A Short Bit of History

Dear JJ,
I don't know where to start.
A lot of things happened at the end of last year.

Mama's work and your arrival collided in ways that I never could have predicted.
And the after shocks of that collision still remain. I have not caught up on either work or home since last October/November.

At the end of September, Mama's work responsibilities increased two fold.
I ended up doubling the size of my group, workload, ensuing politics along with a new boss and being pushed up to a new level of responsibility and visibility.
I don't expect you to understand this. Not until you are ... oh... about 40 years old?

And then we got word that you were going to be coming home and we had to go to China to get you at the end of October.

Good God.

In the midst of the work chaos, I had to catch up on work, plan for being out for at least 3 weeks, assign people to take over what I was leaving behind at work, transition, deal with HR on leave so that I wouldn't have to dig into my vacation time. But truthfully, I wasn't going to take much time off.

I cannot begin to explain to you the level of anxiety, panic , and pounding in my chest that I felt as a result of all the stress. Through it all your Daddy was the best. He was so patient and understanding. By now you know how understanding and patient he is. You are very lucky to have him as your Daddy. I hope you realize that.

So, I will be posting some of the status updates next week. These are the ones we sent to family and friends while we were in China. And will probably expand on some of them since this is for you and not for an expectant audience of family and friends who were expecting... I don't know what but I am sure it was way more idealized than I had realized.