A strange and wonderful thing happened to me this morning.

I woke up and looked at the clock, and it was five o'clock. As I struggled to sit up, I realized: I hadn't been up all night.

The night before last, I had wakened at least four times, because my hip was hurting (or my other hip was numb) or because I had to go to the bathroom. I don't really think about it much anymore. Wake up, go to the bathroom (even if I don't have to, just because the short walk helps de-stiffen my hips and back) come back to bed, and try to find a comfortable position. At least twice a night.

At five this morning, I hadn't been awake since I'd gone to bed at 11:30. That's five and a half whole hours of uninterrupted sleep. I hadn't even woken a little bit to roll over or change position. Just... sleep.

It felt almost sinfully good.

Of course, there were drawbacks. Since I hadn't moved all night, my neck was even more stiff and sore than usual. And I had no idea why I hadn't needed to go to the bathroom, since I'd even had half a cup of milk right before bed. So when I got back to bed, I had to wait until I felt the baby move before I could go back to sleep.

(Which is, by the way, the closest I've come to the Mutant Worrybrain state of mind since I got pregnant. I'm really not looking forward to its return when the hormones that have muted it level out again.)

Today on his way home from work, Matt is going to buy another gallon of paint, and he'll spend part of the evening re-painting one wall and a few spots that were less than fully covered.

The paint gets tonight and all day tomorrow and tomorrow night to dry. (It shouldn't take that long, but the weather is damp at the moment - big shock - and that's the way the schedule works out. Better to wait too long than risk having to do it all over again because we bumped up against paint that wasn't quite dry yet.)

While Matt's painting, I think I may be going to the store for a curtain rod, and then beginning the process of cleaning up for Matt's mother.

And then Thursday evening, Matt and I will pick up the drop cloths, move the dresser/changing table into place, and think about assembling the crib. Of course, we've also got another class at the hospital Thursday night, so we'll see how things go. Matt and I are both pretty good at furniture assembly, but I've heard so many horror stories about cribs... We'll see. And follow the directions carefully. (Please, o gods, let them be written in clear English.)

Karen will also most likely be visiting for a bit Thursday evening, before our class. And then Friday, we'll have to go pretty much straight from work to the airport to pick up Matt's mom and sister, and his mom wants to go shopping that evening (she thought it would be easier than trying to get our shower gift in Chicago and then lug it all the way with her, which I can't really blame her for). And Saturday is the shower and attendant festivities. And Sunday we'll have to drop Matt's mom and sister back off at the airport and go almost directly to our Lamaze class.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, mind you, but is it wrong of me to look forward to next week, when we'll only have the one Lamaze class to go to, no-one visiting, and no major projects to do?

--Liz