to think of every last thing that I could possibly pass on to my replacement, I'm not sure what I'll be doing. Crying and mouthing off, probably.

Then it's Baby Sequins all the time! She's very active lately, though I still can't figure out what specifically she's doing in there. She doesn't wake me up at night kicking, but if I wake up to roll over (which I have to do now, like a beached whale) she usually kicks me once or twice. Though, the other night I went to bed at 10 and she went bananas for a good hour or so. It was like she was playing pong in there. Except... she was the pong ball, back and forth and back and forth across my belly. Tim came to bed and felt her kick about 10 times in 20 seconds. He was amazed, and then I pointed out that I'd been feeling her do that for a good 45 minutes, and on both sides of my belly. I was about ready to give her the three name call and say "do not make me come in there!" Mama needs her sleep.

Tonight I was laying on the couch and Lulu came and draped herself across my belly. Sequins kicked Lu a couple of times, but Lulu just kept purring. She was a mom herself back in her teenaged days (before we got her! We are not irresponsible pet parents!) I wonder what she's going to think of my little kitten when I bring her home.