Recap

I’ve been away from the blog awhile, for a variety of reasons. I’m simultaneously overwhelmed by everything going on in my life, and also trying hard to take it slower and really enjoy my days. This has meant less screen time, especially during the afternoons when I’m with Darwin. (And when she’s sleeping, I’ve been spending my screen time on Clash of Clans. Not productive, but my brother in law got Rachel and myself into it and now we’re hooked. But at least it interrupted my Candy Crush addiction!). Anyway, I just wanted to check in and give you a recap of what’s been going on with me and my little family, and remind you all of my existence.

I think the most exciting thing I want to share is that we’re planning for Darwin’s first birthday! I can’t believe how fast this year has gone– and at the same time, I think back to her early days and months, and they seem sooooo looooooong ago! I have loved this year to a depth I understood conceptually but never could have imagined in reality. I have had more than one moment where I was so overcome with love for this tiny person that I sat on the floor and held her and cried. The first time she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. Bouncing her to sleep in those early early weeks and gazing down at that perfect, tiny face. This past Sunday morning, listening to a love song and realizing what they were describing was not romantic love at all, but the love I have for my daughter. This first year of motherhood has been hard and exhausting and there have been many tears, but it’s also been truly magical. I can’t wait to celebrate that with Darwin, and our family, and the many friends who have helped us make it this far.

The next thing on my mind is that I’m getting ready to go back to school, and therefore the end of my current job. I’m counting down the days (I get very excited about back to school time!) but it also means I’m ticking through the time I have left at my work. As I’ve mentioned before, this is not my dream job, but it’s been a really good place for me this past year. I love the people, I love feeling valued by my employer, and I love that I’m surrounded by nerds (my boss and her husband, also an attorney at the firm, are big into Star Trek, the office manager is big into videogames, and she, one of the paralegals, the other legal assistant and I are all getting ready to play a game of D&D in a couple of weeks. I’ve never played before, but I love that they’re so into it). Anyway, it’ll be a fun way to wrap up the year I’ve spent with these people, and of course they’ve all been invited to Darwin’s party. Then, I go on contract with the university on the 16th, and start all my various trainings and orientations as a grad student and teaching assistant. I’m teaching online so there’s some extra training there, but it’ll mean a beautifully flexible schedule this term. I’m taking two classes plus internship credits, and since that all meets on the same days, I only *have* to be on campus two days a week. I’ll probably spend more time than that in my office, but it’s nice to have options. I’m looking forward to my classes, Human Adaptation in particular. I won’t pretend I haven’t been reading the textbook before bed at night… Anyway. Yay school!

The last thing that I’m really trying to focus on is being good to my body. I weighed myself the other day and noticed I had lost 4 pounds without even trying, and I didn’t feel like I had even been eating particularly well. Rachel made the point that a mobile baby means a more mobile mama, so that’s probably part of it. We’ve also been going on walks (when the weather isn’t too hot or the air too full of smoke– holy forest fires, Batman!) and generally being pretty active around the house. Anyway, I thought “What if I *tried* being good to my body? What might happen then?” So I’m trying. I’m using some of the health apps on my new fancy phone (I went from a Galaxy S3 that was on its last legs to an S5, so it feels pretty sleek), and have been tracking my heart rate and stress (as calculated using my heart rate). I’ve also started trying to walk 30 minutes a day, plus a 3 week plank challenge. I’m also trying very very hard to eat well, but have been having a hell of a time avoiding sugar lately. I’ve given up on avoiding gluten, but don’t seem to be having any trouble because of it. Anyway, I guess we’ll see what happens. I’m feeling pretty good, no matter what happens, and that’s really the whole point of any of this. 🙂

My knitting is inching along. There isn’t much to show for now, but I’m hoping to have the sweater done in time for Dar’s birthday. I finished the yoke, separated out the sleeve stitches, and am maybe 1/3 of the way through the first sleeve. I plan to do both sleeves and then the body, since I prefer not having all that weight pulling on the sleeves as I knit them. I wanted to do sleeves 2-at-a-time, but my needle wasn’t long enough and I didn’t want to use a different needle since my gauge varies so much by needle type (especially material, but also brand) and I didn’t have any more aluminum needles in that size (I rarely use anything but wood or bamboo, but for some odd reason I chose the metal ones this time). I hate knitting sleeves– even more than I hate knitting the second sock. At least socks have a heel flap and gusset and short rows in the middle to keep it interesting. Sleeves are just long boring tubes. In any case, we’re heading up to Portland on Saturday to see a friend, and if I can convince Rachel to drive then I should be able to get some good knitting time in. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, I think that’s all I have for now. May you all have a gorgeous Thursday. ❤