Things accomplished today

• The bambina's weight gain recorded: She's up to 6 lbs., 2 oz. For those of you keeping score at home, that is five ounces gained in the last week, and a full 1 lb., 1 oz. above her birth weight. I am really going to miss getting this info once the visiting nurse appointments run out in a few weeks.
  
• An hour in the sling for Ess. As I imagined, this will be the key to my sanity in weeks to come. The sling, plus a bit of The Seeger Sessions, kept her calm and quiet, and allowed me to not only make myself a cup of tea, but I also...
• Applied for student loan consolidation, thanks to the very thorough NPR story I heard while nursing Ess in bed this morning. I knew rates were going up but didn't think I was eligible to consolidate since I only have one loan and consolidating implies, well, combining a couple. But it turns out you can, and I did. So now it appears that grad school will be paid off in 10 years (when Ess is in FIFTH GRADE -- difficult to imagine). But at least I've got a fixed rate and payments that are actually a bit lower than they are right now. Whether the master's was actually worth this marathon of payment is a subject I'd rather not get into.
  
• Made banana bread, like I threatened to a couple days ago. It looks a little light to me, but I guess that's what happens when you give up the browning effects of butter. Haven't tasted it yet, but it smells ok.
• Did laundry. Well, I started a load of Ess' poop-stained onesies, along with another batch of new clothes courtesy of my mom's coworkers -- fantastic people, most of whom I've never even met. D finished it when he got home from work, and did a load of our clothes to boot.
• Took advantage of a break in the deluge to take Ess out for a spin in her stroller. Will we ever see the sun again?

And now I must head to bed, since we're approaching the late hour of 9:3o pm. Such is the glamorous life of the mother of a nearly one-month-old little peanut, who at the moment is swaddled, sound asleep, on the couch next to her very tired father. But don't let that fool you; she's got plans for a midnight dance party, and I need to get some sleep before then.