Today was a day I was dreading — first day back to work. But honestly, it went extremely smoothly. I chalk it up to good preparation and having a very solid family. Larry and I spent Saturday with friends at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival (see photos on the Flickr feed) and then had a very relaxing Sunday hanging out in bed and doing errands.

This morning we all woke up together and Mommy started to work out the process of getting us all ready for work and Sofia’s and still getting to work sometime before noon. Right now I can’t fathom getting to any location by earlier than 9am but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

So, Walker and I went to Sofia’s and he smiled and chatted when we got there. I was fine and was feeling proud of myself until a 2-year-old started crying for her mother which made me a bit sad but I managed to compose myself and leave feeling strong and ready to go.

I got into work ready to chat with everyone and as I walked through the door I was greeted by rows of empty cubes. The entire web team was in San Jose for a meeting. But when I got to my desk, I was shocked to see three incredibly evil chocolate cookies and a welcome-back sign from my supportive friend Tiffany. There were a number of marketing folks who were all very warm and I received many nice emails from folks so I felt right at home. I didn’t miss a beat on making demands — within an hour of getting back, I requested that facilities make some modifications to the “quiet room” to make it a more efficient pumping room. Ah, I’m sure everyone is thrilled I’m back…

My day went smoothly and it was pretty easy to get back into the groove. I was prepared for crying in the bathroom, missing Walker terribly but I enjoyed seeing everyone and thinking about marketing stuff. I did have a few moments where I felt his absence so I made myself feel better by putting Sofia’s number on my office speed dial (it took me awhile to figure out how to do it) and calling to check in.

A few things I noticed:
* I was so good about not swearing while I was out but I slipped right back into a more brash vocabulary by noon
* I used to have an eye twitch and I hadn’t had it for quite awhile. I even forgot I ever had one. By 1:30 there was the faintest of twitches on my left eyelid. Given that I’m not stressed, I attribute it to my messy desk.
* I’m going to be getting a lot of exercise running up and down the stairs to pump every three hours
* It didn’t take me long to get right back into the midst of the gossip and intrigue

Larry picked Walker up around 4 and Sofia said he had a wonderful time at his first music class. He sat in his seat, leaned forward, and bobbed his head to the beat. He slept and ate well and then he and Larry spent some quality time together.

Did I mention that we joined a cult?

It seems now that we’ve had a child, we’re part of a cult. The child is essentially the secret handshake and people start talking about stuff they wouldn’t talk about normally. It’s hard to explain but Larry and I have laughed over some of the conversations we’ve had with complete strangers. Today Larry was in the grocery store with Walker and a random guy started guessing Walker’s age and asked Larry if he liked being a dad. You see, he was a recent inductee to the cult as well.

So, we’re part of a cult and I’m going to work hard to balance everything. Just a normal life. Just one more thing…