over the river and through the woods...

...to grandmother's house she goes. So I started my new job today. I have been working since Sept. but this was my return to the up early- out the door in the dark-home in the dark work world. First let me say, that I LOVE my new job. I get to be the counselor for all the students that I had previously been a teacher for. Since I think I am a much better counselor then teacher, it works out well. Nothing better then manically running from one group of wayward teens to the next. I think the highlight of my day(at least the part that made me giggle the most) was (earmuffs boys) using the carjack attachment to my breastpump and pumping on my drive from one site to the other, including the tacobell drive-thru. I told you it made me giggle! I did have a cover on- so it was decent and very discreet, but still funny. So back to the title of this entry- So since I returned to work Baba (aka -joanne, pat's mom) has selflessly volunteered to watch Rory for the 2 days a week. One day at her house on the west side (hence over the river she goes) and one day at our house. So this was her first day of being away from me for more then 4 hours at a time, and I think she did better then me. I was a little meloncholy this morning. As I woke our snoring 70 year old man, oh wait-10 month old baby girl (she just sounds like a 70 year old man) from a sound sleep, got her settled in her car seat and sent her out the door into the cold windy morning with her dad I had pangs of sadness, guilt, remorse, doubt, and worry-she stuck out her tongue at me, smiled a huge smile and was happy as a clam to be going on a daddy adventure. this was 6:45am. I spent approx. 3 minutes acknowledging these feelings when it suddenly hit me- I was alone in the house. For those of you who aren't moms or parents you probably can't realize the feelings of freedom one can feel in this instant. I literally did a happy dance and then starting the manic-in my head list of all the things I could get done in the next 45 minutes. I prioritized and decided to ignore all house duties and nagging projects and focus solely on getting ready. I managed to brush my teeth and hair in the same day(something that has eluded me up to this point in my parenthood), put on make-up (ok, just mascara- but is still counts), put on clothes that match and were for the most part free of baby residue, find matching socks, pack a bag for myself including food that wasn't pureed. Basically it was a thing of beauty. I could go on and on to describe my day in such detail, but I am running out of time and I am sure you are not nearly as amused by my feats of independance as I am. In the end, I had a fabulous day, my job is great, I was able to focus only on work w/o worrying a single minute about rory. From all reports rory had an amazing day, met a friend(and held hands) at starbucks, was fed homemade organic food, had music/dance time, had arts and craft time, and essentially will be a more well-rounded, smarter kid for getting a little variety in her week. I am so thankful that we have so many wonderful caretakers around for her and that I get the opportunity to miss her. Good night.... Brittany