Getting closer to March Madness; or oh, I am such an impatient girl

My due date is four weeks from today, March 18. Which for March Madness fans is the second full day of the NCAA basketball tournament. The tournament is pretty much the only time I watch college basketball -- I even like to fill out those sheets and jump into a pool. I figure someone has to win it, right? My year is coming. So is my own March Madness, a.k.a. life as a mommy to a toddler *and* a baby. It's one thing to chase one kid around, like with my now 18-year-old, or with my little toddler man. This will take some getting used to. I need a *nutty* emoticon here. And a mid-life crisis emoticon as well.

(And yes, if I actually go into labor during the tournament, we will have it on TV. We watched a Final Four game prior to little toddler man's arrival nearly two years ago, and I watched a Clinton-Perot-Bush debate in 1992 several hours before my teenage son joined this world. I hope something decent is on TV when I labor with this little girl! I just reviewed a new pregnancy book that advised bringing a magazine or book for labor). Trust me, until that epidural comes there is no friggin way I can hold and concentrate on a book once the contractions start getting wicked).

I am guilty of still spending way too much emotional energy worrying about the job thing. At this point I'm making contacts and staying in touch with potential job folks through email, but I don't exactly want to land any interviews right now since my belly would frighten anyone off.

True story: I went to a Dunkin Donuts in the Loop yesterday, classic pregnant woman activity, right? Before I could get my order out, the young guy at the counter with a giant tattoo on his neck said "wow, you are fat!" He was laughing and kind of embarrassed -- I really think he meant to say "pregnant". I don't know, I'm usually kind of witchy about these things but I had to laugh. And then order my doughnut AND bagel, oink, oink, and then give him a gentle scolding. I mean, I look ridiculous, all belly and unable to remotely button a coat anywhere near my waistline. It is funny, but only if I am in the mood to think it's funny, of course!

So yeah, not wanting to get an interview right now. However, I am trying not to panic about lost job-hunting time. Which of course I am. I know I'm just supposed to chill now and focus on the baby. But I worry about my husband taking on more and more work and him getting burned out and I can't help it, I just feel plain guilty not bringing home a paycheck. Is this what women's lib gave to us Gen Xers and younger women -- more guilt? OK, I'm kidding about that. Well, mostly.

So the plan is to keep up the political campaign volunteer work I'm doing until I can't get my butt onto a train platform anymore, and hope that the experience and contacts will increase my odds of finding a job later this spring. Send some job vibes to me. I quit running last week, just too damn big to do it until after this baby comes, and I need to hang on to my sanity, LOL. Or, as my teenager would say, LMAO.