No sleep, caffeine, less sleep, more caffeine....

That is a cycle and it sure is hard to beat.  This week has been especially hard on the sleep cycle.  It started on Sunday when I was up WAY too late getting ready for the week.  I "get ready" for the week so that I'm not up so late during the week packing lunches, etc.  It kind of defeats the purpose if I stay up late on Sunday and then never get a chance to catch up.  Then I'm tired all week, even when I don't have a bunch of things to do.

After being awake until almost midnight on Sunday (this is tragic, since I get up at 4:30am on Mondays) and getting woken up at least four times by Evan, I was TIRED Monday morning.  So I broke my caffeine-free habit and made regular coffee.  Big mistake.  Caffeine is a downhill spiral, in my opinion, especially when you are breastfeeding.  And you hardly ever drink caffeine.

He sleeps so well from 4am-8am...not sure what happens between 8pm and 4am.

Come Monday night, I was wide awake so stayed up late again.  Evan didn't sleep well either.  Tuesday morning?  Another cup of coffee.  And the cycle goes on.  Yup, except I didn't relate Evan not sleeping to the coffee until yesterday.  I'm not 100% sure it's the reason he's not sleeping, but I know it probably played a small role.  He's also teething and today his nose starting running - so those two things make it much harder for him to sleep too.

Sometimes Evan just has to go to jail...except he thinks it's fun,
so it's a good thing I don't use it as a punishment!

It is hard to get my work done if I'm exhausted though, and I have a lot of work these days so I need to be as awake as possible.  However, caffeine doesn't seem to be the best solution - since it really just makes me tired the rest of the week too.  I guess I'll try to catch up on sleep this weekend and then try and start the week out better.  Haha - not sure how possible that is, but it's worth a try.

And can I just tell you this embarrassing story that happened at work??  My boss was walking around introducing his former mentor who was visiting the DC area.  He comes into my office to introduce her and I stand up, shake her hand, and she says...wow, you've got a lot going on in here...while looking at my desk.  I thought she was commenting on how messy my desk was, until I followed her gaze and realized she was looking at my breast pump!  Yikes!  I usually just leave it on my desk because the cord is hanging onto its last string and if I move it, it may not work again.  Plus, no one ever really comes to our offices so it's rare to get a visitor.  I was so embarrassed though.  I couldn't tell if my boss was annoyed at me for having my pump sitting out for the entire world to see, but he didn't say anything.  I didn't really need him to though, I put it out of view two seconds after they left.  I don't think breastfeeding is anything to be ashamed of, but I definitely don't feel like it's super professional to have my pump and its parts sitting all over my desk.  We all wear underwear but I sure don't want to go into my co-worker's office and see a pair of her underwear on her desk!  Ok - so my pump isn't quite that bad, but I had to work really hard at keeping my face from going completely red and keeping my composure!

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Any decaf coffee drinkers out there??

What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you this week??

It’s a Bit Chilly mixed in with randomness

This morning I woke up and it was SNOWING.  Yay!!  It was the perfect amount – enough to make everything white and sparkling, but not enough to make me stress about getting to work.  Here is a picture from my office.

Ok, that is a view from my office building, not my office. 

This is the view from my office…at least I have a window, right?  Maybe?  Who wants to stare at a brick wall.  And actually, I never have the blinds open because I am terrified that I will one day forget to close them while I’m pumping and the people in that office across the alley will be able to see me.  How humiliating would that be????

But back to the snow.  I only like a ton of snow on the weekends, on vacation, or if it’s going to be enough to close the government.  That only happened during Snowpalooza 2010.  It was awesome – the government closed for almost two weeks and since we follow the government, we closed for almost two weeks.

This small amount of snow didn’t close the government.  Or my office.  So off to work I went.  It has been freezing though.  I know you people who live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or Montana or Alaska are probably giving me mean looks when I say it’s been freezing, but here in Maryland a temperature of 13 degrees is freezing (and scientifically speaking it’s freezing too).  The other day the wind chill was –6.  That’s cold.

I had to bundle myself up (and take the token photo in my office bathroom) and even where a hat.  It has to be really cold for me to wear a hat.

It was also too cold for me to go running.  I don’t have running clothes for –6 degrees.  I don’t even know what those running clothes would be.  How would you prevent frostbite on your nose?  No clue.

In this cold weather, I have learned a few things.

1. My work shoes are not meant for cold weather.  My toes freeze waiting for the bus.  No wonder people have boots.
2. My work pants are really thin and the cold air seeps right through them turning my legs bright red.
3. I am super happy that I got a real winter coat last year for Christmas.  It is Under Armour (my favorite) and it keeps me really warm.
4. Those duraflame logs may look pretty but they don’t provide any heat whatsoever.

