Freelance Mommy: 2 Months In

baby on chest while at laptop

I’m not gonna lie – working from home with a new baby is tough.

Hence the infrequent posting.

I began incorporating some work back into life after Iris was about three weeks old. I started slow with just a few little jobs here and there. The biggest thing I did was go into the office where I answer phones and do some work for a friend’s publishing company, and that was just two shifts of two hours each. Most of the time was spent gabbing about the baby anyway.

But now, we’re over two months in, and I’m already more than three weeks past when many women go back to full time. I certainly am not pushing myself to work anywhere close to 40 hours – I have to breastfeed and wash diapers and play with my daughter, and those are time consuming tasks.

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Spring of the Duckling

geese and their goslings at the pond

Last week I took Iris for her first spring walk in the stroller. The zoo is less than 10 minutes from our house on foot, and sits nestled at the back of lovely John Ball Park.

I got really excited when I realized that the local geese might have their goslings out. We walked around almost the entire pond before I spotted two adult geese with a flock of fluffy little goose babies. Ca-UTE!

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Molding Boiled Eggs

mold for hard boiled eggs

Hello!

This is me trying to resurface after my daughter, Iris, was born a little over seven weeks ago. That sounds like a long time to me, but it went SO fast…

Anyway, as it’s Wednesday, I’m going to jump right into the routine with a post that is food, albeit fun food, related.

Let’s talk eggs. For a more sophisticated discussion, check out this post. For an eggy idea, keep reading.

Last week, I accompanied a friend to Williams-Sonoma to purchase a wedding gift. As I stared lustfully at the kitchen essentials and embellishments that I could never afford, my friend held up a colorful box for me to see.

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Iris Reilly Mitchell

newborn baby IrisWe had a baby.

Iris Reilly Mitchell was born on March 17, 2012 at 2:11pm. It was a Saturday, about 80 degrees, and I’m told that flowers were blooming and people were celebrating in the streets.

Maaaaaaybe that’s because it was Saint Patrick’s Day, but let’s just say it was also to honor my daughter. She is, after all, the newest member of the Grand Rapids American Irish community, and will probably have the coolest 21st birthday ever.

After 30 some hours of labor, 17 of them being the trial of my life, she is well worth it.

This may be my last post for a while… I think things are going to be a little busy. See you when I resurface!

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Winding Down Freelance…

drawing of wind up dollThere are lots of nice things about working as a freelance writer, one of them being that when you have to, you can put real life first without feeling like it’s inconveniencing your co-workers.

I’ve been fortunate for this through my entire pregnancy. I’m a person who deals well with a very specific sort of stress, and very poorly with another. Basically, when I have a lot to get done, like buy a house, plan a wedding, go to class, go to work and maintain a social life, I thrive.

But if I have any health/physical situation that makes me concerned or less capable than usual, I sort of crumble under slight pressure.

Working out of the house, on my own time and terms, has allowed me to make a healthy pregnancy the priority. I haven’t had to deal with taking time off for appointments, or finding a minute to call the nurse when I have a question or sitting in a cubicle when all I want to do is work on the bed.

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Cloning the Woolly Mammoth?!?

woolly mammoth tusks painting

So, my computer was out of commission for most of the day yesterday, and thus I did not write a post for today.

But as I hate to not post anything, here’s a link to an article about cloning woolly mammoths. I find this extra interesting as I just read a chapter in my “easy read” novel (from the Earth’s Children Series) about two early humans witnessing the mating of two mammoths during the Ice Age. Cool.

Cloning and resurrecting the mammoth? Not so fast…

Hope your weather is as beautiful as mine – it’s a sunny 70 degrees here in GR!

 

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Getting to Know the Borgias

European Borgia TV portrait

After I’d guilty pleasured my way through all four seasons of The Tudors, I was on the hunt for another, equally enticing, historical TV drama.

Searching through the streaming options on Netflix gave me Borgia. I’d heard about the show, but did not realize that there were in fact two series on the infamous Renaissance family. The only one available on Instant Play is a French/German production – not the one starring Jeremy Irons.

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Kitten Dinner

black and orange cats eating from bowls

Confession: I’m not generally a poetry fan. But sometimes one just pops into my head. Happy Fiction Friday!

~

I made a joke once

That the novelty cat plates would be perfect for when we decided to

Eat

Our

Cats.

I’d never eat my cat, or any cat.

I stopped eating mammals nearly two years ago.

I had rabbit stew once –

It was good, but for the lingering pieces of fur

Hiding within the broth.

I imagine cat stew would be much the same

And it holds no appeal.

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Sugar: Poison? Regulation? Hmmm…

teaspoon of sugar

I’ve been hearing a lot about sugar in the news and on talk shows lately. I think it might be because of this study.

The conversation has sort of centered around the whole concept of regulating sugar the way we do alcohol and tobacco, and considering it a toxic substance. I realize that sounds kind of crazy. But when someone says that sugar is poison, I suppose they’re right, to a degree. Alcohol, tobacco and sugar can all kill you… it just generally takes a while.

Here’s how I understand it. We like the taste of sugar because it’s sweet. In evolutionary terms, this is because sweet things found in nature are typically not poisonous, and are therefore safe to eat. And just like fat and salt, sugar can do some good things for our bodies.

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10 Days Early

pink green white knit baby dress

I saw my mom last night, and the first thing she said to me was that if our baby comes as early as I did, she’ll be born tomorrow.

O.M.G.

Granted, we technically have two due dates – March 15 and March 18. I’ve seen both in the paperwork, and realize that it’s likely to be neither of them anyway, but STILL!

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