Blog of the Little Bonsai

Personal Blog of Steve Baumber

Babywatch; the hours post due date when at any moment the first stage of labour might begin. Rather than be surprised and caught off guard we are now on the other side of the hill and awaiting the arrival of our little one. Everyday brings renewed hope that we'll have a delivery at a decent hour. Every night brings the worry of a 2am wander around the apartment, with pauses for contractions, as we both blearily try to remember where the overnight bag and diaper bag and the baby seat was put. Actually, the baby seat is already in the car. We're not completely unprepared.

It's been a short sumer with a lot packed into it. I suppose things really started rolling with my dad heading into hospital at the end of April. There followed phone calls and emails and family conferences and the kindness of friends as we pursued his care and worried over his health and recovery. As stressful as it was for us, it was an even longer three months for him and when he finally got out on August 6 it was a bittersweet moment. He is cancer free but the process took a lot out of him (more than just the parts they removed and the plumbing they reworked). It will continue to be a road of recovery for the next little while. However, with the first grandchild on the way we are certainly glad that he's resuming his life again!

And us? We visited, we saw people wed, we saw them break up, we sang songs around campfires, paddled kayaks, we biked and hiked. We traveled to Montreal, North Carolina, Hornby Island and the wilds of Meares Island. I drank for three several times. Not a bad way to spend the summer (unless you're 30-odd weeks pregnant for some of it). Some mountain biking was thrown into the mix (thank you Geoff and Mike) and we collected baby gear. Lots and lots of baby gear. We're lucky to be in the second wave of babies in our social crowd, with hand-me-downs and loaners galore. We've rearranged our small apartment to have a space for the stuff and a space for us. The baby fits in somewhere amidst all of that.

The thesis continues to be the elephant in the room, pooping on the couch and stealing food off my plate. I was set to defend at the end of August but my committee rejected the paper I had submitted. So I'm in the midst of rewriting and hoping for an October conclusion to it all.

And I really need to find a job.

Ah, the thoughts that keep one from sleep in the wee hours of Babywatch, high on the ramparts with the fires of the enemy in the valley below. When you dread the fray but would rather be in the midst of it than on the edge of it slowly and stealthily approaching...

posted by Steve @ 9:18 AM

9.15.2008