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"What am I talking about? OK. For those of you who are new to Storked! I am a full-time freelance writer, and I work from home. I used to work full-time at First magazine and JD was in day care. Then I got a book deal. These days, I work around JD&amp;#x27;s schedule because, hey, day care is expensive, and I don&amp;#x27;t have an extra $1,200 a month (that&amp;#x27;s what I used to pay). I do a lot of work in the evenings when JD is down for the night. (It&amp;#x27;s 9:03 P.M. right now on Monday night.) I also work during the day from 7 A.M. to 8 A.M., when JD is drinking milk and watching Sesame Street, and in the afternoon for a good two, sometimes three hours when he is napping. Yesterday, however, JD was not a champion napper.He had lunch (a yogurt smoothie, strawberries, a few wheat crackers and a mozzarella stick) and as usual went straight into his crib for his afternoon nap. I settled in at my desk with a cup of coffee and started nit-picking at a pitch, researching for some upcoming reviews on babble.com&amp;#x27;s Droolicious blog and plowing through e-mails. Forty-five minutes later, JD woke up. He didn&amp;#x27;t wake up crying, like he had lost his pacifier. He woke up giggling and saying, &amp;quot;Mama! Vrrrrrooom! Beep-Beep!&amp;quot; His train table is in his bedroom. As soon as he wakes up, he acts like he&amp;#x27;s seeing it for the first time. It&amp;#x27;s adorable. I retrieved him, changed his diaper, gave him some water and plopped him on the floor of his bedroom. He started playing with his trains. I returned to my desk stressed because I wanted to keep working despite the fact I had already made a deadline for Hybrid Mom earlier in the day. Ten minutes later, I crept over the edge of my desk and saw the sun filtering in through the window in his room. It made his hair light up and look white and iridescent. It was a little after one. I looked at him again, then the clock, then I smacked my computer shut. &amp;quot;Wanna go swimming, bud?&amp;quot; I said. &amp;quot;O-Key!&amp;quot; (OK) he said, dropping the train in his hand. I spread a beach towel over a lounge chair and peeled my sundress off. I plopped down, resting my back on the chair and pulled JD up onto my lap, handing him a honey-wheat pretzel stick. The sun was warm, and the air smelled like grass and chlorine. The patio was dotted with other moms and their children, a few elder people, a really cute guy with a nice body reading on his back. I took JD into the pool, and he squealed and pulled his knees up into my stomach. The water was cold. I plopped him on the edge, and he hugged my neck, water dripping off his arms. I was glad he woke up early. I was glad I was taking advantage of the pool on the grounds and the sunshine. JD is turning two next month. Time flies, it sure does. I&amp;#x27;ve been looking for full-time jobs (and there are none in my field--big surprise), but maybe one day soon there will be and JD will be in day care full-time, and playing in the pool on a random Monday afternoon won&amp;#x27;t be an option. You have to take advantage of your situation and surroundings--you really do. I&amp;#x27;m curious if you do. For instance, are you out of work but too stressed to take a walk and admire a nearby garden? Does your office building provide a great outdoor eating space, yet you sit in your cubicle every single day and scarf down a ham sandwich? Do you ever visit the free museums in your hood? Do you have a balcony on your home or an awesome patio that provides excellent seating for the nightly sunset yet can&amp;#x27;t remember the last time you saw it? What about ice cream? It&amp;#x27;s summertime. Have you gotten an occasional cone after dinner? I&amp;#x27;m excited to read your responses and hope we can all inspire each other to take five every now and then. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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