What I Did On My First Day Back to Work

1. Made arrangements to work a shorter day because- oops!- we only have one car until tomorrow.

2. Emailed that in fact I would also be late because my daughter had to go to Urgent Care.

3. Took poor, feverish Clio to Urgent Care; discovered she has a double ear infection and the flu. (The Dr. insists that the rapid flu test was a "false negative" and explained that the test is only 10-70% effective. !!!!)

4. Left sick baby at home with Dave who, as a new and short-term stay-at-home-dad, was also having a rough first day on the job.

5. Commuted to Denver in silence. (Antenna was stolen in our last week in Brooklyn- a parting gift.)

6. Upon 11:30 arrival at the office, was confronted by very large dog which, I swear, could play that evil wolf-dog character in the Neverending Story. Loud barking ensued. Backed down the stairs, shaking. Began to cry.

7. Tried to pull it together so no one would witness the tears. Failed.

8. Said to my new employers, "well, now you know I'm a crier. Might as well get that out of the way." (Very kind new employers generous response: "We're all criers here: we're writers!")(The dog is named Luka, by the way, and turns out her bark is much louder than her bite, as the saying goes.)

9. Ordered office furniture.

10. Got a parking ticket. Because of course street cleaning happens on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, which, of course, is the day on which I returned to work.

11. Did some work.

12. Left early. (Sick baby and all.)

Tomorrow, though...tomorrow I will get up on the other side of my bed!