So I was making up the grocery list for Matt yesterday, and the phone rang. It turned out to be my brother, who came into town for a job interview.

"How's it going?" I asked. I know he'd just gotten into town the previous evening, but I had no idea when his interview was.

"I got a job!"

Turns out he'd gone to the interview, and the principle of the school had told him that he didn't have the authority to offer the job, but that John was his first pick. Apparently, the principle had called the city's human resources people more or less the instant John had left the building, because they'd called him with an offer in less than an hour.

So he's employed again! Yay! And he and his very wonderful wife will be moving to this area! Even more yay!

I had him and Mom come over, so he could see the nursery, and then we took them out to dinner to celebrate. (Dad, alas, is out of town again.) We went to Shackleford's, which is another restaurant that we probably won't be able to get to very often after the baby arrives. They're a little bit pricey, but they have really good food, and fantastic desserts.

I'm really thrilled. Of course, I'd have been happy for him to find a job anywhere - it's been a rough few years for them - but that they'll be coming here makes me happy for a lot of reasons.

I'm glad Particle will get to grow up around more family than just us and one set of grandparents. Matt and I can't do much about the fact that Chicago is as far away as it is, but since so much of his family is there, it's pretty much a given that we'll be going there relatively often for holidays and such. But I had been wondering how old our little girl would be when she met her Uncle John and Aunt Sam for the first time.

And I'm glad they're coming for strictly selfish reasons, too. Our AD&D game is about to go on an extended haitus (by the time I recover from delivery and am ready to think about a social life again, K.T. will be about ready to have her baby; and by the time she recovers, we'll be right up against the holidays - and with new babies to show off, we're doing extra family things this year) and we've been bemoaning the apparent difficulties of starting back up after the new year.

First and foremost - will we even be able to game with two babies in the background? That kind of depends on the babies themselves - whether they're easygoing enough to be left to their own devices for short periods, or if they require constant attention. We won't know that until they show up. I expect that - at the very least - we'll wind up cutting back to gaming no more than every other week, and the pace of the games will have to slow down fairly significantly in order to allow for inevitable interruptions and breaks. (Even the very most easy-going baby shouldn't be ignored for hours at a stretch, after all.)

To make things more complicated, K.T. and Kevin are probably going to have to move even further away early next year - the rent on their apartment is going up significantly, and Kevin's getting tired of his hour-plus commute. Do we really want to drive an hour and change - with a baby - on a regular basis for a game?

If John and Sam are in town, then we can add them to our game. John's already expressed interest, and he thinks Sam will welcome with open arms the opportunity to join a game that actually has other female players, and male players who aren't trying to look down her shirt. Sam has a half-dozen nieces and nephews already, so they're used to (and fond of) little kids. And since they'll probably be living in Newport News, we can maybe have the games at their place. It won't be precisely half-way, but it would be better than either Matt and I or K.T. and Kevin having to do the whole trip between Chesapeake and Williamsburg.

Well, there are details left to be worked out, obviously. But really, I couldn't be more happy for John. I know Sam will miss her family and students in Montana, but if they have to leave - and John was telling me they'd come to the conclusion that they do have to leave - then at least they're coming to a place where they'll have other family and friends nearby.

Today is my last day at work before my maternity leave begins. Whaaaaa-HOO!

Most of the day's "work" will probably be clean-up kinds of things. Putting away all the files. Writing up the bi-weekly status report. Setting up my e-mail vacation response, and changing my voicemail message. Making sure everyone knows who's covering my duties while I'm gone. That kind of thing.

I'm excited and happy to finally be going on leave - but I expect sometime around the middle of next week, I'll be bitching about being bored. Well, maybe. We'll see.

I don't know if I'm going to keep updating this journal while I'm out. Of course I'll post something after the baby comes, with the relevant details. But before she comes, I don't know that there will be much worth mentioning - I'll be spending most of my time sitting around the house, watching movies and reading and napping and generally resting in preparation for the baby; and then after she comes, I don't know how much time I'll have for updates. (Sources suggest: Not a lot.)

So we'll see what happens. Keep checking in occasionally, and if you don't see anything here, you might want to check out the blog, which is easier for me to update quickly.

As a final note... I went reading through some old blog entries last night, and I saw this one, which shows a fortune cookie fortune that I'd received the same day Matt and I had gone to talk to my doctor about family planning. Heh. Every so often, I'm tempted to think there's something to these things...

--Liz