alone in Brooklyn..

I am sitting here, alone in our apartment. Stephen has safely arrived at RDU, and managed to navigate the rental car successfully from the airport to our friend Matt's house where he will be staying tonight. Oliver is missing Stephen so badly right now that he won't even come sit in my lap. He is sitting on the red chair with his back to me listening intently to every sound that drifts up the stairwell, waiting for Stephen to come home.

Stephen's big interview is tomorrow. It's an all day affair in which he will meet with several principals of the school, possibly the head master, and also teach a class while the teacher he would be replacing and one or more principals look on. Sounds like a day in hell for this shy girl, but he isn't worried at all. We deliberated over the correct attire this morning and spent most of yesterday tweaking his lesson plan. The man is ready, and I know he is going to do a fantastic job. Nevertheless, please keep him in your prayers tomorrow. Me too, if it's not too much to ask, since I will probably be a nervous wreck waiting to hear how it went.

We are officially moving at the end of April. Not sure where too yet... but we will figure that part out by and by. We gave our notice to the landlord and I just spent the last 2 hours waiting for the real estate agent to bring over a potential tenant only to have her call and say they were taking too long to get here and she was calling it a night. Suppose she will try again tomorrow. We need this place to rent this month so that the landlord will give us back our deposit (since we are breaking our lease by a few months). I am doing my part by keeping everything neat and tidy and smelling fresh. I suppose I could throw in a free song and dance but that might damage our chances.

I gave my notice at work on Monday. That was sort of a sad thing to do. I knew it had to happy but after typing up the official letter for my file and handing to Carol, I suddenly felt like an outsider. Like everything I do from this point forward doesn't really count or matter. I insisted on sitting in on the big recruiting committee meeting today. They were planning the summer program and even though I will not be here for it, and will likely not do much of the actual planning, I wanted to feel needed and to hear what the general outline would be, just in case I do get drafted in the next 3 weeks or so to make calls for pricing comparisons and reservation checks. I am glad I sat in on it but afterward I still felt like an outsider. It didn't help that my hip was bothering me today so I decided to keep my tennis shoes on instead of changing to work shoes. I got the expected looks and comments from the secretaries.

Oliver is now peering out the window, scanning the sidewalk for any sign of Stephen. It's getting late so the poor dog is trying desperately to stay awake at his post, swaying left and right and jerking back awake right before he topples off his perch.

Today was my regular doctor appointment for the twins. Looks like Susan and Sharon are fraternal !!! Once again she saw that line and this time it was more prominent. I hate to admit this on the interweb.. but... I gained 10 lbs this time. Yeah... that's what I said!!! Excuse me!?!? I have done nothing.. and I mean NOTHING different this month with my food intake.. I am eating exactly the same stuff.. same snacks.. everything.. last month it was 4 lbs.. this month.. 10lbs.. I tried not to be self conscious about it after the nurse left the room, but while I waited for the doctor to come in, I started to feel really bad and almost felt embarrassed - like I'd done something wrong. She said, not to worry, of course, that since I gained so little in the beginning that sometimes you see a jump in weight like that about now as your body catches up on fluids etc. She didn't see any cause for concern at all. I haven't gained anything anywhere but my baby bump so she said Susan and Sharon were getting it all and that was good news. She didn't print me any pictures this time but they are once again, super healthy and active. Looking very strong and both the same size, which is good. Got to see their little profiles pretty well, and she let the ultrasound wand thing just sort of rest on my belly instead of pushing so hard and we could see their faces (as opposed to their skeletons). I know I am partial but they are pretty cute little faces. She said so too but I imagine she says that to all the moms :) Baby A was looking right at us when we looked at it's face. Can't wait until Monday .. that's our official appointment at the hospital to have the anatomy scan, which will tell us what the sexes are.

I am going to see if I can coax poor Ollie down from his chair and head to bed in a few. I hope I can sleep..I always have trouble sleeping when Stephen is away...