Now Even The Neighbors Know

I've been getting up early in the morning a few days a week to walk Lucy at the lake. I decided that if I'm going to be running the equivalent of a marathon in 5 months, I'd better get myself into some decent physicial condition.

It's been so hot lately, I can't go out after work in the evenings, since it's still 80 degrees, and I'm usually just tired and hungry by the time I get home from work anyway.

So, I promised myself to get up early and walk before I get ready for work. The first morning I did this I was quite certain it was going to be horrendous (and anyone who's seen me without coffee early in the morning is probably still carrying the emotional if not physical scars), but to my surprise, I find I like it.

Yesterday I got up and did it again, and on the way back home I ran into our neighbor, who lives a few doors down. I said good morning and she stopped what she was doing and walked out to see me. "What's new?" she asked.

Well, we have some news, I said. "I'm pregnant."

This neighbor knows we've struggled some. Not much, mind you, since she tends to tell the neighborhood everything you tell her, so I don't tell much.

She said her husband saw me walking home from the bus the other night and wondered out loud if I might be pregnant. She congratulated me, and asked if our next door neighbors knew.

Nope, you're the first, I said. But you can tell them if you like since I don't get to chat with them much.

By the late afternoon when Brian and I went out to the car, our neighbor John from across the street said "CONGRATULATIONS!" I looked at Brian and my first thought was "Wow! Terri really went for it." But, it turns out that Brian had just told John too.

So, it's out in the 'hood. Now they can see me walking and not think "Wow, that woman's really packed on some weight lately...good thing she's out walking again."