Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Back to work I go. This post is significantly more up-beat being written today - day eight of being back at work - than it would have been the night before I went back. Or any of the days/weeks leading up to me going back. Since I'm now much much shorter on time to blog, I'll briefly recap this "back to work" experience in list format.

1. At lunchtime on my first day back at work, I hit the milestone of the longest I had been apart from Harper. Between July 20 and Oct. 20, the longest I had been away from my girl was three hours. Talk about an adjustment. Luckily I have a wonderful mom-colleague who took me to lunch, which provided a needed distraction as the milestone rolled around.

2. My work team is made up of the nicest people imaginable. To welcome me back they decorated my office, put a Welcome Back sign on my door, and had flowers and homemade chocolate chip cookies on my desk. And they stopped by as a group in the morning as a welcome wagon. That made my first day start off so much better than I was afraid it would.

3. Sometime during week two I finally worked back up to the point where I felt I could safely wear mascara.

4. Finding a silver lining in the situation, it is nice to be able to eat and use the bathroom whenever I want, without worrying about the safety/happiness of my munchkin. And I'm now back in the habit of taking a shower every single day. ;-)

5. Starting back to work with Harper in "daddy daycare" has been fantastic. Daniel sends me photos and audio files from their adventures every day, and the two of them have become the biggest of buddies.

Here are a few photos of our adventures my last day of maternity leave and my first day back at the office.

Last day of maternity leave, watching the dogs at the park.



My office, first day back.


Harper nap time after my first day back at work.