Lady of "Leisure"

First of all, thank you to all who commented on my last post. It's still happening at least every other night or so, which kind of sucks, but at least I'm not keeping myself awake the rest of the time worrying about what an utterly ineffectual parent I am. So thanks, and I will let you know if it ever gets any better!

Anyway, on to better things. I finished work yesterday! Although as I never work Fridays anyway, it doesn't really feel any different yet. But I had a great day yesterday. I should leave more often. Oh hang on, I've already left twice in two years. My wonderful colleagues organised a picnic lunch (way too much cake was eaten), and also bought me the sling that I finally, after many hours of deliberation, decided I wanted (it's fabulous. Even Husband approves). I'm going to miss them all a lot. I will even miss my boss, although not her massively inflated inbox, which it is one of my happy duties to clear out every now and again. I'd rather clear out a nappy, there's less crap in it.

So now I'm off. No more work. For anything up to a year. I don't think it's hit me yet. No more days filled with adult conversation. No more frequent cups of tea that actually get drunk. No more getting dressed on a morning safe in the knowledge that my outfit will remain relatively clean for the rest of the day (barring any mishaps with my lunch, which are not at all unheard of). But also no more sending the same email 17 times in the hope that this time someone will actually reply to it. No more reading dense legalese from American artist agencies and trying to make sense of it (don't know why I bother, it always boils down to "if anything goes wrong, it'll all be your fault"). No more trying to book flights for people who will not accept that actually Newcastle and New Orleans are fairly far apart, and therefore it will take a while to travel between them. I do like my job a lot, but on balance, I think I'm perfectly happy to let someone else do it for a while.

What am I going to do with myself now, I (don't at all) hear you cry? Well, I think the time has come to finally start preparing myself and the house for the arrival of The New'un. Finding things, washing things, buying things, fixing things. Packing the hospital bag. Trying to remember what it actually is you need to do with newborns. And I'm going to try, in my knackered and massive state, to do lots of fun and lovely things with The Toddler. Our days as just the two (three if you count Husband, which I sometimes do) of us are numbered, and that makes me a little bit sad, and determined to make the most of the time that does remain. Although ask me if I'm still enchanted with all the quality time in a week or two.....