Austin

I've been here since last Friday or so. Nate and Zoe came with me for the weekend. On Saturday, we decided to take Zoe to Deep Eddy, a natural, spring-fed pool (no chlorine). We walked up to the front desk and I asked the guy if they were cash only. Yes. Did he know if there was an ATM around? Yes; he directed us to a gas station up the street. "But don't worry about it," he said, waving us through, "just remember to bring cash next time."




So Austin. Then I saw a mom breastfeeding openly and no one even giving her a second look and tons of kids having a great time. I thought: yeah, even though this is tough, we're making the right decision.

The water is cold, 68 degrees year round. As soon as Zoe was in the pool, she started squeaking and giggling and having a great old time. She's in a very independent phase and doesn't want you to hold her hand or guide her, and sometimes she would lose her balance and fall. We usually caught her before she went in, but she did swallow water a couple of times and then would want to be carried. I've since bought her a little floatie thing she can sit in so she can explore the water more and not fall in.

In general, I'm very happy to be back in Austin, even though there are things about it that have been difficult. Zoe is home with Nate until tomorrow. She will start a new daycare here on Monday. And Nate will be in Dallas until the house sells, or at least until we get a bid. It's been very hard being away from my family. I don't recommend it.

The funny thing is, I fell back into my old bad habits immediately. My first night alone I stayed up until 5 a.m. reading a book. The next night, 2 a.m. I'm drinking too much coffee again. I'm sure next week when Zoe is with me, I will fall back into our typical, baby-centric schedule. You have to. You never know when she will get sick or have a bad night and not sleep well. It is painful if you've stayed up late and then have to get up several times during the night with a cranky baby.

This transition is tough, but I'm hoping it won't last too long. Periods like this feel very unsettling. You're waiting for various things to happen so your "real life" can begin. I hope our house sells. In about 2.5 weeks, it's been seen 13 times, so hopefully someone will make an offer soon.