The Definition of Work...

I am known around the KSL newsroom as Jessica the Internet Content Manager/Producer.

My work life is filled with news. Fires. Murders. Lawsuits. Floods. New Buildings. Old Buildings. Government dealings. Polygamists. Talking parrots. Octo-moms. Michael Jackson. All in a day's work.

My work life is filled with writing. I spend my days typing away, pausing once or twice every hour or so to take a sip of my water (and by "water" I mean Diet Dr. Pepper). I review scripts, rewrite scripts and craft scripts, combing through them until they are ready to be sent out to the world.

My work life is filled with interesting people. I love the producers, reporters, anchors, photographers and editors that help me get the job done. I also love the crazy characters that add color to the stories I write. The woman who offered her Jeep on KSL Classifieds in exchange for a husband. The woman who stole coupon mailers from her neighbors' mailboxes. The man who expressed his disapproval of the Attorney General by relieving himself outside the AG's office. These are the people who make my work life interesting, and quite frankly, hilarious.

For the past four weeks, however, my "work" life has taken on a new shape.

I'm known around my new office (our apartment) as Jessica the clueless mother.

My new work life is filled with hard labor. Diapers. Spit up. Bath Time. Burping. Rocking. Nursing. All in a day's work.

My new work life is also filled with news. "She smiled!" "She pooped!" "She laughed!" "She gained a pound!" "She slept 6 hours straight!" "She sucked her thumb!" "She's losing her hair!" "She's growing out of her newborn clothes!"

My new work life is filled with one very important character. She makes me laugh. She makes me smile. Sometimes she makes me cry. She teaches me all kinds of things. Lola girl is my life. There's not much more I can say about that.

Today, I returned to my old work life while Lola spent the afternoon with Grandma Cyndi. Though it was only four hours, and though I knew my daughter was in very good hands, I found myself struggling to settle back into the way things used to be. It was hard to focus on the news of the day when all I wanted was to know what Lola was up to. It was hard to write stories for the web when all I wanted to do was change a diaper. It was hard to focus on the people around me when all I wanted to do was stare at my beautiful baby.

Somehow, I survived. When my KSL shift finally came to a close, I couldn't wait to get home to start my Lola shift.




I love my work life, but I love my Lola even more. I just hope I can learn to juggle the two.