A Shout Out

I want to take a moment to give a little shout out to Algebra teachers everywhere. I don't remember who taught me Algebra, but I owe him or her a lot! This may sound really random coming from soemone who considers herself devoted to music, the arts, and literature, but algebra is so incredibly essential to my career. It's actually, surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of my job.
The first time a client asked me for a net amount with various percentages of federal and state withholding I didn't even think of using algebra. I did a straight line equation like so: $5,000 for the net distribution, 15% is $750 for federal tax, 5% is $250 for state tax, equals total distribution of $6,000. But this isn't a straight line equation. What I was missing was the algebra!
When I put in a $6,000 gross distribution withholding 15% federal and 5% state, the computer told me that the net distribution to the client would only be $4,800, I was a little confused. Until I realized I had a need to solve for x. And I needed fractions to do this too!
So the equation became:
x - 3x/20 (which is 15%x) - x/20 (which is 5%) = $5,000
multiply both sides by 20 to get:
20x - 3x - x = $100,000 OR 16x = $100,000
divide both sides by 16 to get:
x = $6,250
So my first gross distribution of $6,000 would have fallen short and not given the client the desired $5,000 net distribution. And now I can't tell you how many times in a day I'm called to solve for x.
I know this is a weird blog post, but it just occured to me how wonderful it is to have a good, well-rounded education. And just because you're interested in one area (like literature or music), doesn't mean you can neglect other areas (like math, science or history). You never know when you're going to need to use knowledge from any subject you study. (And you never know if you're going to spend your life studying English and end up with a job in finance or when you're going to study theology your whole life only to work in computers)!
Thanks to my Algebra teacher and to all my other teachers over the years who prepared me for real life. If my little Claire ever looks at me and asks when she's going to use something in real life, I intend to tell her about my experience with Algebra.

Good Report

I went to the doctor today and since everyone loves to hear about prenatal visits, I figured I'd write a quick blog note. Her heart rate was 155 and she is sitting right at my belly button right now, just where she's supposed to be. I've managed to gain six pounds, and my doctor is thrilled about this, so I guess that's not too much or too little. I'm still netting -4 pounds so far in pregnancy, but trust me folks, the winds are about to change on that one. Dr. Marino says we're past the hump now (at 21 weeks and 3 days) and we should have smooth sailing from everything he's seen from here on out. I have my gestational diabetes screening next appointment, and then it's just routine, routine, routine. I did have my bloodwork drawn again to check the ANA levels. I'm not holding my breath about being able to stop the heparin injections, but it would be really nice. I won't find out on those until Tuesday.
She's a delightful little parasite, almost always trying to make me aware of her presence. The other night at Aunt Jenni's, she was pushing her little bottom out so that Jenni could tell she was hanging out on one side. And last night she had the hiccups which was fun. Her movements continue to get much stronger and depending on how she's laying can be felt just about anywhere from level with my belly button to low in my pelvic cavity.
I've had a trying couple of weeks the last two to three weeks and am starting to recover now. Geoff and I have moved all the flowers we needed to throughout the yard into several new beds and have prepped the garden area for veggies. We'll be putting these in tomorrow and I'll be sure to get some pictures. Life is both slowing down and speeding up right now. I've managed to cut out some big stresses that had been keeping me busy, but we are entering a period where we literally have either out of town guests or are going out of town every other week until the end of June. I am looking forward to the activity as it's going to help the remainder of this pregnancy fly by.
Anyway, I think that's enough catching up for now. Just wanted to share my good report...

Easter Catch-Up

Since everyone these days is posting cute Easter pics, I thought I'd do likewise - well - not sure about the cute part, but sure about the Easter part. It's April 15th so work is busy as can be. I'm sure I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog, but now is not the time for that.
We have entered April and from here until July we have something scheduled every other weekend, which means, part two of the pregnancy is really going to fly by! Claire is mobile as ever and we have our next doctor's appointment on Friday. I'm hoping that the lab results this time will finally let me come of the shots - we'll see. Anyway, I'll play catch-up later, but wanted to post something now.

(more than) HALFWAY THERE!

I'm so excited to have passed my halfway point of pregnancy. In celebration, Claire gave Geoff a good hearty kick the other night, the first real movement he's been able to distinguish. (This is not, by the way, because she hasn't been communicating, but is because he isn't patient enough yet to just sit with his hand on her. The other time he felt her he said it felt like my stomach growled).
Also in celebration, I managed to gain my first pound since being pregnant. Now, ordinarily this wouldn't be something to celebrate (unless you're just glad you didn't gain 20 pounds in your first trimester). I have to admit, I am finding it really hard to adjust to the idea that weight gain is a good thing. To combat the conflicting emotions, I've firmly decided to remove the scale from our room and only weigh-in at the doctor's office. Also, strangely, I've also been trying to wear more form fitting clothing. What I've discovered is that I don't so much mind my pregnant shape because it makes me realize that I am gaining where I'm supposed to so far and nowhere else. Let's just hope I can keep it that way.
Claire is as fiesty as ever and seems to think that a moment she is not moving is a moment wasted. This is just fine by me! Her movements are big enough now that at times you can actually see them (if it's her bottom or head moving) and I can distinguish between a foot kicking and a head butting. So much fun! And the pregnancy is pretty easy. My biggest problem is an inability to sleep, but I've had several different things on my mind lately, so that might be a better explanation for this than just the fact that even with my super-awesome preggie pillow I can't seem to get too comfortable for long.
In other news, the weather is turning beautiful here and we're going to spend the weekend prepping some beds for a veggie garden. This is the project I told Geoff I wanted to take on as a team before Claire comes. We're borrowing Rosemary's oldest boy (14) to help dig and plant this weekend. I'll definitely post pictures of this and of Easter. I also went back to the 1/2 price clearance sale at the kid connection and bought another 20 things for Claire for only $45 this time - so soon I should post these as well.
That should about catch you up for now...

19 Weeks and Kicking

I realized I completely forgot to post an 18 week picture, which would have been 4 weeks from the last one. Oh well. You get the gist. Despite the fact that I still have not gained a pound, I have managed to channel everything to my tummy area and Claire is growing and growing. This is at least partly evidenced by the greater strength with which she can now kick me right under my diaphram - ahh the fun days ahead!

Dress Success from the Consignment Sale!

I had a great day at the Kid Connection sale on Saturday morning. Geoff came with me and helped me pick out a few things for Claire, and he carried all of my purchases for me. I've posted a slideshow of all the cute dresses we got - and we only spent $100 on 19 items (the other 4 items were 2 maternity items for me, a baby carrier for Geoff, and a Pooh light switch cover for Claire's room). Now I can't wait for her to get here so I can play dress up!

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