Junk drawer

This morning Claire's at her first Mom's Morning Out. I was a little apprehensive because this is the same kid who has stayed in the church nursery all the way through Sunday school and worship maybe once. We ALWAYS get paged. So three hours without me, in an unfamiliar setting, with people she doesn't know -- plus missing the morning nap? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

But they said they'd call me if it got too bad, and two hours in I haven't been summoned, so maybe my prayers are being answered. I am so ready for this separation anxiety to ease up. What good is it having so many willing babysitters if the baby's unwilling to be babysat?

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Well, I had no sooner written all of that yesterday when, what do you know, the phone rang. It was the MMO director saying Claire was "fairly inconsolable." Still, two hours is better than nothing!

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Matt and I are going to go camping tomorrow night if the weather cooperates. Right now the forecast is calling for scattered showers, which will be fine if they hold off until late at night, after we're in the tent (he has a rain tarp), but not so great if they come earlier. There's no point going camping if you can't linger around the campfire talking and eating roasted marshmallows. A million thanks to Mom and Dad for their willingness to keep Claire overnight so we can go!

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This week I started a new freelance writing job. It won't add up to much (one or two 500-word essays a month) but it has a significant perk: I can write about basically whatever I want. My first one, for example, was a rant about people with no sense of parking-lot etiquette. |

I have a sort of interview with another magazine this afternoon and I'm excited about the possibilities there but I won't go into detail until we see if it pans out. Wish me luck!