Palo Alto is a great place to work. It’s sunny and relatively warm most of the year, and it’s home to an airy, happy shopping mall that happens to be just minutes away from my office. I have a clear memory of strolling back to the office at lunchtime a few months ago - with a Nordstrom shopping bag in one hand and a strawberry-vanilla Ice Storm in the other – and thinking how lucky I was. Not only was it beautiful outside, but I was heading back to a job I truly loved. Oh, and I had just gotten a great pair of shoes.

It will be awhile before I have another day like that. Today was my last day of work before maternity leave – which means it could be three+ months before I find myself on the Stanford campus (or at the Stanford mall) again. I’ve known about the date for quite some time – and Q typically gives me the countdown as I roll out of bed each morning – but it still felt weird to see the actual date show up on the calendar. Could it really be Nov. 10? Already?

Although I’ll be coming back in a few months, it was still hard to leave work and head north today. I’ve been going to the office every day for the last five+ years, and it will be strange not to get up in the mornings and see my friends and co-workers. And it occurred to me that I wasn’t just saying good-bye to friends/co-workers today, but I was saying good-bye, in a way, to an entire chapter of my life. The next time I come to the office, I’ll have a baby! I’ll have survived something I’m fairly terrified of (labor) and entered into something that I’m told is pretty amazing (motherhood). Although I’ll still be *me* I’ll also be someone’s mom – and I’ll likely have thoughts and feelings that I can’t even fathom right now… It’s all pretty hard to imagine.

For now, I guess I’ll just enjoy my time off and wait patiently for the baby. Oh, and daydream about the next time I do a Nordstrom/Ice Storm run (this time, while pushing a stroller).

-M

Another week has gone by as we inch closer to November 24th.  Today Michelle is a full 38 weeks pregnant (see the Babycenter update on the right) and starting on Week 39.  It is also her last day of work, and of course they are throwing her another lunch party. (I have never seen a work throw so many parties and showers for someone.)  She was very proud this morning, because she found something nice to wear to work every day of her pregnancy.  Now she can start wearing jeans and sneakers every day as she relaxes before the baby is due.

Since we have everything and Michelle is now done with work, there is nothing left to worry about. Oh, except for the birth…but Michelle isn’t really worried about that…

Jon Q