Ten-ish weeks ago, I had my baby! She’s the most lovely thing I could possibly imagine. I won’t go on and on though. I’m writing today because this is a place for me to ramble about creative pursuits, and tomorrow, I go back to work.

Dun, dun, DUN

(I couldn’t resist the pun)

(Or the rhyme)

I was told time and time again, don’t plan on doing too much on maternity leave beyond sleeping and taking care of the baby—it’s not a vacation and you just won’t have time. Fair enough. My expectations were low. But at the same time, they were still there. I was very curious about how having a child would fit into my life, and how much room would be left for hobbies.

So far, so good!

If I’m completely honest, I’ve accomplished the most musically—in the form of making up silly little songs to sing to my daughter. That smile is a hell of a motivator. We sing about everything. But, I won’t be sharing those songs here, as they are too ridiculous for public consumption.

On a more serious note, I downloaded Scrivener for my writing projects, after hearing for some time about how great it is. I didn’t think it would make much of a difference to me (aren’t all word processors the same?) But oh my goodness, where has this software been all my life? I’m completely addicted to the “project goals” and seeing how many words I can write in a session. FUN. On a more serious note (and this may sound completely moronic to people), I’ve never before actually thought about setting my writing into scenes. That’s pathetic, right? What can I say, I come from a non-fiction background. I’ve struggled with not having everything sound like an essay or report (which in my defense, I’m excellent at writing). But with Scrivener, you have no choice but to organize by scenes, which is awesome. It was like a lightbulb going off. I’ve actually written a lot during my leave, which has made me so happy. I have about 50 pages of a novel done, and counting. Yay! I’m also rewriting one of my short stories into a play. My critique of this particular story has always been that it comes off too essay-ish. It probably won’t work as a play at all, but I’ll learn a lot about the story while trying.

Something else happened when I was on leave. The Capital Region got its first Makerspace, the Tech Valley Center of Gravity. The hubster and I actually got a sitter to go visit this place—twice. So it’s obviously up there with our only other sitter-worthy activities: seeing The Great Gatsby and Star Trek Into Darkness. I am now finding myself working on E-millinery projects. I made two fascinator bases today, in fact. I’m not sure where it’s all going to go, but I have some muscle wire, the Lilypad Arduino, and other assorted electronic materials to play with, as well as a husband who understands development and electronics a lot more than I do (very useful when I need to troubleshoot!). Expect a post on that soon. In the meantime, feel free to check out my E-millinery inspiration board on Pinterest.

I’m also debating whether or not I want to teach another class/workshop at The Arts Center. I have a great idea for a writing workshop. Maybe they will like it too. But I just don’t know how much time that would take away from the kid. I’m going back to work part-time tomorrow, and we’ll see how my work/hobby/child-rearing balance continues to play out.