Diapers and deadlines

When I was 9 days past my due date and I waddled into the Rams Club, I knew it was going to be my last day of work for quite some time.  Although Brady was still ignoring his eviction notices and showing no signs of relocating, I felt I needed to give myself an end date to save my sanity.  While I knew I wouldn't be going back any time soon (yay!), what I didn't know was that I'd never be going back.  Ok, that's not totally true...I've been in to visit and I haven't yet cleared out my office, but yes, I'm not going back!  I'll be a SAHM, in blogspeak.  I have mixed feelings about this decision.  On one hand, I loved my job, and especially the great people I got to work with every day.  There is something to be said about having a start time and and end time to your workday and I always felt a sense of accomplishment on Friday afternoons after surviving another week at the office.  And having a paycheck, even if it's barely large enough to cover the mortgage, is nice.  Oh, and they have a individual coffee maker with lots of fun options.  I'll miss it even more in the Fall when Pumpkin Spice gets ordered.  But as much as I liked my coworkers and coffee, Brady trumps all.  And as much as my office likes him, bringing your baby to work each day is not encouraged.  Luckily, there are some skills I have gained from my work that will crossover to my new job.  Much of my old job was spent on the phone dealing with cranky folks who have nobody to vent their frustrations to except the person on the other line (that would be me).  This has prepared me nicely to deal with Brady's occasional crying. If you're my coworker reading this, I don't need to tell you which one is more difficult to deal with.

There are many women out there who go back to work, either by choice or necessity.  I feel lucky that I had the option.  Since I made my decision, I have felt a burden lifted and I was able to enjoy my maternity leave without counting down the days until I had to drop Brady off at daycare.  My new employer is tough, but he doesn't care if I wear sweats all day and he is cuter than my last boss (sorry John!).  Luckily, I'm not completely breaking free.  I am doing some writing for Tar Heel Monthly.  Lots of pressure!  People come to my blog by choice, so I don't feel bad if I write something uninteresting.  And usually, I have cute pictures to distract from boring content.  People pay to read this other stuff and distracting them with pictures of Brady won't fly.  I had my first real interview today at the football stadium with a few football players.  Tape recorder, note pad, I had it all.  You know the saying "fake it till you make it?"  That was my mantra today and if I stood out, I hope it was only because I had spit-up on my shirt and not because I clearly didn't know what I was doing. 

I am also hoping to stay involved with the Rams Club in some capacity.  No details on that yet, but I am super excited about my new ventures and feel very lucky to have people in my life who are willing to offer me great opportunities.  Needless to say, I do not anticipate Brady and I will be sitting around twiddling our thumbs in the upcoming year and my ability to balance diapers and deadlines may be tested.