That’s all I’ve learned.

Hope you’re keeping warm wherever you are!!!

 

Do you like cold weather or warm weather?

Do you have a fireplace?  Real wood or duraflames?

The Return to Work

Ok, I know it's been a long time since I posted.  The last few weeks of maternity leave flew by and I was busy spending as much time with baby Evan as possible.  I still can't believe he's three months old and I am back at work.  Boo.

Loving the bumbo!

Returning to work was hard and easy at the same time.  My sister was watching him when I first went back and since I knew she loved him and would take good care of him, I wasn't super worried dropping him off.  However, I was still sad.  It is hard thinking that he is going to grow up with someone else watching him and taking care of him.  I didn't have a baby so someone else could raise him.  Unfortunately we don't have enough money for me to stay home (and I make most of the money anyway, so I would definitely not be the one staying home), but I would do it in a minute if we did.

Going back to work wasn't quite so bad though.  I like my work and I like the people I work with, so it could be worse.  The minute I got back in line at the bus stop, it felt like I had never left.  I turned the lights on in my office and it was like nothing changed.  I slipped back into work mode super easily and the only adjustment is the fact that I have to pump all the time.  Other than that, it felt like I had never left and that nothing had changed.

My first week back was a bit stressful, I admit.  I had to get a presentation done to present at a legal conference in Chicago and then I had to fly out to Chicago on Thursday to present it.  And while I was there, my sister went into labor and gave birth to a little girl 30 minutes before I got off the plane.  And then I had a site visit by the CDC for my grant on Friday morning.  Yikes!  It was hard enough getting up at 4:30am to go to work, let alone flying to Chicago and back in one day, and preparing for site visits and presentations.  It all worked out though and I recovered on the weekend.

This is what I wanted to do, but Evan beat me to it!

I did relax a bit on Saturday, but then spent Sunday cooking and cleaning.  I made Creamy Chicken Soup and Oven Baked Chimichangas for my sister (so she has some food for those first few days after giving birth) and then Sopa de Frijoles for my husband.  Then I put our Christmas tree up (it's super tiny, a mere 2ft tall) and our holiday decorations (an advent calendar my mom made us and two stockings).  I also did a load of lights, darks, towels, baby clothes, and diapers.  Lots of laundry!!!

And now the weekend is over and the work week is about to start again.

Who wouldn't want to spend all day with me???

And Evan gets to spend the days with his father, since my sister isn't watching him right now.  I'm jealous!

Goodbye Office!

Friday was my last day going to work, until December.  Crazy to think about.  I am still working from home this week (not today, since it's a holiday), but I won't get to see anyone.  And I won't actually be in DC.  It feels so weird, to be honest.  I realize I could be sitting in my house for another three weeks before the baby comes, but I just didn't want to risk it.  I commute an hour and twenty minutes to work in the morning and an hour and 45 minutes home - and the idea of being in labor while on the bus or so far from home wasn't very appealing.  It is much more comfortable at home.

I will miss my office though.

A view of my office - with my alley window - do you see how close
the people across the alley are!

Here's a view of my office from the door.  It looks super neat and tidy but I snapped these pictures on my way out the door so I had cleaned it up before I left.  The mess that I was working on came with me (so I can finish it up at home) and then I put everything else away so that it didn't look like a disaster zone for the next three months.  It doesn't always look like a disaster zone, but occassionally the papers pile up and get scattered everywhere.  Check out the photos on the wall - those are little cow photos my mom took.  I brought them to work because I spend more time there than at home, but for the next three months I guess that won't be true.

Another view of the office

Here's the side view.  And yes, I do have stuffed animals on my desk.  They give my office a bit of character.  I have one of the funnest decorated offices in the building, I'm sure.  I just figured I spend so much time here that I wanted it to be as comfy and homey as possible.  So I have a ton of photos and knicknacks that remind me of all the people I love and the things I care for right at my fingertips.  I just got this new office in January, so I'm quite happy with it.  My last office was really big but the front part was used to store boxes and files so it was a bit crazy in there. This office is smaller but it's all mine and I like it much better.  Plus, it has a window - a hot commodity in any office building!

Ok - that about it.  I guess this post is pretty appropriate since it's Labor Day and this is where I normally labor.  In the next few weeks I'll be laboring in a completely different way though!  Haha - I can't tell you how many people have made that joke - about how funny it would be if I went into labor on Labor Day.  Yeah, I don't think it's gonna happen, but we still have today!

Hope your weekend has been going well and you're enjoying your extra day off (if you're lucky enough to get it)!