I have so many mixed emotions and thoughts right now - I just got back from my first full day of 'real' work :)

Not that teaching piano isn't 'real' - it makes better money than any 'real' job I've ever had, but it's easier in a lot of ways.  When I teach piano, my daughter stays at home with me.  I usually find a babysitter to watch her while I'm teaching, but it can be anyone approximately 9 years old and older who enjoys playing with a baby basically unsupervised.  And I'm always here in case of an emergency, or in case Clara just wants to come cuddle with me!

This morning, my husband and I dropped my daughter off at a friends' house (thank God I have incredible friends willing and ready to babysit, and I don't have to find a daycare and leave her with people I don't know!) and left her there for her first FULL DAY of 'day care'.

Then, I went to work! In a location that isn't my living room!

My new job - just for the summer, so I will be back to teaching piano in fall - is working as an administrative assistant in a church that happens to be located only a few blocks from my home.  My first day of 'training' was pretty much un-daunting, and after asking my boss if there was a piano I could make use of during my extra long lunch breaks, he said I was welcome to any of them - even the GRAND PIANO IN THE SANCTUARY!!! I just about cried and hugged him right there.

I'm excited about a few things: biking or walking to work - at least a little bit of forced exercise daily, getting out of my house which seriously doesn't happen often enough for me, and feeling a little bit more 'professional' is an attractive concept also - it also helps that I have an excuse to buy nicer clothes! :)

I'm also sad about a lot of things, though.  I was so looking forward to spending my summer days hanging out in the yard with my little girl - who is old enough to play in the sand and the pool - and now I will miss many of those days.  I will mostly no longer be a SAHM, which is a title I really was proud of... It will also be a bit more difficult now to motivate myself to cook and clean after a day of work - hopefully the house won't get as messy if we're not in it?

That's probably wishful thinking...

The last week in May has often been an insanely busy one for me.  I teach piano until the end of May, and usually finish off with a recital the following weekend - which happens to be this upcoming weekend this year. 

To make this week even more insane for me is the fact that I have a summer job this year - a 9-5, four days a week - and it begins this Friday (June 1st).  Today I sent my last student home at 5:30pm and began the task of frantically getting ready for both going to work tomorrow - and my daughter's first 'official' day of 'daycare' - as well as for my recital on Saturday which typically involves a lot of baking!

My plan was to make biscotti, since there will be coffee, and I need quite a bit of time to let that bake and dry, so I had to make it tonight... I think.

Anyway, my husband ended up being late coming home from work, and got stuck in traffic in the meantime which meant I got to entertain Clara WHILE I was teaching piano (like I always seem to do on Thursdays, but that's another issue...), and then after I had fed her supper she seemed to be saying it was bedtime. Immediately. I gave her a bath to hold the whole process off, but she soon decided she was tired of that also and when I went to change her diaper, she had a major meltdown which basically meant there was no more time for Clara to be awake - she must be put to bed - NOW! So, I got her quickly ready for bed and Brian got home just in time for bedtime prayer.

We ate supper - which he had brought home for me from A&W - and then his Mom called to say that his Grandpa had dropped off a 1/5 of a cow for us, and we needed to come and pick it up NOW! This is an entirely different issue, because I never did agree to taking a lump-sum of beef, and I certainly never agreed to being able to PAY for a year's worth of meat, but like I said... that's a different issue...

Anyway, Brian had to leave again to get the meat (which wasn't even in our city, I should add, it was in a neighboring city) and I was left alone to make my biscotti.  Luckily Clara was in bed...

Then she woke up.

Since she had skipped most of her bedtime, I theorized that she had misinterpreted going to bed earlier as just a nap and now she was confused and wanted to have a proper evening.  So, after trying a few different things (none of which got my biscotti any closer to being baked), I got her back out of bed and started her bedtime process all over again, this time giving her milk. 

She sat in the kitchen with me while I mixed the dough - I even let her help a little.  Then I thought I'd let her play for awhile and hopefully Brian would be back soon and could put her back to bed himself.  She had hardly seen her Daddy all day, after all...

As I was mixing dough, I hear Clara's sweet little voice in the background saying 'uh oh' as I hear something fall from the kitchen table and hit the floor.

Eggs.

Three of them. 

I decided against waiting for Brian to get home and put Clara to bed anyway - she wasn't too thrilled about this, but it was better than letting her play in raw egg goo.

So, while I should have been continuing my baking escapade, I was mopping the kitchen floor.

Then, while I waited for the floor to dry, I texted my Mom a long string of cranky venting texts - I did feel much better afterward.

Now, it's 9:45, and I'm waiting for my second batch of biscotti to bake (the first round), and I still need to pack Clara's bag for tomorrow, shower, and get myself ready to go to work tomorrow - which I haven't done in almost 2 years!

Did I mention I've been fighting a cold or something this week? Not helpful...

Anyway, it was one of 'those' days...