Random Bullets of Saturday

It's nice and sunny outside, but I'm avoiding going out there because my allergies have been bad. I've been feeling pretty lethargic today, but managed to get a little exercise (I jumped on the mini-trampoline for 15 minutes), since I thought that might be contributing to my laziness. Here are some things I've been doing/thinking about:

• Last fall, we had talked about going to Very Distant Country (H's home country), but when post-election violence broke out, we decided to postpone it.  Things settled down, but then I was pregnant and couldn't travel to a malaria-prone area. Now, I'm not pregnant, so I can travel (and have lots of vaccinations), but I've committed to a couple of things this summer. H will likely go either way (his ticket is paid for), but I'm torn about whether D and I can go, also. I volunteered to go to a conference in early August (and my abstract was just accepted)- we'd be back in time, but I'd need time to get ready. I also volunteered to mentor a student this summer and if I go, s/he will be without a mentor for 2-3 weeks. None of this is insurmountable, but I just wonder if we should go under such hasty circumstances.... Tickets are also about $2000 (a piece). We'll see.
• I am feeling 100% physically and even emotionally, I feel just fine. I'm sure I will encounter things that will set me off in the future (like when my due date approaches- especially if we are not trying again or we are, but I'm not pregnant by then), but for now I'm feeling really good. I think that was one benefit of doing the "natural" miscarriage, rather than a D&C, because it took almost two weeks for all bleeding to stop and by then I was feeling like myself. It's almost like it coincided perfectly- body is healed? check. Mind healed? somewhat- now I can feel like it's really over. I had my hCG levels checked on Tuesday and they had dropped to 35.8* (they keep checking until they fall below 3). The nurse thought that next Tuesday could be the last check since they were that low already. I found on the web, that they are supposed to halve every 48 hours, so that would put me near 3 by next Tuesday. I'm just glad the whole ordeal is over. I started having bleeding on April 1st, got the bad news April 10th and had the miscarriage April 11th. I was basically bleeding for most of the month!
• I have one week of classes left and I don't know if the students can tell, but I am totally slacking off. I have grading to do in the upper-level class, but I keep blowing it off. I am showing a video and doing a group activity, then exam review in the freshmen class, so I am not lecturing. The upper-level class is all presentations, too! I feel like such a flake.
• I have not been eating very well, but that will all come to an end on May 12th!!
• I accidentally honked at my 87-year-old neighbor yesterday. She was blocking traffic so I honked, then realized who it was. I'm hoping she didn't know it was me.
• I'm going to miss our graduating graduate students this year. They're an awesome group.
• I made an offer to another prospective graduate student for my RA! I hope s/he accepts!

I am going to go look for something to cook for dinner. We thought about going out, but we really have plenty of things here- they just need to be cooked!! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend- where ever you may be.

*HPTs are usually sensitive to about 25