Monthly Archives: September 2006

First Day

Posted on by
3

One last thing on TPB — Jeanne asked me how I didn’t have a purse, and I described what I do carry — a bifold wallet, and my keys, but even my keys are on a carabiner, and I clip off only what I need for that specific task. For instance, if I’m going to the store and Dave and Ingrid are going to be home, I clip off, and only take, my car keys. If I’m going for a walk, I clip off only my house key. My carabiner is the best thing ever, it actually has 3 separate clips, and it’s in a circle shape, so one section is for my house keys (House key and garage key on single ring), one is for my car keys (my car key, Dave’s car key, and my remote locker on single ring) and, when applicable, a single ring for work keys. I don’t attach grocery store cards or the like to my keys, because it makes it too fussy. So, yeah. The Metro should hold my keys and wallet + diapers (and even my little camera, I think) pretty well. And I realllly want it. Which leads me to the point of this post….

It’s my first day. I start tonight. I’m nervous, in some ways, not about the job (puh-leeze) but about leaving Ingrid, pumping, etc. I tried to stock up with pumping this weekend, but I really doubt I have enough for tonight with my meager 8 oz. I also think, a day too late, that I need bigger horns for my pump, because pumping effing HURTS me. And then it hurts when I nurse, which has never been an issue after the first week or so. Some research has led me to think that it’s the horn size, so I’ve ordered larger ones, and maybe/hopefully that will help. The 8oz I eked out was HARD WON, let me tell you, but also the pumping was on top of feeding on-demand, as opposed to replacing a feeding, and anytime I replace a feeding, pumping is much easier.  What this all leads up to, is that I’m pretty much resigned to the fact that formula will cross Ingrid’s little rosebud lips at some point tonight, and I’m okay with that. For the most part.

When I quit smoking, I knew that if I had ONE puff of a cigarette, it was all over for me,so I’ve spent the last five years consciously not taking one puff.  It’s all or nothing for me, and I KNOW that.  For whatever reason, I have this fear that formula will be the all or nothing of feeding for Ingrid, and that when the can is cracked open, across town, my breasts will somehow KNOW and dry up. Completely and totally irrational, I KNOW. But there, still.

If the formula is cracked tonight, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be tomorrow — I’ll be pumping a replacement feed at work, so my stash will be replenished, and when the new horns come in, hopefully that makes a difference, too.  And THEN, after this week of training, I will only be working half the hours, so I’ll be away less. On top of that, I KNOW people who have been very successful with supplementing as needed, and still maintaining a supply and good nursing relationship and all of that. So, really, I just need to chill the fuck out.

It will be a good thing for me to have a part-time job, it will. The money will certainly be nice, and it will still allow me to do the things like going to library storytime or not having to be all schedule-crazy when it comes to ped appointments. I don’t have to wake up Ingrid and try to schedule her, because I have to get to childcare and work and all of that. For the bulk of her waking hours, I will be here. And for her biggest nighttime nurse, I will be here. Once I start my regular schedule, I’ll be missing just about 1.5 hours of her awake time, 3 or 4 nights a week. See, writing it out makes it easier to fathom, I think. Plus, great discountl, and foot in the door at a great company.

I called my friend Jess, who’s been working there for over a year, for reassurance, and she was great. If I take the longview, this is really not that bad a deal. The short view — 40 hrs of training, (where I just KNOW — and was seconded by Jess — that I will be helping people on either side of me learn how to use the computer systems) learning [company]Speak, meeting my Quality Coach, filing TPS Reports, etc, that’s going to suck. It’s only temporary, though, and is a good solution for Right Now.

And, if I survive this week, I am SO getting that damn bag. I’ll have earned it in mental and nipple anguish.

TPB3

Posted on by
2

(Updated with link to bag I saw today…)

Field Trip!

Ingrid and I moseyed on down to Epic Sports today, to check out the Timbuk2 (and other brands) and I’m now back to coveting the Metro. Some people warned that it might be too small, but alas, I am not a purse carrier! So, perspectives vary, because the Metro seemed positively HUGE to me. There was a young couple there, and the woman was carrying a Classic bag, and talking about how she wished she’d gotten an Extra Small, so I butted in and asked "why?" and then asked her how she liked it, and she said she’d had hers for a year, daily use as a purse, and it looked brand-new, so that’s nice. Anyway, I can see if you are a purse-carrier, and looking to fit in diapers+, it would be too small, but as a wallet&keys carrier, it’s more like I’m looking to fit that in with the ziploc of diapering supplies, not the other way around. If that makes sense.

I guess if money was no object, I’d design my own, as Robyn suggested, but when I add in the features I’d want, the price gets up around $100, which is way too much.  For a daily bag, I really like the Metro. I was also able to see the colors, which was nice, as well.

Not that I’m buying anything at this point, it’s mostly just a mission to see what I want when I notice a sale or whatever. I do that, often, hypershop, make a decision, and then wait to actually purchase. So far, it’s been a successful way of finding things that are Just Right.

