I've said in the past (I do repeat myself) that it is within anyone's grasp to get stressed out under challenging circumstances. Similarly it's within anyone's capabilities to get highly impatient at this point of the waiting game. So I try to see it as a similar challenge for both situations: to outshine the average person and find some patience and relaxation ;).
After all, she *will* be born some day. And then things will just fly.
I've just stopped work. Last week was insane by any standards, but particularly by the standards of a 9-month pregnant me. 15 hour work days (it helped that I generally couldn't sleep past 5am) to wrap up two massive projects at work. Now I'm off for 3 months - although they did suggest I feel free to keep working if the waiting game was getting to me ;).
But 'off' doesn't quite capture the essence of my days. 'off' should read : sorting through paperwork and files and accounting. I'm really trying to do the right thing. And that is so hard sometimes. Why is it so much easier to lie and cheat the system than do the right thing sometimes?
ex: We arrive in France. Everyone tells me 'claim that you don't have a job, they'll give you the whole medical insurance for free'. Of course, i've inherited my dad's sense of integrity (the man would not do a single photocopy at work for his kids, since he didn't believe in using work resources for personal purposes), so I couldn't do that. Had to jump through hoops and hoops and more hoops. and pay a bunch too. Now I'm set up as a self-employed worker (individual entreprise is what they call it) - tons more hoops and organizations to coordinate with, and still trouble. I signed up with a local professional association cuz that's what they want you to do - damned if you, damned if you don't: now I'm no longer allowed to submit the simple accounting procedures - I really wish they'd've warned me ahead of time. So now I gotta learn how to do the full blown fancy accounting with separate bank accounts and all. I also gotta learn about VAT procedures which are incredibly tricky - I'm sitting next to the 250 page book on VAT procedures for self-employed in France - ouch. And we gotta figure out how to pay the right amount of taxes in the US and in France, but not double pay cuz that would just suck. Yikes. So, like I was saying I'm 'off' at the moment ;) ...
... and still trying to finish that "Heresies" book by John Gray.
In most of the world, Bush's mix of realpolitik and evangelical uplift evokes mere contempt. In the Middle East, it spells disaster. For much of the region, the choice is not between tyranny and freedom; it is between theocratic democracy and secular dictatorship.
