Getting Ready All Over

It may seem like an easy task:
Make sure that everything runs smoothly while I'll be out of the office when Abby is born.

It's is easy, but it's not.

If all goes according to plan, I'll only be out of the office for two weeks, and am accessible by phone or email.

I spend a lot of my day working for different people in the office. I keep trying to put on the persona that it's not too big of a deal that I'll be gone. I work with extremely competent, working adults. Everything should continue like clockwork. There seems to be a sense that it's not going to be such a nice clock, though.

I have written down in detail all of the operations that I typically do that others don't: web-calendar, voicemail controls, overnight delivery instructions, et cetera.

I think that the key to the anxiety is that the time off can't really be planned. Will it start in two days or ten? Will there be false trips to the hospital that trigger panic but are essentially just smoke and mirrors?

I think that doctors should stop using due dates. It focuses everyone onto one specific date, when we know that it's not in the realm of beign true. Only 5 percent of women deliver on their due date. ONLY 5%!!!

But anyway - in addition to the chaos of getting things done at home, I also am working hard to get things ready at work. Good news is that I get to reevaluate the way that some things are done!

There's always an upside!