Head Of Cauliflower

I'm at 27 weeks today, and I'm exhausted. It could be because my bloodwork from last week shows that I'm a bit anemic. It could be because I haven't had a decent night's sleep in weeks, due to a certain in-utero baby kicking me all night long. It could be because the class I'm TAing this quarter had its final exam yesterday, so I've been dealing all week with ridiculous grade-grubbing undergraduates who didn't do enough work all semester and are suddenly panicking about the class. It could be because my husband, who has been sent on ONE business trip in 10 years, found out last week that he needs to go to Israel for business, and he decided that as long as the trip was paid for, he'd go early and do some site-seeing, and that's not exactly the kind of trip that's easy to throw together at the last minute.

So, what do you think? Is the exhaustion a chemical side-effect, sleep deprivation, over-work, or just stress? Any thoughts?

My doctor's appointment this morning went well. I shocked everyone, myself most of all, by passing the glucose screening with flying colors. Other than the slight anemia, which is officially "not a big deal," I'm doing great, medically. I also found out that Dr. M. is going to be on vacation for the next 6 weeks, which shouldn't matter much at all, but has me slightly irrationally freaked out.

S. left this morning for Israel. He and another coworker are staying in Jerusalem for several days, then moving on to Haifa for a series of business meetings. In all, he'll be gone for almost two weeks. I'm very excited for him, because he's never been to Israel before and has wanted to go for a long time. I just always imagined that his first trip there would be with me, so I'm a little sad that I couldn't go with him (here in Week 27, I'm no longer cleared to fly long distances). He's in good hands -- we have a distantly-related-by-marriage friend who lives in West Jerusalem who has invited him over for Shabbat dinner, and to give him a bit of a driving tour -- but I'm still nervous. Mainly, I'm nervous that he'll be so far away for so long, with a huge time difference that will make it difficult for us to talk at all while he's gone. But also, I'll admit to being a little nervous about him being in a somewhat volatile region without any experience (and without speaking the language).

I am interested, though, to hear about his experience getting through Israeli security. He was warned by several Israelis not to tell the security guys that he converted to Judaism, because "it will just confuse them." (Judaism is, for the most part, anti-proselytizing, and there are very few converts; when hearing that somebody converted to Judaism, the reaction of most Jews is "Why?!") Those of you who have never traveled to Israel may think it's odd that this would even come up during an airport security screening, but trust me -- it will. Israeli security is an amazing thing, and just about everyone gets interrogated on religion and personal background as a matter of routine. It's not just a "Did you pack your own bags?" kind of place.

S. is under orders to buy a mezuzzah for the baby's room. I'm under orders to eat more iron-rich foods like red meat. Barack is under orders to stop kicking occasionally so that I can get some sleep. Progress on all three of these items to be reported on in a few days.