the first 4 am feeding

Two words: Ex hausted.

The labor went better than expected, thanks in large part to the wonderful aid of friends. A big shout out to Weakley, who helped me unload the entire U-haul the same night she helped load it and moved another friend of ours. Epic friend points.

But now, the baby is starting to whine and remind me that it needs things like food and clothing. Usually my regressive type-A personality flares up when I move; I unpack and organize as quickly as possible. However, since my family got into town the day after I unloaded the truck, my entire dining room is still full of boxes. Also, this lovely heat wave hitting the East Coast means that every window air conditioning unit in the city has been sold. So the first night trying to sleep through the night with my new little child meant being able to find no clothes, having no curtains to shield my near-naked sleeping, not being able to sleep through the night anyway because of unbearable heat, and my rusty pipes forcing the purchase of a new showerhead, which of course did not work in the fitting of the old showerhead but who would've thought to check that before taking off the old showerhead and making the entire shower feature nonfunctional. Not this new mama.

Thank God for Grandpa.

As many things as I find overbearing about my father, his insistence that his daughters will not be stranded by a flat tire or ask someone the difference between a flathead and phillips screwdriver are not on the list. So, when the new baby was not only keeping me from a good night's sleep but destroying any remnants of my normal lifestyle, he helped me tackle at least the shower.

Of course this first required a trip to Lowe's, where he loaded up a new toolbox full of more kinds of plyers than I will ever have need for. An hour and another trip to Ace Hardware later, and I have a rust-free, 5-option spray shower. And sometimes I think that's just what a new mother needs. I can't do anything about the sleeping (remedied at the moment by crashing in Weakley's air conditioned basement), or the unpacking until they leave, but I at least have a respite from life for as long as the water wants to flow. Or spray, or trickle, or whatever my fancy is at the moment. Of course the curtains I bought are too short, so clearly I just need to focus on one project at a time.

My sister (who is reading this post over my shoulder), slept through the entire afternoon ordeal. Hints of her future skills as an aunt, I think.