"Stacking the Deck"

On our long walk through Prospect Park (sleeping baby
eggplant)

Perfect fall day in Prospect Park

This phrase has been stuck in my head all day. It's my strategy for returning to work. I like it because it kind of sounds like I'm cheating, but in a delicious and good way.

So my idea is to try to do everything in my power to make the new life of work and daycare as easy and successful as possible.

One way to do this is to try to be as caught up on life business as much as possible. Toward that end, today we went to the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library to apply for Calliope's passport. I was a little nervous that they would send me to get certified documentation that Calliope doesn't have a missing father lying around somewhere, but the trip went incredibly smoothly. Trying to take a passport-approved photo of an 11 week old was a riot, though!

It was all over so quickly that I decided that "we" would walk all the way home, through beautiful Prospect Park on a gorgeous fall day. And on my way home, I had the brilliant idea that at least some days, rather than getting up extra early to work out before work, I can instead run home instead of taking the subway! It will take me a little time to be strong enough to run the whole way, so to start with I will ride the subway a couple of stops (thus cutting out the unlovely and steep climb down to the Gowanus Canal and up through Park Slope to Prospect Park), but once I'm strong enough to do the whole way on foot (providing my calf injury doesn't flare up again), it shouldn't be any longer than my subway ride home normally is. So not only do I get a workout in while commuting home but also, I don't have to get up an hour early to work out!

Win.

I am also going to try using the hand cranked Wonder.Wash to see if I can avoid trips to the basement laundry room and survive with just our cleaning lady doing our laundry biweekly. The biggest downside is that I have to wring the water out of clothes by hand with the Wonder.Wash, and that may get tiring for my hands very quickly. But I have no idea how to reach into the regular washing machine while wearing my stroller-abhorring baby, so I think this will work out well.

Win.

I'm debating keeping my postpartum doula around for a bit, to be "our" personal chef (since Calliope's breastmilk is produced as a result, I feel like she's cooking for both of us) until I get my sea legs under me, so to speak. I just cooked up a lamb stew last night, but that's only the second time I've really cooked anything more complicated than scrambled eggs or a steak on the Foreman grill. So I think having help in this department will be great. If costly.

Win.

And finally, I'm sort of considering... a woman posted on the local listserve that she and her four year old son are looking for a roommate in their co-op. I'm always intrigued by the idea of communal living, but would prefer co-housing, or something where we have our own space. So I'm not at all sure that I want roommates. Especially when one of them is four years old but not my four year old (I don't have a four year old, but you get my drift). However, if it seemed like a dream situation, it could be a way to save tons of money and also collaborate on household chores and cooking.

Possible win???