The Hiking Adventures of Gadget & Goose

March 16th, 2020 - The first day of the best season of my life. The last 8 or so weeks have been so blissfully amazing & the timing could not be more perfect. Becoming a mother has highlighted what's truly important in my life. Since Lu was born (since I returned to work, anyway), I've felt this depressing nagging feeling that I wasn't living the life I wanted. It's so fucked up, when the lines between "work to live" and "live to work" are blurred. I felt cheated when finally, I had something great to put my time into -- my daughter & our family's story that we write everyday -- but as a responsible bill-paying adult, my time had to be spent mostly on paying the bills. Working 40 hours week at a job that doesn't take 40 hours a week to complete. Time spent sitting on a computer, trying to look busy in order to keep my job. Time that I could have been at home, raising my daughter. I felt deep sadness week after week. The hours and t

Wednesday, January 23rd: It's my last day at work before maternity leave. Tallulah is not due until Friday, but I have been 3 cm dilated for almost a week now and having consistent mild contractions today. She'll probably come late & make Mama and Daddy wait a little longer, which is fine. I just need to be home for about two days before she gets here & have myself a little staycation. Take a little time to finish up her nursery, clean the house, and bounce on my yoga ball to coax her out. Binge on some Netflix.  Get my mind right for the massive change that's about to rock our little world. Enjoy those last solitary moments that I'll get for a long, long time. I probably could wait until my due date to leave work, but instinct tells me to do otherwise. Wednesday night: I go home in a great mood that my three months of leave has begun. Tofu is draining and drying out, waiting to be fried up and put into a stir fry, which is one of our weekly regulars. I keep

On the Friday before Labor Day, we packed up the Tundra & headed to Black Rock Mountain State Park for our last "long" camping trip before little Tallulah makes her entrance into the world. Maternity leave will take a big chunk out of my paid time off, so I have to use my leave days wisely. On this day, I learned that not only am I sharing a belly with our new tiny resident, but I am also apparently sharing a brain with her. We arrived early to the park so that we could get first pick of our campsite, since you can't book particular campsites in advance -- it's first come, first serve. We checked into the Visitor's Center to get our parking pass & were informed by the ranger that we had the handicapped campsite booked.... which is the least private site in the whole campground. It sits right beside the bath house & at the bottom of the hill, which all campers must walk past to maneuver between the restroom, their car, & their campsite. I was a