Calm before the storm

Mazin's superhero costume made in 5 minutes out of an old T-shirt! How crafty!

I have a few minutes now, with Mazin still napping and all the household chores done. I'm at a bit of a loss these days. I want to prepare for the baby, but I've pretty much done everything I can do. Sure, I'd love to slap a new coat of paint on pretty much every wall, but I recognize my limits. Plus I don't really want to huff paint fumes right now. I feel like there are so many things I should DO--while I can still do them--but for the most part things are in order. Closets are organized, house is clean, clothes are sorted, and junk is gone. The windows still need to be washed. It's funny that I'm obsessing about windows... as if with two children my next chance to clean the windows will be when Mazin goes to college. Who knows, though. Maybe that's not so far off the mark. I start maternity leave in 10 days. That three months will fly by, and then it will be back to the chaos of carting kids to daycare and play dates and trying to get to the grocery store and getting to work on time. And pumping breast milk! Ugh. I have enjoyed the rhythm of part time work and plenty of play time with Mazin, but will it be the same with two? Will it be too overwhelming? If we had more childcare options, it would be no big deal at all. But this is not Germany. This is America, the ass-backwards, third-world country masquerading as the vanguard of the first world. (Sorry, America, your cool factor did recently skyrocket after you re-elected Obama, but you've still got a LONG way to go to be the paradise you purport to be.) But I digress...

Soon our world will be turned upside down. Soon our established rhythms will be thrown for a loop. Soon free time and a modicum of independence and social life will be memories, yet again. Am I ready? Sure. The kitchen is clean and the laundry is folded. Bring it on.