This might be a dumb question, but why on earth do so many maternity shirts have HORIZONTAL STRIPES? Like we're not feeling wide enough already...

Front page of the New York Times this morning: Schering-Plough has received a target letter from the US Attorney's Office in Boston, alleging four areas of investigation: improper remuneration to managed care organizations and physicians to induce the purchase of Schering products for which payment was made through federal healthcare programs; so-called "off-label" promotion of drugs; submission of false pharmaceutical pricing information to the government for "best price" calculations; and obstruction of justice, relating to alleged destruction of documents involved in the government's investigation.

According to Schering's site, "the company understands that, based on Department of Justice guidelines, receipt of a 'target' letter indicates the government intends to pursue an indictment and believes it has substantial evidence to support that indictment."

Lest a day go by without a baby update, I had my 20-week appointment today (holy SHIT I'm halfway done!), and everything looked great. I gained only a pound in the last four weeks, my doctor pronounced my low blood pressure "perfect," and my AFP results were normal, as I had already heard. The baby must have been in a great position today, because the heartbeat was incredibly strong and loud.

Anyway, he hadn't received the hard copy of the ultrasound results yet, but he indicated that the hospital would have called had anything been out of the ordinary, so I'm clear for another four weeks. I'm done with my antibiotics, and aside from some annoying carpal tunnel pain in my left arm, I feel terrific. I'm SO looking forward to this weekend.

So I suppose any of you who actually care know that Sai Gunturi won the National Spelling Bee. I'm always happy to see a repeat contestant win, although I have to admit that I was pulling for JJ Goldstein, who tied for third, because I read an article in the NY Times Magazine a few months back about her family (article abstract appears there), and I felt really sorry for her.

She comes from one of these obsessive "Bee Families," and it just seemed from the article that none of the kids were even remotely happy about spelling. For lack of a better term, her parents really seemed like stage parents, who are trying to live vicariously through their children.

Anyway, my new hero is this wee guy, who also tied for third, and who was just so adorable and incredibly smart that I hope he's back next year. Oh, yeah. He's NINE. He's in THIRD GRADE. And his best subject isn't even spelling.

I wasn't sure if Dave had posted the image yet, but it appears to be up now -- you can see a lovely profile shot of the baby here, if you're interested.

And because I know you haven't yet had enough of my Bee coverage, here's a story about the contestant from my home area who participated as the winner of the Times Herald Bee, the same contest I won in 1983. Unfortunately, he won't be advancing to the final rounds today.

And here are the results from Round Two. Cripes, they eliminated 91 more kids in this round! Only 84 will move on to the finals tomorrow, which will be shown live on ESPN.

Round One is over. 76 spellers were eliminated, and 175 move on to the written round.

We had our ultrasound this morning, and the baby appears to be doing very well. Weight is at 9 ounces, and all other measurements are at or around target for 19 weeks gestation.

Oh, and it's a girl. :)

...and as if the week hadn't been lousy enough, I ended up in the ER again tonight. Thankfully, everything is OK with the baby, and it appears that all of the problems are the result of a urinary tract infection. I'm on a strong dose of amoxicillin for the next few days, and hopefully the drugs will knock it out. Enough, already.

I am just a miserable fucking wretch today. I managed to get about half of my clean clothes sorted, upstairs, and hung up, and then decided that I really wanted to go see Spellbound. For those of you who don't know me well, I actually participated in the National Spelling Bee in 1983, when I was in eighth grade, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Although I obviously didn't win (I placed 18th of 137 competitors, I think!), I got to meet a bunch of great kids, got a private tour of the White House, and had a private audience in the Rose Garden with then-President Ronald Reagan.

Thus, this time of year always brings out the Bee nostalgia. The bee runs this week, with the actual spelling occurring on Wednesday and Thursday. ESPN will be carrying the final rounds live on Thursday afternoon.

Anyway, a documentary was made almost three years ago about the Bee, following eight kids as they maneuvered through the process and as they participated in the actual competition. I've been waiting and waiting for the movie to open somewhere in the area, and, lo and behold, it's now playing at the art theater right around the corner.

Dave dropped me off at about 2:20 for the 2:40 matinee, and as I entered the lobby, I noticed that there were kids everywhere. Bad sign. Then, I heard the box office clerk making the announcement that the 2:40 and 4:50 shows were already sold out. DAMMIT.

I'm really, really disappointed. I'm tired of this area, where you have to plan days in advance to see a movie. I'm going to try and see it later in the week, although I don't know when. For now, though, I'm drowning my sorrows in a nap.

I am so happy that I don't have to go back to work until tomorrow, even though it's cold and pouring rain here today. I have about a ton of laundry to wash and hang up, and I just generally think I need some more rest. All of this travelling has been harder than I thought it would be, and I still have two more short trips in June before I get to stay home for a while.

