Liz Rasley

Before and After

Before:

Lots of high-octane caffeine – started at 4:30a until around 4p.

Most taken leisurely at the office, and at least 2 cups there with creamer and light, adult conversation.

After:

Lots of high-octane caffeine – started at 4:30a until at least 7p. Most taken black now, out of sheer need, and black, yes, just like the psychopaths drink. Aren’t we so glad I’m home now with the children?

Before:

Goal of 10K steps a day started when I awoke; it was a good day was when I was able to work in a couple of walks during the day and hit 10K by 9p.

After:

I hit 10K by noon usually, and the average is around 15K steps. Which, yes, motherhood and chasing around children. But – also leads me to believe that perhaps I need to re-organize the house, as I’m not doing anything monumental here, and B) maybe we should work on ahem, remembering to put things away.

Before:

Evenings: Rushing around and doing laundry amongst last-minute runs to the dry cleaners to make sure I had enough work clothes for the week, and the rest of the crew at least had clean underwear. Frequently, I’d start loads at 11p at night before crashing.

Mornings: A whirlwind of trying to make sure everything was ironed, stain-free, and matching. Looking like I was a knowledgeable human being in my field was a bonus.

After:

Doing laundry, trying to keep up, wondering how I managed before. Also, it seems to keep growing and merging – last I looked it was a foot high and that was after I folded and put away this morning, and was impressed/proud of myself by getting the pile less than a foot high.

Before:

Call with Germany or France (or both!) at 8a about elaborate, complex, nuanced topics – not a problem, just give me coffee.

After:

Breakfast with a little one demanding a red cup and/or yellow plate and “marshmallows for breakfast” – wears me out completely, even though I’ve had 3 cups of coffee at this point. I would be lying if I said that sometimes I daydream a little about perhaps a pinch of Bailey’s in the coffee, just to lessen the intensity of the yellow plate/red cup “negotiations.”

Before:

At the store, all the time. It was my hobby, seems like – shopping for whatever we were out of that week.

After:

Trying to taking stock of what we really need.  Which, beyond the basics includes close to a flatbed’s worth of diapers, paper towels, and wine. Patience also is on the shopping list, if only one could buy it in bulk.

—

But seriously – learning some good things here, about myself (Oh boy! And some things perhaps I didn’t want to learn, like how selfish I can be!) And most notably, though I swore I knew it before – how much I love my free, only-me time.

I appreciate my family deeply, who are helping me to keep it real, keeping me humble and laughing most of the day, which I have to say, is not a bad way to spend a life.