When I woke up this morning, everything hurt. My back was killing me, my lower abdomen was aching, the stomach muscle next to my belly button still felt like it was tearing... and when I tried to walk, the pain in my back would shoot down my right leg. So, I decided to put myself on bedrest today. And my sweet little girl did a great job of quietly entertaining herself in the living room while I laid on the couch. I probably spent half of the day on the couch or on my bed. My big accomplishment of the day was getting the dishes washed. I didn't think I'd be able to do that, but after lounging around all day, I was actually able to walk by the afternoon without too much pain, so I washed the dishes. So pretty much, I'm officially tired of being pregnant.

Chloe really was a good girl today. She didn't throw a fit at her nap times or when I put her to bed. She woke up with a stuffy/runny nose. I've been keeping a close eye on her because two babies in her daycare contracted weird, contagious diseases last week. I'm hoping that Chloe didn't catch anything weird. She was in pretty good spirits though, despite the runny nose. I tried to get a good picture of her today, and this was the best I could do. She was clapping.
You can see behind her that the bottom drawer on the stove is open. She saw me open it when I was getting a pot out to boil water, and she immediately headed over to see if she could open it too. She was successful.

I have some 3-D glow in the dark planets hanging in her room, and when I got her out of her crib this morning, she pointed to Mars and said "iza ba!" which I believe means "it's a ball." What a smart little munchkin.

I have another picture of her in the chair I took the other day, and I thought it was cute.

Look at how happy she is to have that kitty!

I really wanted to make a cake tonight, but the dread of having to wash more dishes seems to be overpowering the desire to bake a cake. Of course I don't have a cake mix or pre-made frosting, so I'd have to make everything from scratch, which I actually enjoy doing, but that just requires dirtying way too many dishes. The muscle in my tummy that feels like it's torn or something is located right where the counter hits my stomach, so doing dishes is not only mundane, it's painful. It's better that way though- the last thing I need around the house is a cake all to myself.

I also love my kitty. She's so soft and silky. Especially now that she doesn't have fleas. That flea powder that I applied to the carpets a few months ago has worked wonderfully. Thank goodness because that was a nasty outbreak. Freakin south Texas and all its insects and parasites.

I'm signed up for this government job listing mailing list. They send me job openings for Texas, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Montana that have to do with Biology. Yesterday my dream job opened up:

Research Zoologist
Location: US-WA-Seattle, WA Washington
Agency: Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Salary: 55702.00 to 86793.00

The incumbent of this position will perform the following duties:1)
Design and execute experiments to measure the impact of contaminant
exposure on behaviors of at-risk fish species of concern to National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.2) Provide assistance
and guidance to other Center members for experimental design, data
analysis, and preparation of manuscripts, posters, or presentations.3)
Develop computerized procedures (using either custom-written or
commercially available software) for acquiring and analyzing
neurophysiology and behavioral data.4) Analyze data using statistical
tests (e.g., ANOVA) and non-linear regressions.5) Work with scientists
both inside and outside the Center in designing and executing
collaborative experiments.6) Prepare and give oral poster presentations
of results at scientific meetings.7) Prepare and publish results in
peer-reviewed scientific journals. ...

I can't read the rest of the job description unless I actually sign up for the service and pay a fee. I'm not going to do that because I'm not looking for jobs yet. I just like the daily reminder that there ARE job openings in the field I'm interested in. I just hope that I'll be qualified for a job like the one above when I graduate. I would LOVE to get back to Washington and the job description sounds perfect. I want to do field research, but I don't think I should get into that until the girls are at least teenagers since I know field research requires a lot of time. So until then, the job description listed above sounds wonderful. I've already done numbers 3,4,6, and 7 in my college coursework.

Well, I supposed I've rambled enough. You deserve a gold star if you've read this entire post. Congratulations!