I was hoping to get at least one day of sunshine out of this weekend, but it doesn't appear that that is meant to be. The weather certainly isn't helping my mood, either. Don't get me wrong -- I'm very excited about the baby, and especially about our ultrasound on Wednesday, but I've just had a rough couple of weeks. Work isn't going the way I'd like it to, and I feel like I've been busting my butt there for two years with no sense of where my career is going. Couple that with the ER visit and a bad weekend with my dad, and you can understand why my spirits are a bit low.

I'm going to try to take it easy today -- I definitely need to go to the grocery store, but other than that, I think I'm going to just stay home and put my feet up.

I'm finally back at home after a whirlwind of a week. After the bad work news of Monday, my whole department hauled down to Philly on Tuesday, where I started to not feel very well. Things got worse, even after a nice dinner on Tuesday, and by Wednesday afternoon, I called my doctor, who advised me to go to the ER.

Long story short, everything was fine -- I was a bit dehydrated and had some serious round ligament pain, but nothing that water and rest wouldn't fix. My wonderful paralegal gave up dinner and a show to accompany me to the hospital and to keep me giggling most of the time there, which was nice, since the remainder of my department didn't bother to call or check in until the next morning. Nice.

Anyway, the week was long and tiring, and I was very glad to see Dave when he arrived Friday night, just after the Devils advanced again to the Stanley Cup finals. We scored some tickets to game 5 next week, had a lovely anniversary dinner at one of our favorite spots, and were shocked when my parents presented us with a video camera as an anniversary present.

I am SO GLAD that tomorrow is a holiday. I'm exhausted and a bit sad about work, and I have a ton of laundry to do and to put away.

I'm getting ready to head down to Philadelphia for three and a half days with my department. While I had been looking forward to the trip, yesterday's news really put a damper on the whole thing. I'm trying to look on the bright side and commit to enjoying myself, but damn, it's going to be hard.

At least I have the weekend to look forward to. Dave is joining me on Friday at the hotel for Friday night, and then we have our first anniversary dinner on Saturday, with some time with my folks on Sunday. Thank goodness Monday is a holiday. All of this travelling is getting a little bit old, and it's not nearly over yet.

The Supreme Court ruled today that Maine can implement its law designed to reduce prescription drug prices for the poor and uninsured.

The pharmaceutical industry had argued that the state law interferes with constitutional protection of interstate commerce by making them offer deep discounts to eligible Maine citizens.

A lower court federal judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing the law from taking effect. But the Supreme Court said the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a drug industry trade group that challenged the law, had failed to adequately justify the injunction.

The majority opinion, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, stopped short of providing a complete endorsement of the law. He said further proceedings will decide the program's validity, and the drug industry still could end up prevailing.

Today? Today is not a good day.

I hate these kinds of days generally, where you've been out of the office for a few days and you're turning around and heading right back out again, but today? Today my boss blindsided me with an announcement that made my head spin.

I'm upset, I'm angry, and I'm disappointed.

I'm back in one piece from Colorado, where my meeting was boring but the hotel was lovely, as usual. I have a few stories to tell, but right at this moment I need to run out and buy a new suitcase for my trip to Philly this week.

Important note of the week: My AFP/Quad Screen results came back completely normal. I am absolutely overjoyed.

Cute Bob Guiney, who made Bachelorette Trista Rehn laugh but got booted anyway, will be ABC's next Bachelor.

Also, Trista and Ryan will tie the knot on the air, according to Entertainment Tonight.

A San Francisco attorney has filed suit to ban the sale of Oreo cookies to children in California, claiming that trans fat is so dangerous that children shouldn't eat it.

Stephen Joseph filed the suit in Marin County Superior Court last week against Nabisco.

Sorry, Klingon interpreters. You're going to have to look elsewhere for suitable employment.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners has warned bar officials in 48 states that the scores of all students who took the February multistate portion of the test are being recalculated because of a clerical error.

No credit was given for a correct answer on one multiple-choice question because of a "keying error" during the scoring process. As a result, people who passed the bar exam by a narrow margin may actually have failed. On the other hand, officials said, some people who appeared to have failed may actually have passed.

I don't even know how to describe this one. The headline speaks for itself.

The 2003 Tony Award nominations were announced this morning. I think this might be the first time in the last five or six years that I have seen not a single production nominated. Being that we live twenty minutes from midtown Manhattan, I'm embarrassed.

A federal judge has approved a criminal fine of $5.6 million against Bayer Corp. as part of a settlement to resolve allegations it overcharged the government insurance program for the poor for two of its drugs.

Bayer agreed last month to plead guilty to violating the Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act and to pay the criminal fine for overcharges involving its antibiotic Cipro and its high blood pressure drug Adalat.

A judge has ruled that the Moorestown high school senior I mentioned previously must be named sole valedictorian of her class. U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson said school officials violated Hornstine's civil rights by engaging in a "strange and relentless" effort to discredit her achievement. It's a classic case of discrimination, Wolfson said in her Camden courtroom.

I can't believe it's Saturday again, already.

