Statistics and Patting My Back

It occurred to me in the shower today that the past couple weeks are the first time in over six years that I am not pregnant or nursing. Actually there was a period of a few months between weaning Brendan and getting pregnant with Aidan in there, but for all intents and purposes this is a definite departure from the last six and a half years. I was planning on weaning Aidan but my little stint in Lincoln Park with Liam was what finally did it. And now I am very close to having a new-found freedom of another sort as I wrap up my MLS. I turned in my application at midnight, March 2, 2007 and found out I was pregnant with Brendan that afternoon, which was also my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I started the program 7 months pregnant with Brendan, on campus for two weeks at what they call boot camp. It's in insane 2 credit hour 8 week class rolled into 12 days.

This semester I took a technology class and an AV preservation class, and that one was one of the hardest I've taken throughout my coursework. My final paper was due the Monday after the the week Liam was in the hospital, and the weekend I had allotted for writing the paper was the weekend we were at Children's. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it bedside (haha, no way I later learned) so I wrote my prof and he was really understanding and told me not to worry and just get it in when I could and it wouldn't be counted as late. I turned it in 4 days late, and was wondering if I could pull off a B and not ruin my GPA too much (I know, no one cares about GPA, but still, for all the blood, sweat and tears I put into this non-lucrative degree, I wanted a respectable GPA.) Anyway, the other thing I thought about in my shower today was, "oh, my AVL prof said he would have grades today or tomorrow." So I went down and checked my class, and I had a message from him. He said my paper was worth waiting for, and I got an A on the paper and in the class, and he asked if he could use my paper as an example in a future class. Wow, that was so awesome. I mean it was really a hard class, not an easy A class, and I worked my butt off but definitely wasn't able to do the amount of work I wanted to, and for this super cool prof to give me that kind of praise, well that definitely shined a happy light on a very dismal month.


So Wednesday's the big day we hope to get the all clear for Liam. Keep your fingers crossed and your prayers prayed if you wouldn't mind. I cannot wait for this to be done. Liam does have a cold right now, but hooooopefully it's not much of anything. He's staying home from school just to let him rest and not overdo it, but he and I cannot wait to get him back into his normal life.

Also

If Liam gets the a-ok on his appointment on the 30th he will get the picc line out, which will be so so awesome. It will also be the 32nd day of his illness. That is truly insane. We're starting the 10 day count-down. I don't even want to mention how excited I am for December, lest I jinx that. And if you don't believe in jinxing, let me tell you this story. The week before he got sick we were at a friend's house and the kids were learning to ride their bikes without training wheels. (We were at Liam's friend Meghan's house learning, because she had just learned over the weekend so Liam, Brendan and her little bro who is 4 were all learning together.) I was talking with their mom Peggy about another of Liam's classmates whose little sister had just been hospitalized for pneumonia. I told Peggy, "Knock on wood my kids have never had any weird illnesses, the worst has been a 24 hour stomach bug and an ear infection." Yep, not 5 days later Liam got the plague.

Today, I am hoping to finish my very last essay for grad school. I started it yesterday but didn't make too much progress, though starting it is often the hardest part for me. But it's in my Audiovisual Preservation class and I really have been out of my element in that class. They lost me at vinegar syndrome. My professor is super awesome. He's young and works at the Library of Congress, and his boss is...the Librarian of Congress. You pretty much can't get any cooler than that, right? Also he reminds me of my supervisor at work, and I think they both went through the cinema studies program at UIUC so it makes a lot of sense. And both of them have been so kind to me throughout the whole ordeal of the last month. I feel so lucky to have such an awesome job and awesome colleagues, not to mention the best family and friends.

One positive and unintended consequence of this whole thing is that since I didn't sleep at home for 4 (or was it 5? I'm already repressing) nights Aidan got weaned and is a much better sleeper. Always look on the bright side of life...when you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble give a whistle...

Did I mention Brendan and Aidan came down with colds the night before Liam came home from the hospital, and have passed it on to me?

Things I've Learned This Past Week

1. Morphine withdrawal is not pretty.
2. When it rains it pours.
3. Lots of people are really, really nice.