My sister cried so hard my dad almost took her home (and she was 18! Har! Okay, kidding). I told my parents to go home and leave me alone.

I don't even know where to begin evaluating daycare options. (Well, other than the obvious of talking to my working mom friends, asking how they made their choices, and seeing if they'll give me ballpark cost figures.) I'm so not ready for this.

Basically, we just went and talked to the director, looked at the school and the baby room, talked to the teacher. We meant to ask for some parental references, but when they said they could take her on the date I needed, we handed them a check. You could also look at your local Better Business Bureau and whatever state authority oversees daycare. In California, it's the Dept of Welfare or some such.

I told my parents to go home and leave me alone.

This does not surprise me.

My guess , Susan, is that even if number 2 becomes a possibility - having some sort of day care worked out would be good. I am guessing if you want to doubel your freelance income you will need to know that 2- 3 days a week you have uninterrupted time to either work or meet with clients.

Just a note on CC debt. Even though it would be cool to pay it off before you bought a house - one of the plans in the back of my mind is when the interest rate goes up on our laon - a refi might be in order - and there should be money to pay them all off. and since I don't see them being paid off in three yrs and keep the savings where we think it should be...

I am guessing if you want to doubel your freelance income you will need to know that 2- 3 days a week you have uninterrupted time to either work or meet with clients.

Heh. I'd need to way more than double it to be able to afford any kind of daycare that I'd have to go on a waiting list for. If I tripled it, I'd probably be in a position to hire a college student to come watch her 15 hours/week or so in the living room while I worked in the office.

Susan, it seems like the other families at your church would be a good resource for you to ask some questions about the day-care places they use, or places they've rejected. Also, nannies are often a network, from what I can tell -- it seems like my friends have found their nannies by asking their friends' nannies if they know anyone who is available.

Have I mentioned that I really hate this? Because I enjoy working at home and being my own boss. I'm probably the happiest I've ever been post-college. But sometimes when you do what you love, the money doesn't follow quickly enough.

Kristin (and others with tiaras) there's something called a Sunshine Cloth. I buy them at the local bead store. They're great for polishing jewelry. They have the advantage of not making a mess, although they leave a residue on your hands. And whatever you use, make sure it's something that's not going to leave shreds in the settings of your tiara!

sometimes when you do what you love, the money doesn't follow quickly enough.

Um, yeah. Living that right now.

OK, having established that no one at UW or the Hutch (cancer research center) wants a grant writer or events coordinator (part-time preferred) just now, I should probably stop staring dismally at the job listings on the Seattle Times classifieds site and remind myself that none of this is either immediate or definite.