Pears

Yes, I continue to be amazed by local produce. Here are some delicious pears from Jenna's grandpa's tree. She brought them into the office, and here they are aesthetically posed on top of my laser printer.

When I was growing up in the suburbs of St. Louis, there was no such thing as a "farmer's market." That I knew of, anyway. Everything edible came from Kroger's. It wasn't until I volunteered at an organic farm in Iowa that I realized how good vegetables like spinach and tomatoes can taste. Turns out that fruits, as well, can be pretty darn good. The blueberries from the U-Pick place froze beautifully. Every so often I grab a handful and thaw them out for my cereal.

Here's something else that is pear-shaped right now:

Me. Getting pregnant has introduced a whole new dimension to the work-life balance I've written about in this blog and have so utterly failed to get a handle on. Namely, there is a lot more "life" stuff to address. Maybe in retrospect, I will think it was a good move to combine the misery of FIVE SOLID MONTHS of morning sickness and constant fatigue with the misery of finishing my dissertation (get all the misery over with at once!), but at the time it was pretty overwhelming. Now that I'm over the morning sickness and a draft of my dissertation is turned in, I'm finding it much more enjoyable. Prenatal yoga? Bring it on! Eight-session birth class? Sure, there's time! Trip to IKEA for gear? Let's do it!

Three months from delivery, there's still plenty to do on my dissertation and on getting ready for baby. (The room behind me in this picture? Has to become a nursery.) Not to mention work continues to be a crazy-fest. But the baby tasks are a nice kind of fun work. Thanks, baby! I feel I haven't been thanking you enough so far...so thanks for all you've given me already.