Back to Work

This was a big week in our house.

Monday was my first day back to work after matenity leave and Raven's first day at daycare.

After a refreshing weekend where I was able to spend quite a bit of time hanging out with my quilting buddies and working on quilting projects at our retreat in Newton, Iowa, I was feeling pretty refreshed Sunday afternoon.

However, then I realized how "on sand" my emotions were; the kitchen sink and dishwasher backed up, some of our plumbing under the sink "exploded", and my whole world came tumbling down.

(Yes, I'm still working on being thankful per last week's post, and yes, I do realize that my life is pretty good and a lot of people have it a lot worse. However, sometimes emotions build up and they have nowhere to go but "out". So please refrain from commenting that my life is good and others have it worse or that I need to be thankful for the good things I have in life... I know that and I am. ;)

After trying a few things, Adam determined we needed a plumber. I called and left a message Sunday night.

Monday proved to be a pretty "good" day in terms of how things went... daycare drop off went well, the plumber called back and promised someone would be out today to look at things, and my doctor's checkup proved me to be fairly healthy. (And hey, I am down ANOTHER 5 lbs! Woohoo! That puts me below "pre-pregnancy" weight and one pound below where I was when I stepped off my "Diet Train" last winter when I found out I was pregnant.)

Raven did really well at daycare on Monday; I think it helps that she is a pretty laid-back baby and pretty much rolls with the flow as long as you kiss her and hug her and love her all over. Julia enjoyed daycare and liked having Raven there with her, and she promptly told anyone within hearing distance of her that there was in fact a "baby" at daycare that day and that it was her baby... about 500 times. (I really hope she starts saying "sister" or "Raven" soon... though I am pretty sure she DOES say "baby sis" from time to time.)

The plumber spent about an hour rooting around and was able to fix the plumbing under the sink and fix the backup issue too. By 4 pm I was able to start loads of dishes again, which was a serious relief. Especially when you realize it is *me* and I was nearly dying having loads and loads of dirty dishes on the counter and sink. Wouldn't you know I had made a meal Sunday night that seemed to use up half the dishes in my house and then I couldn't wash them...? Yuck.

Monday night Adam took Julia for a walk and we had Subway for dinner, since until 3 pm, we had no idea if/when our plumbing would be fixed and I wanted to reduce the number of dishes we would use for dinner... and well, a number of my pots and pans were dirty too. At any rate, we had fun eating subs off of paper plates Monday night, and then enjoyed a lot of good family time that involved Raven swinging and sleeping in the swing and Julia giggling and laughing and being chased around the house by Daddy. It was a good time.

OH. And yesterday? Yesterday Julia said a variation of "Daddy" twice. Crossing fingers that we might finally be moving on from everyone being called, "Mommy" or "Baby"...

Regarding work, I'm back to working with folks I love and have some work that is rather enjoyable as well. As much as it "hurts" to send the kids to daycare, for one, I know that they are truly loved and part of a family there; for two, I know that Julia loves the interaction and loves having little friends; and for three, I am enjoying the "normalcy" that comes from having a job and a schedule and a routine again.

I'm recovered from my gall bladder surgery finally as well. I still have a little tightness in my chest when I take deep breaths, but that comes from also having a cold that started only three days after my surgery. I don't have anymore pain, and my incisions are basically healed. (Though my doctor had to clip off some stitches that were poking out of my incision and keeping one side of my incision from really healing over nicely. That, and well, I asked him too because it was kind of grossing me out to have little threads poking out of my abdomen. Yuck.) I am finally off all extra medications and now am just on my regular vitamins and medications that I normally would be taking.

Also, thanks to nursing, I am losing weight. Yay! I saw a number on the scale this morning that I haven't seen since before I became pregnant with Julia, and that was a great sight to see! (The comments from people have been wonderful fun too... I'll admit it!) This next week I plan to start going back to the gym, which will be good for me physically and mentally... I always find that I have more energy for life when my body is feeling good too... and working out does that! No worries, though... I will know if I am overdoing it or if my home life is suffering for it and will back down when I need to back down... but otherwise, I'm looking forward to it.

That is life in a nutshell right now. The girls are at daycare again today and will be going M-W-F in the forseeable future. I am back to work at around 30 hours a week, which is nice and will be a nice break from not having worked/being paid for 6 weeks. It is hard to believe how quickly around the corner November is approaching, and soon Raven will be 2 months old and Julia will be 2 YEARS old. But, still trying to enjoy each day as it comes instead of focusing too much on the future... there are plans out there, but mostly it is a day-to-day thing around here.

I hope you all are having a good week! God bless!

erin