This week was sort of a blur, mostly because work was crazy, Dave was away, and I was kitten-sitting. I'm looking forward to a weekend of nothing but domestic bliss. Oh, and hockey, of course.

Things are good. I hit 16 weeks this past Wednesday, and the nausea that had been haunting me seems to have, for the most part, passed. I'm in maternity clothes now, not really because I'm that big, but because by the end of the day I can't stand anything constricting my tummy area. I had my quad screen yesterday, and should know those results toward the end of next week.

The next two weeks promise to be crazy, as well. I'm heading to Colorado Springs on Wednesday for a two-day conference, and then the following Tuesday my whole department trucks down to Philadelphia for four days.

Our first anniversary is that weekend, so Dave will be joining me in the city Friday night, and then we'll be celebrating with a dinner at one of our favorite places on Saturday. I'm so happy that our anniversary falls on a holiday weekend, so at least I get most of Sunday and all of Monday to recover from the traveling.

The kittens went home last night, bigger, fatter, and using the litter box appropriately, of which I am very proud. It appears that Dave's boss may be keeping them, which means that I'll get to visit. I'm happy about that.

Anyway, I'm off to start some errands. I want to get everything done before the traffic kerfuffles start, since it's a nice day and everyone and their mother will be on the roadways.

It seems to me that this writer might be projecting his bitterness about the Flyers' loss onto Martin Brodeur, just a wee tad bit.

I just got my first Mother's Day card, from the two lovely ladies who sit at our front desk. I didn't know that they had cards specifically for moms-to-be! They're just such sweet people.

Kitten cam is in effect, at least for the next hour or so.

I just got a message from our outside counsel that we lost a change of venue motion. To say that I am disappointed would be an incredible understatement. I'm sad.

And behold! CBS has announced the teams for The Amazing Race 4! The premiere will be a 90-minute special on May 29 at 8 pm.

Dave and his boss are heading to Massachusetts for a couple of days, so I've currently got these cuties living in my guest room. They're just intolerably adorable. Feeding them with the bottle is interesting; it'll be even more interesting tonight when I get to feed both of them all by myself. Wish me luck!

The phones here at PharmaCo have Caller ID, and for the most part it works pretty well. I also tend to avoid answering the phone if I don't recognize the number, or if it's one of the rare calls that comes in with the ubiquitous "7098" that marks some random call.

This afternoon, I've received approximately 20 calls, about three minutes apart, from a "7098" number. I'm not answering them, because I don't know who it is, and because THEY KEEP CALLING AND WON'T LEAVE VOICEMAIL.

God, people. LEAVE A DAMN MESSAGE.

A New Jersey teenager who had A-plus grades in four of her five courses and a 1570 SAT score is suing her school district in federal court because it wants to name her co-valedictorian with two other students.

Blair Hornstine, whose father is a Superior Court judge and who plans to study law after finishing undergraduate studies at Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Princeton, or Cornell, says that being forced to share the honor with students with lesser grades would detract from her accomplishments.

She has also filed notice to sue the district saying that the dispute has humiliated her. She is asking for $200,000 in compensatory and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

Her school district looks at the disagreement another way: Because of an immune deficiency, Hornstine is classified as a disabled student and has taken a class load that doesn't include physical education and involves her spending part of her school day studying at home.

The two other Moorestown High School seniors with nearly perfect grades could not match her grade-point average, officials said, because classes like gym receive less weight in calculating the GPA.

I am so glad that this week is almost over. So what's been going on in Heatherland?

Monday -- kitchen remodeling was supposed to commence. The guys didn't show up, resulting in much whining on my part (the entire contents of the kitchen had been moved to the dining room in preparation for this) and consternation on Dave's part. After a bit of wrangling, the remodelers agreed to show up on Wednesday, and we got a little bit of money off of our price for the inconvenience.

We also had a doctor's appointment with my new OB, as I mentioned. Yay, baby heartbeat!

Tuesday -- catching up on the insane number of emails received while I was off on Monday, and meetings, meetings, meetings.

Wednesday -- the remodelers finally arrive, and I spend most of the evening upstairs because of the dust, eating takeout food. Hockey, of course, too. Oh, and Ruth was born!

Thursday -- the cabinets are in and GORGEOUS, and most of the countertops are done. My boss and most of the management team are in Hawaii on a reward trip, so I get caught up on a ton of work while the phone and email are relatively quiet.

It takes me an hour and a half to get home, and by the time I get there, round ligament pain has reared its ugly head again, so I watch Survivor and hit the sack early.

Today -- Same thing, really. I got in very early so that I can leave around 4:30; we're going to see the new baby tomorrow, and I need to pick up a few giftie type things for that, as well as do massive amounts of laundry. I'm in that weird in-between phase where my regular pants don't fit, and the maternity clothes are still swimming on me. This leaves me with mostly track pants as my weekend wardrobe, which is not ideal.

Anyway, everything is good. I didn't sleep very well last night, but that's not really a problem, as it's the weekend tomorrow, and I can relax in the car on the way to PA. I'm so excited to see Ruth!