2008-05-12 - 3:29 p.m.

...the scoop on the monday after mother's day....

It's Monday again. Wow. I was talking with K yesterday and I told him that with Susi around, I find that the weekends aren't nearly long enough. I cannot imagine having to go back to work already today, because the weekend is still not long enough for me to recover from the week. K pointed out that this is why we have something called maternity leave. We both agreed that it is also a great thing that I am returning to work slowly - two days per week are providing me with the first adjustment to the full force that will hit me this fall!

Today I went out to lunch again with Loo, Roo, Kerry, and Kris - four moms who have become friends. Loo is the glue that brought and held us together - she is scheduled to have her C-section on Thursday and so this might be her last day out in a while. So wonderful for her that she is still coming out - she looked wonderful. I learn something new every time this group meets up - someone has already gone through and reviewed some new baby device, saving me the trouble of having to do it. Alternatively, I learn some great new trick for dealing with things like teething. Plus we get these discussions all out of the way while we're just a bevvy of moms, and no one has to be bored by us. I love it.

One person who is sadly missing from the group is Micha. Her baby is still staying up all night and sleeping all day, and so Micha is still cocooning. I hope that's all it is. I never got a call back from my invitation to go out last week, and I called again today to see if she needed anything or wanted to go for a walk. No reply. I'm still worried. It's clear that at 3 months her baby still hasn't figured out the difference between night and day. I'm seriously biting my tongue when I see her, because I see her creating habits that are likely to exacerbate all of the sleeping issues she is experiencing with her baby. But it's so completely not my place to tell her - or ANYONE - what to do. And given that I'm not there 24 hours/day, she really just doesn't need my advice on this one. She is raising her baby her way. Part of me is still worried, though, that it is a larger post-partum issue. It's frustrating because I would like to do something for her. Still, it must get annoying to have me calling her all the time. I feel like a telemarketer...

Hmmm, what else is new? The 'rents just came back from Australia/New Zealand last week. They are full of wonderful stories of their adventures there. I want to be my parents when I'm retired. They have gone EVERYWHERE. They are now looking into a trip to Peru. How incredible is that?

K spent all last week cutting videos of Susi for his mother, who has a birthday this week. K had no idea what to get for her...and as we discussed it together we came up with the idea of just preparing a website with photos and videos of their grandchild for Oma and Opa. Turns out that cutting videos is a rather involved and tedious affair. It took forever, and K was up most of last night in order to have it finished by today. We called this morning to wish her a happy birthday...only to discover that her birthday is TOMORROW. Well, the good thing is that the fake deadline insured that K was finished in time! And we can just revamp the text a little bit and use the same videos for MY mother, whose birthday is next month. Very cool.

Hmmm...and is there more? Yes. This weekend, I was inspired by marn to join her 'going nowhere' club - clocking all of the miles that I walk. At the same time, I started keeping an online food journal. Breastfeeding has driven my eating habits OUT THE WINDOW. When around me it's pretty much safest to "KEEP YOUR HANDS AND FEET AWAY FROM THE MOUTH" because this lady is EATING EVERYTHING. I'm not all that keen on diets. But already I've found that monitoring my intake fairly closely has caused me to modify my choices. As in, do I really want to eat that third muffin, or perhaps I should have an apple instead....It's also forced me to monitor my levels of activity. Have I really spent the last 48 hours sitting on the couch??? Perhaps it's time for me to get outside for a little walk through the neighborhood.. So thank you, marn, for your "going nowhere" inspiration.

And thanks also, Bluey, for offering up a few suggestions about running. I hadn't even entertained the idea quite yet, but I may do it very soon. It felt so good last Spring.

There's still more to talk about here - I'm about to go online and start thinking about doing some big financial shenanigans - in terms of moving funds from the USA to Canada. Oh lordy, just wish me luck...Details later.