Matt, that is how my direct boss is taking it. But who knows how that will play out long term. I took the chicken approach of sending the guy an e-mail instead of calling and he is out of the office this afternoon.

Speaking of exercise, has anyone ever dealt with an organization called Team in Training from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society? They help you train (and fund-raise) for a marathon or hike. Sounds useful as a commitment device, anyway.

I trained with them for a two marathons. Their program is set up well. In terms of $$ they had a Louise overhead for donations. But the amount you have to raise is substantial.

Stronger ab muscles means the fat sits better -- looking rounded instead of slack.

And then I would look pregnant. Even more than I already do. Not that strong ab muscles are a bad thing! But exercise alone won't fix my problem, believe me I've tried.

And now I'm completely stressing out that I gave him bad information,

[...]

I don't think the advice I gave was bad

A bit of context-jacking, but these are all the details I have, and it doesn't sound like you gave him bad details, not bad enough to lose your job over, even if it was incomplete. Maybe you should brace yourself for him to come back and ask you what happened, and why he wasn't fully briefed, but from what you have said, it doesn't sound like he'll boot you.

So...deep breaths.

I wish I knew if I have to be on this call or not, but I can't tell if they're gonna call on me in the remaining half hour. I really should have checked on this yesterday. Wait...yesterday when I talked to them about it, it sure sounded like my stuff was gonna be a topic. Dammit. Me me me me me.

Thanks, ita. I hope I'm just overthinking this, and by now the meeting is over, so I guess we'll hear soon one way or another.

ARGH.

And, they got back around to me ten minutes before the end. Lo and behold, it was worth it. I suppose. Two minutes at the start, one interjected correction in the middle, and two minutes at the end. Of a 2hr meeting.

My headset kind of exploded last week (it broke into three pieces, which fell feet away from each other) so I've been holding the headset against my ear for the past two hours, and with the nerves re-awakened on the left side--so incredibly not fun. Want a lie-down.

my thought on the sit-ups is that any strengthening of my core is good. any exercise would get my body burning more calories than it is, and tight muscles will look better than untoned ones.

I guess I should start running to get cardio to try and drop inches.

reducing bready carbs is a good idea too. bleagh. (as I have veggie lasagna for lunch)

I am actually kind of looking forward to being able to exercise more once the baby comes. (OK, anyone who's ever been a new parent before is probably laughing at me now. I don't mean right afterwards! But maybe within a few months?) I'm so sore and achy and tired and awkward and huge that I can't do more than, like, a 20-minute walk around the park these days. Prenatal yoga is still awesome, though.

When I had my last midwife appointment on Monday, we discovered I had apparently gained 10 pounds since last week. That is... not what I was expecting. (My legs were pretty swollen that day, so I'm sure some of it was water weight, and some could have been due to the fact that it was a late afternoon appt rather than a morning one -- every other weigh-in I've had has been around 8am -- but still!) And I was feeling pretty good last week about the amount I'd gained. Feeling a lot less cocky this week. But it's also been a necessary reminder that it doesn't do any good to get attached to a specific number. I felt fine about my body when I went into the appt, and crappy about it afterwards, and the only difference was knowing a particular number to attach to it. So I'm trying to let go of that attitude.

(OK, anyone who's ever been a new parent before is probably laughing at me now. I don't mean right afterwards! But maybe within a few months?)

Heh. Actually you'll have more opportunity right after the baby comes than you will in a few months. They're pretty much sleepy little lumps at first.

Aww! You're fine, Kate. I know that type of thing sucks, but you're pregnant! Don't worry too much about it.

Yay, Cash's nephew!