Week 1 of a New Career

On Friday, December 31, 2010, I prepared to walk out of the office where I had spent a little over 6 years. I paused in the doorway, looked around the whole office area, memories flooding in of my first interview, all the people who have come and gone, funny situations and tears that were shed - by me or people coming in needing encouragement. I prayed first thanking God for giving me the opportunity, no, a privilege, to serve Him in this place alongside some incredible people. Then I prayed for the staff that I was leaving behind (though I was the only one there at that moment). I know that this is God's church and that He will continue leading it and helping its people. Then I flipped the lights and shut the door - shutting the door on a huge part of my life. I cried all the way home - and how coincidental it was that Daughtry's "I'm coming home" was playing on the radio - "... be careful what you wish for, you just might get it all..." I knew that I was coming home, to a place that I belong, and that my Father's and my family's love is enough for me there.

Actually, my first good cry about the impending change happened a couple of weeks earlier, on the 17th - it was Natalie's last day at the daycare, Childtime Learning Center. I hadn't realized that I would have such a hard time with it. Before Natalie and I headed out, I had fully intended to stop and say goodbye to everyone one more time (I had kind of said my goodbyes in the morning when dropping her off and snapped a couple of pictures:)

That's Miss Cindy, Natalie's teacher in 2010.

Natalie's Pre-K Class

Right before leaving Childtime, I snapped one last photo of Natalie by their Snowman craft:

Again, I was planning on saying bye to a few people, but instead I practically ran out the door with Natalie, and then totally lost it in the car. Why was I crying? Well, first, that place had become almost like family to us over the past 4 1/2 years, since Emily was barely 3. There are a couple of people still working there who knew Natalie since her first day there. But, the other reason was that it was the first tangible change since we originally made our decision about me staying home back in October. Since then, things continued on as usual - I would drop Natalie off and head off to work. So, that afternoon it hit me that it was essentially the beginning of the end of my life as I had known it. I'm very thankful for Childtime and for all the wonderful staff there. They gave us so much grace, considering we always had schedule issues with Dmitri being a pilot.

On Monday, January 3, Dmitri brought the girls back from Wisconsin where they had been for 2 whole weeks! I was very grateful for my in-laws who loved on and entertained my girls along with their cousins, and I had a much-needed break to catch up on things at home and to rest in anticipation of all the upcoming changes.

Before my first week at home as a stay-at-home mom, I had planned that I would spend the first couple of days sketching out some structure to my days - like, put Emily on the bus, then have my quiet time, then do educational stuff with Natalie, get laundry going, etc... Well, that lasted one day, and at that, I was a zombie. So, what actually ended up happening was me going back to bed after sending Emily off, sleeping till about 9:30 or 10, then doing some housework, making lunch, feeding Dmitri and Natalie, putting her down for a nap and... going down for a nap myself! Now, the beautiful thing was that by 7-8 in the evening, whereas I would've normally been exhausted, I was full of energy! Even though I was somewhat frustrated that my structured plans did not materialize in the first week, I can say that I have profoundly enjoyed a much slower pace in my life than what I had been accustomed to for so many years.

As far as activities, Natalie wasn't bored. Here's what she did:

Painting her favorite mushroom - "Fly Amanita" - it's popular in Russian fairy tale books' illustrations.

She helped me sort clean laundry into two piles - Emily's & her clothes.

I was excited to use our new KitchenAid mixer to make some yummy bread. Natalie helped roll out the dough and then roll it up into loaves.

Ah, the smell of fresh dough!

Brushing with some eggwash.

And here are the gorgeous (and delicious) results, just in time for lunch!

The biggest excitement of the week happened on Wednesday - we finally got the girls their Christmas present - a pair of guinea pigs. Natalie named the boy Sam (he's all white), and Emily named the girl Sprinkles. The pet store salesman speculated that Sprinkles is pregnant. Time will tell. If that's the case, now we've got two pregnant women in the house. Dmitri hopes we don't go into labor on the same day.

The girls have been practically inseparable from their new pets. Emily is becoming a pro at picking them up and holding them, and even instructing her friends on 'holding the pigs for beginners.' She needs to publish a book or do a YouTube instructional video.

Oh, and the girls helped me whip up a batch of Pelmeni for our dinner with friends on Saturday. And no, the piggie did not participate and was no where near the table during the cooking. Emily is just showing it off for the photo.

Natalie is neatly arranging her contributions on the board.

In all, this was a great week, and having Dmitri home the entire time made it even better. However, whenever he's out of town, I'm planning on catching up on a million things that have been put on a back burner for weeks, months or even years. And, hopefully starting tomorrow, there will be a bit more structure to our day. But, I will not get too structured to enjoy being close to those I love the most - they are the reason for this whole change. Keep praying for me to figure out how I can best serve my family and to glorify God in the process.

Week 2 begins tomorrow! Good night!