New Alone Time...

Things I have noticed this week with my new "alone time"...

1. After two mornings of driving around in silence, I suddenly realized I could put on an adult radio station. This morning I jammed out to Justin Timberlake. Oddly, the thought had not crossed my mind to do so until day #5 of freedom at 11:07 a.m. Apparently I was just one with my thoughts up until that point.

2. You can walk past the child care area at the gym and head straight upstairs to a treadmill in 1.2 seconds, as opposed to potties, name tags, diapers, chatting with the staff for 10 minutes, etc. before stepping on the treadmill.

3. You can breeze through twice the stores, try on clothes, be sippy cup and snack-free, chat with a friend on the phone, run into a coffee shop, strategize about a craft project in Michaels (and get the correct supplies for it), get groceries to make lovely dinner #6 in the past 10 days (this is very, very good for me!) ALL in 2.5 hours and no children at your side.

4. You can actually miss your kids for a second and create things to worry about (Will Lucy be really ready for Kindergarten?, Is Tommy sharing? Is Lucy picking her nose? Are they having fun?)

5. You can run the lake at a reasonable time (as opposed to before your husband leaves for work) on a perfect fall morning.

Or, if you are like me, your head immediately turns to that old career you had before your whole life changed in an instant. That career that seemed pointless once I held Lucy in my arms and started the new job of "mother." The job that has given me every piece of satisfaction I could ever hope for. The job that I feel my skills have been best used towards. The job that doesn't really feel like a job at all these days...and I wonder if I will ever find something I can get excited about again. And not feel badly to leave my kids or have them in someone else's care every now and then. We'll see...

Geez...give the woman 2.5 hours and she's overthinking everything!