It's a yes

I am going off to sea for 10 days + loading and unloading the ship + flight to the research vessel. I am really excited to have this opportunity, to go to sea, do the research, play with dye, do measurements, meet other scientists, and the crew etc.

I am halfway looking forward to leaving my guys alone at home, and being able to have 9 nights of undisturbed sleep - if you can call working in odd shifts (either noon to midnight or midnight to noon) and sharing a bed "undisturbed". ;)

And halfway I am a bit nervous about the details. There is so much to think and consider - pumping and freezing some milk, so there is a supply for Silvan, when I am gone, what to pack - it'll be hot and muggy, but we still need to wear safe clothes, that can get dirty, when we play with dye. The sea sickness, but they have great drugs nowadays. Leaving my two guys alone at home - will they manage, will they miss me, will I miss them? I am sure they will manage just fine. But the nights might be tough at first, and they will have to figure out the feeding thing. He eats solids, and is getting better with drinking out of cups, and maybe N. will now put a bit more effort into teaching Silvan to bottle feed to use a sippycup, which I think would be great anyhow.

Of course I'll miss both of them, but sometimes it is better so say yes and just dive into it and think about the consequences later :) I am sure all three of us will be fine and it will be good for each one of us.

It is just perfect timing, that we started looking and interviewing day care centers for 2-3 days a week. Which is a whole other story; so many options, and so many centers with different ideas about parenting, sickness, discipline, feeding, time and of course money. On average one day costs about $50. We'll have to supply food, drinks and diapers; some places even charge $90 per day.