25 April 2011

Road Trippin'

I'm going on a work-related road trip this week to St. Louis. There's an event there that several people from my division are attending. Flights are something like a bajillion dollars so my division management has decided that it would be a good idea to rent a van and take everyone along in one vehicle. It's about a 5-hour trip.

I've only traveled a couple times during pregnancy. Luckily, we've been short on travel funds so that was a good way for me to get out of trips. I went to San Francisco with David (to see Roger Waters!) in December when I was not very pregnant at all, but definitely feeling nauseous most of the time. That was okay and totally worth it. I went to New Jersey alone at about 15 weeks. That was good because it was a relatively short flight and since I was alone, I could crash early and not have to worry about anyone else's schedule. And just a few weeks ago, I went to Los Angeles. I went with a co-worker/friend who was exceptionally considerate of my "condition" (that's what David calls it-- like I'm a leper or something.) And even if he wasn't, since he's also a friend, I'd just tell him to screw off because I need to go to bed at 8:00. That's how I treat my friends, after all.

I'm stressing about this one though. Since we'll all be in one car, I'll be on other people's schedule the whole time. There will be no bailing early. Additionally, this event includes things like tours (i.e. lots of walking and standing) and social events (i.e. someone please shoot me now.) I'm considering my clothing choices very carefully and considering my shoes choice even more carefully. I only have a couple pairs of shoes that still fit my fat, swollen feet at the end of the day-- especially a day that includes walking/standing all morning, sitting all afternoon and then socializing for hours in the evening.

I'll be bringing along pepperoni rolls to make up for the inevitable bathroom and stretch stops that I'm going to require on the drive out and back. I'm also really hoping that my "condition" scores me shotgun because I'm not sure how well I'd handle the backseat for that long. At this point, I can barely handle the front seat of David's car from work to home-- that's just 15 minutes. As if my motion sickness wasn't bad enough, the pregnancy has intensified it to the extreme.

Overall, I'm thinking it's going to be a pretty miserable trip but I'm doing it anyway for a couple reasons. I'll get some face time with division management-- that's boss' boss' boss. And hopefully, my presence will leave the impression that just because I'm pregnant does not mean I'm not still doing my job.

I was a little stressed about being stuck in the van with 4 other people and the inevitable invasive pregnancy-related questions that I'll receive but then I considered the personalities. Analyzing the personalities was quite entertaining to me-- a van full of engineers. Doesn't that sound exciting?! Also, the analysis is probably completely boring to everyone else so you might want to stop reading right now.

Manager-type 1 is super cool and very family-oriented. He's very interested but is also very aware of the line between employee and supervisor so wouldn't be too prying. Perfect. He'll want to talk about Hawaii (and the vacation house he's in the process of buying!!) and that will make me happy.

Manager-type 2 is middle-aged, single, no kids. He's nice, but he doesn't give two shits about my baby-- he's only concerned that I'll still be doing my job come September. And, I will. He'll devour my pepperoni rolls.

Co-worker 1, while quite friendly with me, would be way too embarrassed to ask even the simplest questions about my future child. And, he probably also doesn't care. We'll definitely talk about our cats though.

Co-worker 2 is the mom of a 18-month old. I think she'd ask lots of questions but she'll be way too busy taking advantage of the face time with management. This will inevitably make me want to murder her and leave her body on the side of I-70 somewhere. Hopefully I can restrain myself. Or at least, hopefully one of the guys will help me with the body. I really shouldn't be lifting that much weight.

Here's hoping I make it back in one piece. This will likely be my last work trip until after the baby comes-- probably until the one I have scheduled in October. That's sort of exciting because although I like traveling, it's really been getting old and it's nice to have an excuse for the whole summer.

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