It's deeply weird.

It is strange when that happens, but it somehow makes me feel like it means I am right where I am supposed to be.

I was talking to the sister of my DH's (east coast) college roommate, who is still a very good friend of ours. While we were talking, we realized that another sibling of theirs lived two doors down from my sister in Culver City and their little girls were good friends.

I am tired of the pregnant people of Utah. (If anyone here is in Utah and pregnant, this probably doesn't apply to you, because everyone here is cool and not likely to be prone to this.) I've seen so many people here on the board who are giddy with delight about the kid they're having/have had, but I don't think I've seen a pregnant woman in ages around here who is anything but "Yeah, I'm pregnant, so what?" And I use "woman", because if you're going to be a mom then you're entitled to be a woman, even if you're barely old enough to vote.

Two pregnant women are chatting behind me. There are three more within view here at work. There have been "Oh, wow, you're pregnant?" moments, but on the whole there's little joy in it for them. The mindset around here seems to view pregnancy as "Excellent, you're fulfilling your purpose in the world, well done, good and faithful servant."

I want to see people taking joy in their kids, not just herding their kids. Maybe they do it at home where I never see them. They're not doing it on the street or in restaurants or in the grocery store. It's "get over here! Don't do that! Be quiet!" If they acknowledge the kids at all.

They will bring their infants in, but it always seems more like a Show and Tell project than a demonstraton of delight and love. "Look what I made this year."

There is the distinct possibility that I'm becoming a nasty crone.

I would look it up in the dictionary and then rephrase it very slightly to show I understood it and wasn't just copying.

Er, I'd advise against doing this. Slightly rephrasing someone else's words could get you into unnecessary trouble. Either rewrite it entirely in your own words, or use a direct quote.

If I were you, vw, I'd quote the dictionary and then provide my definition or brief discussion of how it is used (no more than 1 or 2 sentences, however). But I'm an ex-grad student, so I like to cover my bases.

Okay, the article I'm editing -- the pay-to-be-in-this-study article -- does say, in the section where they discuss results, that the fact that the patients had to pay might have biased the results.

I feel a little better now, though I still question the importance of publishing this.

The mindset around here seems to view pregnancy as "Excellent, you're fulfilling your purpose in the world, well done, good and faithful servant."

That may be the problem right there. Putting pregnancy on the level of having your teeth cleaned doesn't exactly promote a joyful outlook.

There is the distinct possibility that I'm becoming a nasty crone.

I hear the club meetings have some terrific potlucks; I've been toying with joining myself.

I feel a little better now, though I still question the importance of publishing this.

Can you take your concerns to anyone? Or is the decision set in stone?

Eh, it's hard to judge other people's joy. Some women are so worn down by the physical demands of pregnancy that taking joy in it is just about impossible. Every one of those that I've known has been crazy happy about the baby once it was born, though.

Ugh. Ouch. Headache.

Damn, this has been coming and going all day, but I thought it was from not eating or something. Now I just had lunch and I've had a half-gallon of water to drink and it's still hitting me.

connie, when we were in Utah over Thanksgiving, I was well aware of how much we fit in, what with a barely toddler-aged child and me visibly pregnant. The only significant difference was my age.

Hey, Susan, we could kick M's ass. Would you like that? Stupid contest winning bitca.(we could put a note in the women's that she steals her plots from coffee commercials and she stuffs her bra.)