In the Weeds

As I looked ahead at the events on the calendar in September, I put my eye on the Costume Swap as the "just make it to... " marker. Unfortunately, the work crazy of September only got worse in October and it turns out that the Costume Swap was the least of our insanity. On top of my standard workload, my work team picked up two new assignments that need to be done by the end of the year, I found myself on the schedule for THREE professional conferences this month (thankfully 2 in Bend), and I need to squeeze in a 2 day training in Portland. It's all great opportunities, but sometimes even a pile of good can be overwhelming.

Scott's work is no more busy than usual - the standard 50 hour work week, but he's been trying to ramp up his bike training the Big Fat Tour this weekend. His training got temporarily sidelined by a busted elbow that thankfully has healed in time for him to embark on 150 miles of trail over the next 3 days. Throw in one 3am wake up for a fishing trip (no bites) and a few day trips to Portland for work, and we have a few weeks where it looks like we will just be ships passing in the night.

In the midst of all that, we started the month suddenly wrestling with some challenging decisions regarding both our work situations that have major implications for our whole family. While the situations are not totally unexpected, the magnitude seems larger than we had anticipated and it's certainly an unwelcome TIME to be figuring this all out.

We are in the weeds.

I have had more than my standard share of weepy moments these last few weeks. But even in the weeds, life keeps marching. And that means that the rhythms of our weeks bring us back to playgroup, book club, dinners with friends, and laughter over beer. In each of those encounters, I'm reminded how blessed we are to have the people around us providing wise council, encouragement, and simply a listening ear.

My new "just make it to..." date is Halloween. We should have more certainty by then, but for now we wrestle and wonder and hope and pray and try to trust.... and get up tomorrow to do it all over again.

Hooray Me!

Since mom's don't get enough cheers. This week, I've been saying "Hooray Me!" I want to give myself a pat on the back for making it through 6 months of breastfeeding. It has not been an easy road, but my goal from the beginning was to reach 6 months - and we did it!! This is a significant mommy milestone. I feel like I should get to eat cake and throw confetti. Hooray Me!

I just want to say that the breastfeeding proponents DO NOT do a good job of preparing you for how challenging it is to be a pumping mom. They say, "Get a good pump; you'll have to pump as often as the baby would eat." Lie! I find that I would need to pump twice for each bottle Owen takes, and my other working mom friends have had similar experiences. Owen takes 2 bottles at daycare, but I pump 3 times/day at work and still supplement with frozen milk from our freezer. Now that we've reached 6 months, I'm going to cut back and just pump twice a day at work. We'll use up what's stored in the freezer (probably another month) and then Owen can start taking one formula bottle a day.

Eventually, I'd like to get to nursing just morning and night, but we'll see what happens. For now... HOORAY ME!

Work More = Less Stress??

Is it possible that working more hours in the office could reduce my stress level? Two weeks ago, I switched my schedule from alternating days in the office and at home. Now, I’m working 3 days in the office and then just a couple hours at home on Thursdays. It's reduced my stress level quite a bit because:
- I know I'm getting my work done and not trying to lug my files and laptop back and forth every day.
- I’m leaving the office a half hour earlier on the days I do work, so I’m racing to get to daycare on time.
- We LOVE our daycare, so it doesn't worry me that Owen’s spending a bit more time there. In some ways, I feel the interaction with other kids may be good for him.
- When I’m home with Owen, he gets to be my focus. On Thursdays, I can get my work done during his naps.

It seems to work for us to settle into our work routine for 3 days at a time and then enjoy 4 days at home. I really feel for those moms that have to work full time or don’t have a flexible employer. How do they do it? No matter how you look at it, being a working mom is HARD.

Back to Work

I started back to work this week. It's been...interesting. My week was focused on preparing for two presentations - one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. In some ways, it was nice not to have to do any project work this week (I've put off checking in with my project managers until Monday - then the real work will begin). On the other hand, there's nothing like forcing you back into mindset like standing up in front of 60 people and trying to speak coherently about a technical report you wrote. Plus, I ended up working in the office an extra day because my laptop was getting repaired. Thankfully, both presentations went well.

My mom has been here this week helping out, which is a huge blessing. She picked Owen up early from daycare each day, helped walk the dog, and stocked our fridge. She also baby-sat this morning while I presented at the workshop. I think next week will be easier because I can work my normal schedule:
Monday and Wednesday will be full days in the Office
Tuesday and Thursday will be half days from Home

I have to say that being at work is no where NEAR as fun or fulfilling as spending my day watching Owen explore the world. It's a real bummer to only get to see him for 45 minutes in the morning and two hours at night. For now, we're committed to giving this work schedule a chance. We'll see how it goes...