Back At Work

There are so many things I want to write about that I easily get frozen. Because the truth of my life right now (outside of my paid work) is that if I can't get it done in five minute chunks it's probably not going to get done. And so I haven't been writing.

But I'm taking inspiration from a friend from church (thanks, Aubrey) and will start updating once a week, even briefly, even just half-formed thoughts. Because I'm reminded that even 5 minutes work on the things I love moves me further along on them (and this blog is one of those things).

So here are the notes on the homefront this week...

Champ's sleep schedule, so promising at first and even into the second month, has been disintegrating since he hit two months and then especially when I went back to work. But we have started sleep training this week and it looks like things are beginning to turn around.

I had crazy ambitious running plans based on the first runs after returning to work, but then lack of sleep caught up with me and I've had to scale things way back. Right now I'm committing to NOT making any plans until I get to the end of April and can more realistically assess where I'm at. I'm aided in this by a twingy tendon that needs to be treated gently NOW and not later if I'm going to get to run at all.

My quilting is continuing, albeit oh so slowly. As long as it's continuing. And I've started reading art books on the way in to work again, so my brain feels as if it's coming back alive as well. Oh so slowly.

But this weekend is Easter weekend and Nana is coming to town. The boys will be over the moon which makes me happy (plus I like spending time with my mother-in-law) and I should even get some time to myself here and there. All hail quiet time!

Obsessed Again

So, back at work now for a couple of weeks, and Champ is at daycare. Which, because it's all about me, means that I am running enough again to think about training and races and the like. And think about it and think about it and think about it. Ahhhhh...

More Inspiration

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

--- George Eliot

Collecting Resources

From an essay on the works of Willis 'Bing' Davis, artist and community activist:

"For Davis, transforming the world around requires vision... Vision requires the active use of imagination --- the imagination to see value in all things as well as all persons and places. The artist teaches that each individual can develop this perceptual sensitivity through the practice of reclaiming value in discarded resources."

--- Judith Huacuja

"Marking the Past, Shaping the Present: The Art of Willis 'Bing' Davis"

On A Mild Winter's Day...

A boy and his dirt.

Got some more snow and cold yesterday but it will be gone by midweek. I have been so grateful for this warm winter, at home with new babe. And as much as Buddy loves the snow, he was very happy for the return of his "garden" (the courtyard of our apartment building). I'm just sad we don't have a real garden of our own for him, especially as he makes more and more elaborate plans for it (that he's now old enough to remember). Luckily they have gardens at school that they plant in.

A Quiet Moment

Baby sleeping (in the crib!), and all phone calls / emails / visits regarding childcare done for the week... a moment to breathe and relax.

Oh, the baby was sleeping...

Lay of the Land

Status report from the great Midwest... snow. First real snow of the season. Thick enough to be pretty (for a while), but not so thick (or icy, or blowy, or slushy) to be a huge nuisance... yet. At least not to those of us traversing it by foot. I can't speak for those who have to dig out cars or on unplowed streets, which is a perennial problem here in Chicago (not all neighborhoods receive equal attention, and yes, a mayor has been voted out in the past because of this).

Most of the visitors have left (one more trip this weekend). So I am home with the baby. Who is easy... if I am right with him at all times, including naps. When carrying him everywhere gets to be too much he will sleep in a front carrier, but that still leaves me with a limited range of motion, and an aching back. Well, this will pass quickly enough.

What I am also hoping will pass relatively quickly is his big brother's upset, expressed mostly in potty "accidents" and playing at being a baby (lying down, "crying") when faced with something he'd rather not do. Like sit at the table. Or brush his teeth. Or any one of the daily activities of life.

I hold on to two phrases I've been told... one, that as hard as this transition is for Buddy, in the end a younger brother is a gift to him as well as to us. And two, that by the time we get to next Christmas, not only will things be easier all around, but Buddy won't remember what it was ever like to not have Champ in his life.

The other thing I hope will feel easier by next Christmas is the work/childcare equation. Right now we are faced with not having a place for Champ at daycare until September. I had been scheduled to go back to work in five weeks. Uffda. So we're looking for a nanny-sharing deal, while continuing to cross our fingers that some member of The Dude's family might be able to come live with us in our already tight quarters and take care of Champ during that time. I've requested a month's additional personal leave so that we have 1) more time to find something, 2) Champ is a bit older, and 3) we have one less month of care to pay for. We have talked about what our alternatives might be... but I don't feel like giving voice to them here, not yet.

Small pleasures in my life right now... I started running again last week, which makes me very happy. I bundle Champ up and place him in The Green Monster (a ginormous "all-terrain" stroller that can pass for a running stroller if I don't go too fast) and go carefully and slowly through the neighborhood, alternating walking and jogging --- he sleeps, I get out and feel like myself, good news all around.

And I've been baking bread for church, for communion, just a plain whole wheat following a recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book. The recipe I have makes more than is needed for Sundays, so we've been enjoying the extra. It's been easy enough and successful enough that I am thinking of starting to bake bread more often, just for us. Makes me feel productive... saves some money too. Both things I need, the longer I stay home by myself.

Thankfully I do get out everyday and we have been blessed so far with a pretty mild winter. And no one is sick! (Knock wood.)