This maternity leave is the first time since high school that I’ve had no job or class to go to. It’s mostly nice, although you should know that life with a newborn can be mind-numbingly dull. It’s long stretches of the mundane punctuated with flashes of “damn you’re a cute kid.”

I’m what, two or three weeks into maternity leave and have already received two communications from senior pastor. The first was an e-mail—miss you, here’s what’s going on. I read but didn’t respond. The second was a handwritten note tucked into some pictures that were taken of me during Advent (great with child) with another churchy update. I honestly don’t know what to do with these. She seems to have the good sense not to get into major controversies or things that would stress me out, but I am just not there at the moment. Come March I'm sure I will want to be inching back into the loop. I got another vague communication from a church member (the one who wanted me to preach while on leave) about a "family outing," I believe to a committee meeting at a member's house. (It's at a member's house, not the church, so it doesn't count, right?) My goodness, these three months are the last time in her life that the reverendbaby and her needs won’t have to be juggled with the church, and I am trying to protect that the best I can.

That said, she will be juggled a bit with *my* needs on January 31, when I go for a hydrotherapy massage and pedicure. Can't wait.

She I had our first adventure in the city today, just the two of us. I went to the breastfeeding center in search of a breastpump, and everything went smoothly. M was a trooper, only fussing on the way home during the stop and go traffic, and let’s face it, she was saying what I was feeling.

I acquired said breastpump along with various and sundry, including a cool swaddling blanket, some fenugreek capsules, a couple of samples of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste for diaper rash, and a sling called, I kid you not, the Over the Shoulder Baby Holder. Dorky name, dowdy design, and an instructional video that is endearingly amateurish. But it seems to work, and we’ll get even better with practice. Baby M slept cradled next to me for a couple of hours this afternoon and my arms didn’t ache from holding her at the end of it. Best of all, I actually worked on the computer two-handed.

I’m still in search of some other things, including good books to read and tunes to listen to while nursing. So far I’ve read:
various books of poetry (Sharon Olds, Alice Walker, Denise Levertov),
Renita Weems’s Listening for God,
Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life by a man with ALS,
a book of travel essays by women called A Woman Alone,
and Gilead.

Any recommendations? I’m actually putting some stuff on hold at the library. I don’t normally read books in a manner conducive to library use (a dozen books in parallel, taking months [or years] to complete each one), but I’m spending so much time in the glider, on the couch, etc., that I may actually finish a book before it goes overdue.

As for tunes, R gave me an Ipod Nano for my birthday which is perfect for nursing. Any recommendations of good downloadable music? As you know, girls with guitars is my favorite genre, but I’m willing to branch out.

I’m also in search of mundane stuff that will help me streamline my life: an even shorter haircut that will make my life easier in the morning; a hair product that can be applied to wet hair without blowdrying, that will get the hair to go where I want it to go without looking too sticky or heavy; and a new pair of glasses that aren’t five years old and that will go with everything and anything. I will probably get new contacts as well, but I have a feeling I’ll be going with glasses more often than not, especially once I go back to work.

One final thing: I really, really do read your blogs. I haven’t been able to comment as much as I’d like, and I read via bloglines so you may not even know I’ve been there… but I do read, with much appreciation.