Is this what it's gonna be like?

In the last few weeks, I've hardly posted anything to my blog...anything written by me anyway. To be honest, I've hardly visited my regular blog haunts, Twitter, or considered topics to post to my blog. School hasn't even started yet, and already my daily fixes are getting the squeeze.

My mind lately has been occupied by school preparations and lab meetings, putting together lectures, and getting all the necessary appointments and To Dos out of the way. As of last night, I have a few hefty articles to read and discuss next week, right after the 2-day teaching conference. And once the week after that rolls around...well I hope it's not too crazy.

It's strange how having a kid really reboots your whole life. When I was working, life was moderately busy, but I usually knocked off by 6:00 and had time to myself most evenings. Then came school, and my evenings and weekends were taken up by studying. But now, that'll be different. I'm really aiming to get most of my work done during the work week if I can manage it, as I'll only have part of the evening to study and want to preserve weekends for family and friends as much as I can. But given how my schedule looks, I think there's gonna be plenty of late nights and frustrating weekends hunched over my computer or grading assignments.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I am really excited about this new phase and believe it's the right fit for me. I'm just fleshing out the little anxieties that come up before anything new. Will everything work? Will everything work without negatively impacting August? I guess that's my real question.

I've always admired those parents who juggle kids and career, deal with the guilt, look for opportunities to grow professionally, and still make it to soccer and swimming and just hanging out in the yard. And I admire people who don't do that particularly juggling act, because staying at home with kids is a tough gig...one that's certainly tougher than whatever circus routine awaits us in the coming months, I think.

So...is this what it's gonna be like? No, it'll be something more.