Commute, Neurotic Tendencies, and a Dolly

Paul started his new job today. We drove to work separately because we weren't sure whether he would be done at 4 and I would be staying at the office until 8 or whether it would be the other way around. That is just the way work has been lately as I have been wrapping up my cases to go on maternity leave. Since we left the house at the same time, we had sort of a non-race into the office because one of us would get in the fast lane of traffic and pass the other only to be slowed down where two freeways merged and the other driver sped by. We waved, grinned, and made faces at each other every time we leap-frogged like this and it made me feel silly but it was a weird kind of fun.

In other news, I have been fighting the urge to create a "To-Do" list for my maternity leave. The idea of 6 months off work is too tantalizing to resist and it starts all the neurotic juices flowing for list-making I guess. I know that in all reality, there should only be two items on the list and it should look something like this:

1. Take care of a newborn
2. Try not to have any sleep-deprived episodes of craziness

So why is it that I have a list (only in my head, I haven't committed this to paper and stuck it on the fridge yet and blogging about it only gets me halfway there) that consists of the following:

1. Train for a half marathon or at least a 10-k
2. Finish writing the book I started in law school
3. Make Halloween costumes for Clara, me and Paul (it's my favorite holiday and I am a slow sewer, okay?)
4. Remodel our kitchen/living room
5. Do all the Christmas shopping (since I am going back to work just after Thanksgiving, I figure I might as well plan ahead.)
6. Get Clara sleeping through the night
7. Make dinner 5 nights a week
8. Learn how to use Photoshop (because Paul probably won't have time to develop all the photos I plan on taking of the babe.)
9. Go to the beach, the lake, the mountains, the desert, at least two national parks and somewhere tropical (can we say aloha?)
10. Read a book a week
11. Make the bed every day

Hmmm, I know I've always been something of an over-achiever, but even I am questioning my judgment about the wisdom of such a list with a newborn.

Finally, Paul's cousin's wife, who is insanely talented and has three scrumptious kiddos that I adore, made the sweetest dolly for Clara, pictured below next to Clara's green corduroy owl. I would be remiss if this never made it to the blog.

Thanks Maren - Clara is going to love her.