We held interviews for my long-term sub today, and I was very pleased with one of the candidates. Hopefully she will accept the position so I can relax a little. When I asked her what she would do to help my students with the transition to a new teacher and to provide some consistency, she said that she'd like to facilitate contact between me and my classes -- that she'd share e-mails and pictures and would even like me to visit when possible. I was elated; It's exactly what I'd hope for. My intention is to get the entire month of March planned out (with lesson plans) so things are ready to go at any moment. I'm not quite sure when that will happen exactly.

I was fortunate enough to have another baby shower this past weekend. It was great to see my different groups of friends all together -- even though it meant a bit of identify crisis with the whole "Shelly"/"Michelle" issue. For some reason I kind of enjoy the separate names. Somehow they represent two entirely different phases of my life, and I like knowing that the two can coexist. It reminds me of who I am and where I've come from. The shower was especially terrific as it brought the news that one of my friends is pregnant after struggling for some time. There are days in my life when I just marvel at the blessings in my life. This was one of those days.

There is good news on the day care front: the provider we originally arranged an interview with does, indeed, have an opening. We'll meet with her this Monday, and I'll be sure to ask what happens if one of her clients turns up pregnant. This is by far the most stressful aspect of this pregnancy! Ryan and I installed the car seat bases in our cars tonight. The car seat won't fit in the middle of Ryan's back seat with his seat back as far as it needs to be for him to drive. As of now it's installed on the passenger side. I feel like I might as well be hanging my child out the window. He's in Elk River looking at new cars as we speak (okay, as I write) -- not solely for this reason (his car is having transmission problems), but it seems to be a factor.

Well, I think that's all for now. The ticker says we have 36 days to go, but that doesn't take into account the new due date. If this little girl is expected on March 14th, we've only got 29 days! That's just mind boggling to me. As much as I have loved this pregnancy, I simply cannot wait to meet my daughter.