Wednesday night is now my Solo Coffeehouse Night.

The combination of a breastpump and a wonderful husband allow me to sneak out of the house for a few hours on Wednesdays for dissertating, emailing, blogging, or whatever. Usually it's dissertating, like tonight, when I got some great work done with Fauré's Violin Sonata no. 1. Music analysis is hard enough on its own, and it's basically impossible when I'm the only one watching Kent, since it requires careful attention to the score, typing or writing my observations, and constant pausing and rewinding of the music. My advisor, who has kids, is very understanding about the fact that this semester is going to be even more slack than the slackness I've shown so far in getting through my dissertation, but I still feel compelled to get SOMEthing done. I'm looking at three more years until my seven-year deadline to finish the Ph.D. is up, and even though I thought it would be plenty of time when I started, it's starting to feel like not-so-plenty. I wouldn't change a thing about our timing of having Kent, and though I love spending the days with him, I realize that in order to have the career I want to have eventually, I need to get a move on.

Anyway, after a quick dinner, I leave my boys at home to watch baseball and take care of each other, and I luxuriate for a couple of hours in the smell of coffee and pastries and the solitude of my own brain. I forgot how good it feels to be working on my music stuff. But I should really go home now, since it's bathtime. Rubber ducks, hooded towels, and my giggling boy await.

Labels: husband things, Kent, school

• posted by erica 9/19/2007 09:20:00 PM
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