Last day

Last Thursday was my last day at a couple of things: Babysitting The Little Smiler and working out at Gold's Gym (at least for the next few months). I said goodbye to TLS without any tears...most likely because I'd gotten them all out in bed the night before. I miss my little daytime companion; three and a half months was a good run and I can only pray his next caretaker loves on him even better than I did!

As with most things in life, the timing on both of these changes was divinely providential. No sooner had the first day after the holiday weekend dawned than pregnancy began to soundly kick my butt. The details aren't important, but I suddenly find myself the kind of immobile that prevents me from being either a great babysitter or a great gym rat. So here I stand--or sit, rather--on the home stretch and feeling fairly worthless. But I know the time that remains will fly, and that's just fine by me.

In the meantime, a little something to commemorate the things that helped occupy my spring and early summer.

Things I will miss about The Little Smiler:
• That face--how could anyone not miss that face?
• The way his mouth would contort into a "Wallace and Gromet"-style smile when he was overly excited.
• That he could just sit on my lap for an hour as long as sound effects were involved.
• His crazy cowlicks.
• Hearing him attempt to use our door knocker every morning.
• The unpredictable and instantaneous switch from minor meltdown to burst of laughter.
• Touching foreheads and giggling.
• Spontaneous, unsolicited cuddles.
Godspeed, little man!

Things I won't miss about Gold's for the next few months:
• Seeing just how much stomach my favorite showoff can display without giving away the farm.
• The old guy who sits at a reclining bike watching sports without moving a pedal the entire time I'm there.
• Being a captive audience to whatever VH1 crap "reality" show is playing on the single TV set in the lady's weight room.
• Spotting my husband lifting some obscene amount of weight--ouch!
• Not being able to break much of a sweat or burn too many calories because I'm pregnant--just seems unnatural at a gym.