Working baby

As of our return to the office on Monday January 28th, I am now a working mother and Alice is now a working baby (and for those of you not aware of my arrangement with my job, I get to bring Alice to work!). A lot of you have been emailing, texting, and generally inquiring about my return to work, so I thought I’d toss together a quick update (interspersed with random pictures of Alice for entertainment value only).

My first day back was tough. During my absence there were some changes, and I’ve returned to a new boss with new ways of doing things. No major differences, but a good amount of minor ones . . . plus a different overall feel due to a different personality. So Monday felt hectic and I returned home exhausted, feeling like though I’d been with Alice all day I hadn’t actually spent any time with her, and basically like my brains had been extracted, put through a salad spinner, and returned to my cranium completely addled.

Overwhelmed and spent, I immediately started a countdown on the whiteboard on our fridge: a countdown from 365, giving myself permission to quit in a year if it was going to be this hard.

The next day was completely different. So easy and peaceful that I almost forgot to adjust my whiteboard countdown to 363 when I got home. Tuesday evening I had the time and energy to exercise, shower, make dinner, and have a long conversation about history with my husband over wine.

Taking care of Alice while I worked suddenly seemed completely doable, and not just doable but enjoyable. And it’s been like that ever since! I know there will be harder and busier days mixed in with the easier ones, but so far I feel hopeful and happy about this arrangement.

So here we are, about to start our second week, and I have 5 tidbits to share:

1) Alice’s napping area is in her travel bed, which is set up . . . take a guess . . .

. . . take a guess . . .

. . . in the ladies’ bathroom!

Hee hee.

Before any of you freak out about hygiene, etc., know that it’s just a small room right across from my desk that, as the only female employee, is only used by me. It’s small, contained, I can close the door and turn off the lights, and it’s so close to my desk that I can hear her when she’s done napping and starts cooing or crying or calling out for some attention.

2) There’s a new coffeemaker in the office! And it grinds the beans from scratch for each cup it brews. And the beans come from this guy in Colorado who roasts them in a shack behind his house. No offense to the ole Keurig, but oh baby does this coffee knock the socks off those K-cups.

3) I’m driving to work.

If you just said “WHAAAT?”, know that I’m also saying that.

When did I become a driving person?????

The answer is: like, just the other week. It’s all very new, but it already feels like I’ve been doing it forever.

Pros: I don’t have to insulate myself and my baby against this weather to the degree that I did when I took public transit every day. I don’t have to carry baby, diaper bag and purse to and from work every day on my own body. I don’t have to worry about other peoples’ feelings when Alice is fussing or crying. She can have as many full-out crying sessions in the car as her little self feels the need to do, and the only person that has to listen is me! (and no, it doesn’t bother me–I can tune it out to the point that I don’t notice when she stops)

Cons: I’m not in touch with the outdoors. Or the seasons (is it winter? what? because it’s always toasty and dry inside our lil’ Honda Fit). I walk less. And I feel disconnected from the city and its people. I loved the feeling of joining all those other Chicagoans each morning as we all headed into work en masse. Yes, sometimes there were attitudes and grumpiness and people crammed into a train car shoulder to shoulder–but there’s an energy that comes with that human contact that I don’t get in the car by my lonesome. Also, I can no longer read or snooze on my way to and from work–I used to get in an extra half an hour of sleep that way every day (true story).

All this said, maybe I’ll go back to transiting more once the weather gets nice.

4) Alice is an incentive to count down the days until I don’t work anymore. I don’t know how long I’ll do this working mother thing (a year? two years?), but I know I don’t want to do it forever. So in the back of my mind is a little voice that every now and then pipes up and asks “how long?” I don’t have an answer yet, but I hope to have an idea of what my working future holds in terms of a timeline by the end of this year.

5) No sleep deprivation! It would be so hard to go back to work if I was experiencing sleep deprivation. But thank God for this blessing: Alice has always been a great sleeper. I’ve never had to experience that fog/haze due to lack of winks that I hear is actually quite common among new parents. And she hit a milestone the Friday before I started work again (the day she turned 3 months) by sleeping an uninterrupted 12 hours. Unbefrickinlievable, that’s what it is.

On that note, if you would figuratively (or physically) raise your coffee mugs for a little A.M. toast, here’s to a great week #2 of work for Alice and me, and a spectacularly happy Monday for all of us!

Okay, fine–and a great week for the rest of you, too. I can’t be accused of being stingy when great weeks are being toasted to and passed out by the powers at hand.

Skillet Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe is yet another winner from America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook. And no, I am not their covert sales agent, and I’m not getting some kind of commission off the sales of this cookbook (though if they want an Overt Sales Agent I’d be happy to consider their offer)–I just happen to be on a kick with this awesome volume of deliciousness. And given that I just returned this marvelous tome to the library bookmobile after renewing it the maximum number of times allowed, a little trip to amazon.com has ensured that my kick need not end–ever.

So! This mac and cheese. My husband pronounced it perfect and proceeded to consume 100% of the leftovers over the next 2 days. Crispy on top, firm (but not too firm) and creamy inside, great flavor, using only one skillet–YES. This is only the third recipe that he has ever pronounced perfect, so it’s no small thing that Perfect Mac and Cheese is now joining the ranks alongside Perfect Pork and Perfect Fish.

I sneaked a bite off his plate to see how it reheated the next day, and it was great, unlike a lot of stovetop macaroni recipes, which tend to reheat into a greasy mess regardless of how awesome they were on day #1.

And since I seem incapable of posting about anything these days without including pictures of my tiny bundle of baby, let’s check in with Alice and see if she endorses this recipe.

So Alice, what do you think?

Is this recipe finger-licking good or what?

Well, she doesn’t exactly know how to use her words yet, but . . .

. . . aaargh.

I’ll take that violent hand-eating as a signal that she wishes she could have some.

All in due time, Oh Tiny One. And by the way, have you been dribbling food all over yourself? Because your chin is quite dirty.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

3 ½ cups water
1-12 oz can evaporated milk
12 oz (3 cups) uncooked elbow macaroni
Salt and pepper
1 tsp cornstarch
½ tsp dry mustard
¼ tsp Tabasco sauce
2 slices white sandwich bread
2 TBS unsalted butter
8 oz (2 cups) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz (2 cups) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1. Heat oven to 475 F with the rack in the middle.

2. In a 12’’ nonstick oven-safe skillet, bring the water, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, ½ tsp salt and the macaroni to a simmer over high heat. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the noodles are tender.

3. While noodles are cooking, tear the bread into large pieces and melt the butter; pulse the bread and butter along with ¼ tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper in a food processor to make bread crumbs.

4. Whisk remaining ½ cup evaporated milk, mustard, cornstarch and Tabasco together, and (once the macaroni is tender) add the mixture to the skillet.

5. Simmer for 1 minute, until slightly thickened.

6. Take the skillet off the heat and stir in the shredded cheese. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. If the mixture seems too thick, stir in a little extra water.

7.  Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the macaroni and bake for about 10 minutes, until the top is brown and bubbly.

Serve it with buttery peas . . .

. . . and you have perfection on a plate.

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