Week 16 spent in Chicago

Week 16 was interesting. A few headaches and a bit of nausea and a definite growing belly (and not from eating out every meal in Chicago!). It was a fairly stressful week due to my talk on Tues morning. Despite my adviser's lack of confidence in me and his unfounded criticism afterwards (really don't understand why he is so afraid of his own data), I think it went surprisingly well. The room was packed - standing and sitting in the aisles. People said ~300 people attended including some big guy from the Gates Foundation and someone from one of the NIH agencies. The questions after the talk were pretty easy and straightforward. What a relief. Funny thing is, despite the anxiety of the day before and morning of, once I got up there and started speaking, I think part of me actually enjoyed it. A little morning sickness immediately prior, but the baby overall seemed fairly cooperative too! Maybe he enjoyed the public speaking experience (future extrovert?)...oh no, maybe his Daddy's political interests will rub off on him and we will have a future politician. I would be extremely proud of that provided he were a Democrat. Oh, and no news regarding the gender yet, but I am seriously convinced that this little creature is a boy. Only a male could inflict so much distress and illness upon a female (haha, just teasing). And the constant craving for protein is also tipping me towards boy. Darn he is going to be big, because I feel huge already.

Chicago is a really great city. Expensive, more so than I had previously remembered (or maybe that is because I wasn't so poor the last time I went there?), but many things to do and the park system is amazing. Love the lake - beautiful color and almost as great as the ocean. I wish I had more time to see it, and that I wasn't as preoccupied with the conference.

It was nice to come home. Ian surprised me with some flowers and a temporary wedding band to wear during the pregnancy - fingers are already swelling and will only get worse during the summer heat. The dogs were happy to see me; I think Ginger squealed louder than I have ever heard her. My soul mate of a dog! Next in level of excitement were Hailey, Luna, and then Bella/Sadie. Sometimes I wonder if Bella and Sadie possess the mental capacity to realize the length of time that I am away - I swear they were just as excited to see me after a week's absence as they are when I run to the grocery store. Luna surprised me...she really does think I am her master...funny as she is NOT my dog. Pumba (Clawde) and the brothers (Hans and Franz) missed me and started following me around...but that might be because Ian is notorious for forgetting to feed them...they might have been simply hungry and recognized me as the giver of food.

It was good to come home, but it was sure nice to sleep in that clean bed in the hotel...no dog or cat fur to cover every surface, no dogs crowding me out of my bed. Clean linens... My house is a zoo. And every inhabitant is in full shed mode. And Ian isn't terribly clean or tidy either (various dishes and half full drinking glasses stacked in the bedroom - hallmarks of his late night snacks in bed)... it's good to be home... I think!
Marie