Circle of Life

This week has been a busy one, relatively speaking.

My dear grandmother passed away one week ago. I'll remember her for her caring heart, compassion and mostly her humour - especially in her later years. She was an avid fan of wrestling and horror movies and she and my grandfather loved to fish. I'll really miss the fact that she will not get to meet Baby Max. As I sat listening to the priest during the service, I recalled the times when she knit me dresses and fried fish. They were pleasing memories. And it all reminded me of how fast life goes by.

Embrace every moment I say.

And so at the visitation and funeral, it was a bit strange at times. Here we all were, saying goodbye to a life and with my bulging belly, about to welcome a new one. It is the Circle of Life indeed.

And speaking of embracing moments...this week has been one where I've really felt pregnant - no REALLY! It's funny how my comfort level seemed to change almost overnight. Since last Sunday I've been feeling a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions and pressure on my pelvis - even when I'm not exercising. Now changing positions while watching T.V. can be uncomfortable at times.

A few months ago, one of my girlfriends, Beth, said to me, "If you feel big now, you'll never believe how big you're going to get, especially in the last weeks."

I laughed then. And yesterday, when I looked at my side profile in the downstairs bathroom mirror, I couldn't help but laugh again, hearing her voice in my head. I'm truly shaped like a boat - more like a submarine! Surely, my grandmother would have loved to see that. Always honest and pretty frank, I wonder what she would have said.

Yesterday I went for my final prenatal massage. Oh, the world truly does need more registered massaged therapists. Not only was my 50-minute massage relaxing, but also when I arose from the table, I felt light and spry again - if only for a moment. It was 50 minutes well spent.

Today, I have another busy day, again relatively speaking. I want to finish up on another little cute baby hat for Baby Max that I'm knitting. I have a hair cut at 1:30 p.m., but before that I'd like to squeeze in an hour workout at the gym.

Hopefully Mr. Braxton Hicks will hold off for most of the day today.