+ Leave +
So, I still haven't gone down to talk to the HR folks, but I was talking to another pretty new mommy (delivered 1/02) about leave. See, here's the thing: I'm doing fine, I have no pre-term labor worries yet, and everything's hunky-dory. But I'm ready to be off of work. I adore my job, and I'm the kind of person who will go absolutely stir-crazy at home. I know that. And yet... I want to stay home. I was initially planning to work until 3/7, the Friday before my due date. But now I'm thinking of leaving at the end of February, or sooner. It's going to get harder to move around, let alone concentrate on what I'm doing. And I'm eligible for 4 weeks before, 2 at full pay, 2 at 2/3 pay. That's pretty generous, and if I don't use them, I lose them. In other words, I can't apply them after you're born. So why not have a little time to get my act in gear? Coupled with my daily panic by realizing how painfully soon you'll be here, the thought of getting things done soon is absolutely tantalizing. I don't know what I'll do yet. I need to go talk to the HR people, which I've been saying for months. Maybe next week I'll actually do it. But right now, I'm really happy by the thought of being home, maybe the last week or two of February. Wow. That's, like, next month.