Week 1

omg. I am so tired.

I'll set a few things straight right now: I love my family. I am loving my job. I love my home. And I love to run.

All of those together, though, after three years of "pampering" myself with just freelancing and staying home with Jenna, is exhausting.

My house has seen better days. At least the dishes have stayed clean. The floors could be swept, the rugs, vacuumed. The bathrooms have been cleaner. The toilets ... I'll scrub them this weekend. We keep running out of food. Gone are the days of running to the store in the middle of the day for milk. Bread. Even soy sauce.

I do come home, though, to a husband who has picked up our daughter from school -- after he leaves his school on base -- and who has started dinner. I haven't had to make one meal this week!!

I forgot, however, what it was like to eat lunch. My days are filled with interviews, writing and trying to answer questions from editors. I drink Vitamin Water and coffee. One day for lunch, I got Subway. Ate at my desk.

I've written about the KKK (welcome to Alabama!), the Mattel recall, colleges and elections. This weekend, I have a piece running about products imported from our favorite China. That actually was a fun piece.

I swallowed back tears yesterday after dropping Jenna off at the school cafeteria. A little girl told me as I entered the cafeteria that Jenna was mean because Jenna wouldn't let her play with her on Wednesday.

I wanted to beat the tar out of that little girl.

I had to leave, though, and asked Jenna if she'd be okay (my first day leaving before the first bell rang). And Jenna said, "I'm always okay, mom."

That about killed me.

I watched through the cafeteria window as she sat alone in the cafeteria before her friend Lily showed up and brightened her face. Thank gawd for Lily.

I returned home around 9 p.m. last night from my writing group -- after stopping off at a local business to get some information for a business story -- only to have to finish Jenna's first school project (she did help throughout the week).

It was due today. I made my first school-project deadline!

I sit with burning eyes from lack of sleep ... from getting up at 5 a.m. three days this week to run so I can continue training for the San Antonio half marathon in November.

I sit here knowing I have to wake at 5:15 a.m. tomorrow to meet my running group in Montgomery for a 9-10-mile run.

And next week, I get to do this all over again.

It's thrilling. Really, it is. It's good to be back.