Today marks the beginning of my third week of maternity leave. Originally I had intended to take at least four months off and return to the office after the first of the year but I have since changed my mind. I decided to return after six weeks and work a little and then take a lot of time off around the holidays. The idea of a gradual return appealed to me since the months of November and December tend to be less hectic at my workplace and as a new working (outside of the home) mother of two I am sure I will appreciate the adjustment period.

I will not be doing a sad face countdown to my return. Of course I would love nothing more than to get paid to stay home and snuggle beautiful babies all day but that is not my reality. P loves his daycare and we are at a point that we are very comfortable with his childcare provider. C will be watched at my home by various fabulous family members until she is at least three and a half/four months old. After the beginning of the year she will join P at his daycare provider.

The other super fantastic thing is that my company has switched locations and is now five minutes from my home (MORE SLEEP!) and the children's daycare (EVEN MORE PSYCHO PARENT SNEAKY POP-INS!). Things are very unsettled at the current time at my workplace in terms of assignments but since I am not there I am not going to sweat it. I mention this because I am not sure whether I will be traveling more or less than last year and therefore have no idea just how difficult my life is going to get in that respect. I will find out soon enough and there is no point in worrying about it right now.

I am enjoying every second of my leave but I would not be me if I wasn't obsessing over ridiculous household and personal minutiae. I like to set ridiculous personal goals and create projects for myself. The problem is that when and if I fall short of them I get upset. Too upset considering the fact that the projects are along the lines of: Make tamales for the first time, organize cabinets alphabetically, and such. Inconsequential projects that should have no effect on me but they do!

This is what I hope to accomplish during my leave. Feel free to laugh at me:

• Kick my addicion to Cherry Kool-Aid & cherry flavored Craisins. I have a serious problem. I cannot stop drinking/eating this stuff and it is not good for me. I am fairly certain that my husband and I ripped through a five pound bag of sugar in a month. That is vile.
• Read at least half of a machining text book a coworker loaned me. Exciting stuff! Obviously the knowledge is important to me as it pertains to my "career"/job/whatever but I have always been interested in the manufacturing process as that is what both of my parents have a background in. 
• Finish organizing every closet, cabinet, drawer, and shelf in my house. This one is easy since I work on it everyday. I only have a bathroom cabinet and a kitchen cabinet full of paperwork left. 
• Settle into a regular at home work out routine in anticipation of my return to the gym. I am not sure what I will choose (Flirty Girl Fitness?). Perhaps some yoga until I am given the okay to run, lift weights, etc. 

I am keeping it simple in an effort to not disappoint myself. My main goal is to enjoy my time with my beautiful new baby but that is an easy one.

Am I the only crazy person with a to-do list during maternity leave? What did you do during your leave? Feel free to tell me that I am nuts.