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I'm trying not to let the morning sickness devour me whole, but it's beginning to be difficult to function outside the home. Fortunately, the semester has come to a close (I submitted grades today; all I have left hanging over my head is a final essay for my poetics class), so my only venturing out of my comfort zone is for pleasure--Meryl's defense and celebratory lunch yesterday (oh, Meryl, you did so beautifully!) and tonight, I head up to the Twin Cities for another MFA's wedding (can you imagine starting the week defending your thesis and ending it in nuptials? This is what Ben Doty is doing).

I'm beginning to feel more and more desperate to travel somewhere--somewhere big and new. We do have the two upcoming camping trips, we have a trip to Missouri planned and another to Milwaukee. We are working on finding a good time to go to Michigan, and after I told Ryan my maternal grandmother was glad to know she would become a great-grandmother before her mind went, he suggested we also head to Chattanooga, the city where I grew up. All these things, these visits are so very good, but what I really need is a vacation. You know, one where the geography and culture completely unmoors me in wonder, one where traditions shift completely and the vocabulary is new.

I'm grateful for the sun coming out. It's making our own landscape look new; we'd had a week of rain and chilly temperatures, making me wonder if our early spring wasn't reverting. In fact, on our way to Green Bay last weekend, we drove through a bit of a snowstorm, which was surprising. Ryan found it beautiful, and I found it distressing--all that green being buried in slush!

Restlessness has settled down on me, and I know so much of it has to do with the pregnancy. My body is fully aware its freedom is waning, my sleeping in isn't for much longer, and we'll need a baby-sitter if we want to go on a date. I'm finding there are different levels of settling in, as far as pregnancy goes: there's the thrill of a new journey, coupled with the panic of responsibility and misery of the bodily changes. Oh, woe. I am pregnant!