26 weeks, clocking in. It's a boy.

I'm pregnant. Due in June. nearly 10 weeks, now.

Took us 8 whole months. Goodness gracious.

That's all I've got right now.

Just wanted to post here on the "public" setting to let all my readers (all 12 of you) know about the passing of my mother in law. We were there visiting her and within a week, she was gone. We have great memories of her just over the last 6 months. I know I will treasure my memories of her and pass them along to my kids. My mother in law defied stereotypes. She was the nicest mother in law I could have asked for.

Obviously, we are all very sad and are just taking things a day at a time, but I did want to offer my thanks for everyone's kind comments. Just remember to tell people how much you love them, because you never know when will be the last conversation you have with someone you love dearly.

One of my close friends is moving away today. She has been like a sister to me for the last four years, and I will miss her family so much!

How is it that there is a $150 discrepancy between my bank account balance, and my ledger, in my favor? I'm failing to find my error, but I am not going to look *too* hard for it.

For some reason, these guys get me every time.

One of these days, my kid is going to say "That's what She said" and I'm not going to know what to do.

Inspired by gyttja

"The Female Brain" by Louann Brizendine
I liked this one, as a good summary of mostly current research on the effect of ovarian hormones on brain development. A good starter for the lay-person who is interested in sex differences.

"Blink: The power of thinking without thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell
Lots of cool anecdotes and examples, but I didn't come away knowing what I could do about snap judgments.

"A Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Freaky and disturbing. I hate to read about what people think that the religious right would do if they were somehow "in charge". It's a little over the top for me.

"The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood
Well done, freaky and disturbing. When I got to the end, I wanted to read it over again because of the last-minute turn of events.

"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Currently reading: The Fellowship of the Ring

Needless to say, Naomi is also becoming very familiar with the library :) I'm a big fan of their online request process, it makes my life so much easier, plus getting tons of CDs to import onto my iPod!

On tap: The rest of the Lord of the Rings series. That should carry me into the summer.

Also, a chapter a day, making my way through the New Testament.

Today we watched the second half of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. I cried like a baby.

Now, my conversion to girly-girl-hood is complete. Somebody help me.

Have you guys ever heard of Impostor Syndrome? Supposedly it mostly affects graduate students and women in academia, but we had a guest speaker in grad school who may have been the author of this website. Anyway, here are the "symptoms":

Have you ever...
*Secretly worried others will find out you’re not as smart as they seem to think you are?
*Turned away from a challenge because of nagging self-doubt?
*Felt crushed by constructive criticism, knowing it’s a mark of your ineptitude?
*Dismissed your accomplishments as “No big deal?”
*Thought that “responsible people” in “responsible jobs” are a lot more “adult” than you?
*Do you live in fear of being found out, discovered, unmasked?

I just remembered about this last night on our way home from church. Sometimes I feel that way about my whole life -- not just academia. Some days I think...one of these days someone's going to see through me and realize I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't feel very much like a grownup these days. Not sure how to fix it.