(Also, Epic had the bag in Peacock blue/Chartreuse/Peacock Blue, which I was surprisingly taken by. When I saw Slate Blue and Burnt Orange in person, they looked rather blaaaah, which was part of the Metro-Love, Not Blah.)

TPB2

Posted on by
4

So, apparently the Metro is smaller than it looks. I haven’t seen it yet in person, but the downtown sporting goods store allegedly carries them, and I do plan to check it (and others in the line) out. Dammit!  (I mean, I even looked it up on Flickr. I am that laaame.)

So, instead I’ve been spending Ingrid’s naptimes looking up bags. Yes. I know. Shut up. Lame.

What I’ve decided would make TPB for me, based on other bags I’ve used:

  • Outside, easy access, pockets, like water bottle pockets. On my previous TPBs, these have held bottles or my keys or my sunglass case or whatever.
  • Fairly easy to keep clean
  • Waterproof or resistant (I imagine…)
  • Not as big as a traditional messenger
  • Not as small as a purse
  • Not hideously ugly
  • Not too boring
  • Not too froufy
  • A light colored liner — that’s one of the cons of my current bag, that it’s a black hole, and I loved the idea of a gray lining!
  • One adjustable strap, preferably, and, of COURSE,
  • nothing Pooh-Ass.

So, that would be my requirements. I don’t carry a checkbook wallet, just a bifold, but I would like to carry my camera more, which is fairly small but chunky (my Olympus, I can’t imagine fitting the D70 in anything that would meet my everyday needs, now that I think about it), and of course, traditional Ingrid supplies, with room to grow.

And, why do so few bag companies offer any sense of SCALE with their pictures? Sigh. (Actually, Timbuk2 does, but apparently it still skews for me, as the Metro seemed pretty big. But, then again, I usually just carry a wallet.)

TPB

Posted on by
2

I didn’t realize I needed The Perfect Bag, until I read Laura’s post on it.  For one, the post clarified a mystery that had been plaguing me for a few months; I’d seen a woman with a really cool bag in the grocery store, with only a logo showing and no brand-name, and didn’t have the guts to ask about it. Anyway, it turns out it was a Timbuk2 bag, of which I am now coveting the Metro version.

But, see, I’m 2 days away from a discount at a place that also sells bags. They just aren’t… as cool. Or something.  The closest would be a Heatwave bag, but well, meh.  They used to market a diaper bag, but it was just this bag with a changing pad thrown in, and I don’t really like the colors, and it kind of looks like a giant grandma purse.  The bag I got as a diaper bag was this one, which is so freakin’ huge. (My friend with twins +1 got it for me, which explains a lot.)  I do use it as Ingrid’s suitcase when we go away.

I don’t necessarily want a diaper bag, just something I can throw diapers in, you know? That’s what I do now, with a really small backpack, but throwing in just a little sweatshirt, even, overstuffs it. I just have some dipes, a wipe case, and for now, the free samples of a disposable changing pad and diaper cream that I got from CBE classes, in a ziploc bag, a one piece spare romper, and one of those little reels of diaper trash bags for diapering supplies. But, I’d like to be able to stick my camera in there, hat & mittens (or whatever) for both Ingrid and I, etc. And, according to Laura’s post, more stuff will be required soon, like cheerios and little toys. And, hmm, a sling would probably fit in the Metro as well.

So, anyway, I’m all drippy-drooling over the Timbuk2 bags, and it’s SO STUPID, because who DOES that, gets all greedy for shit like that when they are TWO DAYS from having a discount on a similar style bag? I mean, hell, would it even be LEGAL for me to cart my stuff around in a competitor’s bag? Sigh. So lame.

But, if I were to get a Metro, I’m just trying to decide between Slate Blue, LightGreen/Chartreuse/LightGreen, and, of course, Burnt Orange. They are just all so preeeeetttyyy. And not Mom Personified. Or super lame. Dammit.

Eeeee!

Posted on by
1

Most women get all excited over shoes or clothes, but me? I want SOFTWARE. (I mean, I love my Danskos and Keens, but I don’t think that counts.)

Babysitter today, so that I could help out Marilyn with some stuff, which led to a brainstorm of epic proportions that might just serve my practicum project better than the conservation idea (although, I still want to do that, too) but the more I thought, the more I think Mozilla just won’t be able to handle what I want to do, so hmmm, I should get like, Dreamweaver. Only Studio is oh, about a THOUSAND US DOLLARS if you aren’t a student, which I’m technically NOT, but, Marilyn qualifies for the edu discount, which makes it $179. I’m going to email her, to barter my in-home services (which she’s using anyway, and WANTS to pay for, but that seems weird to me) for the software. And then I can learn Flash!

I know. It’s like the Jimmy Choos of NerdWorld.

In other news, sitter did fine, Ingrid blew through all my frozen breastmilk (which, granted, was only like 6 oz), so I need to pump like a mofo over the next few days, which SUCKS because as much as I LOVE nursing, I HATE pumping.  So odd how the same function can feel so totally different with different triggers. Anyway.

MMmmmm. Studio 8.