To tell, or not to tell?

While I was home, one of my younger brother's good friends found out she was about 5-6 weeks pregnant. He went ahead and told us (his family) about it, even though the expecting couple wanted to keep it somewhat quiet. My younger bro figured it'd be okay to tell us since we almost never saw the expectant couple and we don't really have overlapping friends. This brought up a discussion among my family of when to tell people you're pregnant. A lot of people hold off on telling people until the second trimester, since the rate of first-trimester miscarriages is relatively high. My mom was of the opinion that you might as well tell people early. Baby bro brought up that then, if you ended up having a miscarriage, you'd have to tell people. My mom responded that that was okay - then, if you were, say, in a bad mood, people would understand why and could offer sympathy/ support.

I thought this discussion was interesting because I'd never actually heard anyone argue in favor of telling people early - I guess I'd just bought the party line of waiting until you're 13 weeks.

Academia, Here I Come?

I've submitted all but maybe one application. I've had 2 "no, thank you"s and 3 "we want more info"s. Of the three who wanted to hear more, I've had two phone interviews and one questionnaire. I opted not to return the questionnaire. I feel bad doing it, but there are three main reasons I decided to take myself out of the running: 1) the school is not that great academically; 2) I would be one of only three professors doing hard-core work in my area - all the other profs, if they have a PhD, have it in a "softer" affiliated field; 3) the salary was too low, at least for that location. Taken together, I realized I'd rather work in an industrial/ research lab than be a prof there.

As to the other two places, well, I don't know. I tried not to make an ass of myself during the interview, but it's really hard when it's all over the phone and you can't judge their body language. Am I babbling, or do I need to go on? Am I totally failing? One place claims that they'll get back to me within a week. I'm not sure about the other place. Both of these schools are undergrad-mostly institutions. The PhD-granting schools are probably just now starting to look through their applications, and I don't expect to hear from them for a little while.

I hope I get at least one interview somewhere, since I spent some Christmas money to buy a nice three-piece suit (jacket, pants, skirt), and I'll feel really stupid if I bought a suit without needing to. Those things ain't cheap! I need to find some shells to go under it since I don't like button-down shirts, so if any of you have suggestions for where to get them, let me know.

And if you have suggestions for nice-looking laptop totes, I'm also all ears. I like some of the geometric prints in subdued colors by Kailo Chic, but I'm not sure if they say "professional with style" or are a little too casual.

Okay, nighty-night time. A sickly girl needs her rest!

Happy new year!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas/ Hanukkah/ break and have started out the new year well. Mine has been nice, but busy, since I've already been to a conference. Expect future posts on:

1) My academic applications and early nibbles
2) To tell or not to tell during the first trimester. Don't worry. I am SO not pregnant, it's not even funny.

I'd also like to say that I covet an iPod Touch. Both my brothers have one. Really, I want an iPhone, but it would make no sense to get one at this point. And it wouldn't make sense to spend $300 on a Touch. But they're so pretty and fun! The touch screen is mahvelous, just mahvelous. I also covet a new purse and shoes, but I'm not lusting after anything in particular. And, well, I always covet them, so that's nothing new. (Plus, I got three new pairs of shoes this break).

But now, to bed, lest I turn into a pumpkin!