Home Officeing

Is there an e in home officeing? Hmmm...

Alan took the kids to the mall and Best Buy (to get a Christianing outfit for Loki...here's hoping he found one...and to get who-knows-what at Best Buy, which is only a tiny bit scary as he is generally a penny pincher). I started working at about 9 a.m. this morning and now, at 1:18 p.m., am taking my first real break. I don't consider cooking a chili, pumping, cleaning off the island, or doing the dishes (including the essential pump parts, new bottles, and coffee maker parts) a break, but I did stop to do those things.

I managed to make two business calls, send five essential e-mails (including the documents to go with two of them), prepare one pleading, prepare two letters, and enter tons of addresses into my pda. In other words, I got stuff done! Some of it was billable and on a deadline. Yippee!!! If I could work this much everyday, I would make lots more money, that's for sure. Having a home office makes a difference, but having daddy take the kids away - that's a HUGE difference.

If only Daddy could also deal with the kids alone when he is here with them. :/ Alan is great - with one kid. Either one, really. But if there are two kids in the mix, he cannot handle it. I'm hoping their trip out of the house today changes that a bit.

Let me give you an example. I'm home alone with the kids and need a bath. I give Ander milk, put a snack on the table, and put in a movie. I feed and burp Loki and put him in his bouncy seat with a paci. And I bathe, really, really fast. If Loki cries, Ander runs in and tells me, and I grab a towel and a robe, calm him, then finish my bath.

Now, imagine Alan home with the kids. He's not alone, because he rarely is, but I am working in my "office," which means "pretend I'm at work unless there is an emergency." Ander has a mess in the living room (because Daddy doesn't subscribe to the one toy at a time philosophy). Loki spits up all over Daddy, Loki, and the floor, because Daddy fed with a bottle and Loki spits up more often with a bottle. Daddy tries to calm Loki, but to no avail. Daddy asks me to take Loki. So much for the home office. Daddy bathes. Ander's movie ends halfway through the bath. "Honey, can you restart Ander's movie? I'm in the bathtub."

Of course. And, really, I don't mind. These are my kids. Bathtime is a precious thing these days. I want my husband to relax.

Except that, instead of interrupting the bath, the interruptions stop me midway through writing an Answer to a divorce petition, so I have to pretty much redo the work when I get back to it, because the Answer paragraphs have to coordinate with the Petition paragraphs. Or I have to refigure the child support, because though it is easy math, it's approximately 10-step math problem. That's still fine, as long as my husband doesn't want me to make money. But he does, right? So when I work, I need a solid hour or two to get it done. Yes, even a tiny interruption (hon, do you know where the paci is?) can mean doing work twice or making a mistake. That's the danger of a home office, I guess.

Plus, this blog doesn't even touch on the interruptions from Ander. Whew.

Still, I waste less time working from home than going into the office or a coffee shop. Clearly, my husband is working on it, as evidenced by his trip to the mall with TWO KIDS THAT, OMG, IS CRAZY AND AMAZING AND I WONDER IF HE WILL BE INSANE WHEN HE FINALLY GETS HOME.

But I need a door. With a lock. And sound-proofing.

When I win the powerball. Obviously.

Etcetera.