Time Away

Hi.

I know. It's been a while, huh.

Here, allow me to distract you with this adorable side-eye from my kid:


Esscuse me? Where you been, guuurl?

So the job transition is consuming a lot of my time, obviously. I was away for a week and now I'm settling into the new role, new office, and new (much longer and more soul-sucking) commute. It's a lot. I haven't had a chance to browse any of my regular blogs, nevermind actually update my own.

Being away earlier this month was :gasp: not as bad as I expected. The build up was much worse than the trip itself. I nearly gave myself a panic attack the night before. The kind of anxiety when you can't feel your hands and one of them contorts into a claw? Maybe my sister's the only one who would understand the claw thing. Anyway, it was rough.

But then I got there. And I was like, "Okay, I'm here. For 5 days. Let's do this and then go home." I dove head first into the trainings (yawn) and networking events (ugh) and team dinners (meh) like my life depended on it. I was so distracted I didn't have time to dwell on how much I missed home.

I'd talk to Des on speaker phone every morning and get frequent updates from Tony. Apparently Des was a superstar all week, not a tear or tantrum in sight. Ahem. God bless my husband for knowing exactly what to keep secret.


This is me on the window sill of my hotel room, all, "Ok. So. What do I do now?" Solo traveler extraordinaire, I am not.

I should have taken a picture of the hotel bed. Holy ess, it was like a cloud in heaven and the comforter was like a hug from angels. That bed made the whole thing worth it.

There were even moments of the trip when I actually had... :looks around:... fun. SHH! Don't tell.

Like when we had a lovely low key dinner here:

Prior to which I attempted a field goal, threw footballs through tires, and generally one-upped the alpha males as I tend do in these type situations. It happens sometimes. Ask Tony.

Then there was that one night when I hung out with this guy:


You don't need details. But it was basically a flashback to my early 20's. A fabulous, hilarious horror show. Unfortunately I'm actually in my early 30's and I don't bounce back as easily from mechanical bulls. Ow.

So that trip is over. I have another coming up in November. And potentially more work travel in the future for both me and Tony. So please pardon me as we all get settled into this new life. I will not abandon this blog entirely, but udpates may come in spurts. Time is of the essence these days. And the precious free moments I get are usually spent like this:


He's a great lap cuddler. And god did I miss him.

The Job Front

As I've touched upon in the past, my career hit a bit of a speed bump recently. To put it briefly, my company was acquired by another larger firm. It was not guaranteed that there would be a position for me (or for anyone, really). Most of us had to interview for positions. Luckily, there was a match for me. And after hours upon hours of internal debate and family discussion, I accepted the offer with the new firm.

So yay for having a job!

While I am staying in the same department, my job responsibilities will be changing drastically. Also, I will now be commuting into the city. Can I get a collective 'UGGGH'? Yeah. This was one of the major sticking points for me. My commute will basically triple in duration, and instead of a congested highway, I'll be dealing with the woes of public transportation. Sigh.

However, the new company offers flexible work hours and the ability to work from home a great deal more than my current company. So I may only need to actually go into the office 2-3 days a week (if that!). They put a lot of emphasis on pursuing a positive work life balance, very family oriented, blah-dee-blah. So the days I have to go into the office will kinda suck, but on the days I'm home I'll get to drop Des off and pick him up from daycare, which I don't even get to do now! Major MAJOR plus.

On a semi side note... next house project = Home Office. Working at the dining room table is okay when it's once a week, but after that I imagine it will get old. IKEA here we come!

Next week I am traveling to a 5-day event for the merge of the 2 companies. 5 days. Away from home. From my husband, from my baby. I need a paper bag. To breathe in.. and out.. in.. and out. Obviously I'm having a bit of anxiety about this. And knowing that this event was in my future was even one of the negatives in taking the job. I do not part easily from my family, especially for 5 days... God I even hate typing that out loud. BREATHE DAMMIT.

But for some reason, the closer it gets to the event the less nervous I feel. Time is flying, and I hope it flies while I'm there too. I leave on Monday, back on Friday. I won't miss a weekend. Undoubtedly there will be tears. But I'm hoping I'll be plenty distracted so it'll be over before I know it.

There's an episode of the Simpsons in which Homer is having a particularly tough time at his miserable job. If you've ever watched that show for 5 minutes, you know this is one of the overarching themes: Working Man vs. Rich Greedy Old Boss. There's a sign hanging in Homer's office with a photo of crotchety Mr. Burns saying, "DON'T FORGET, YOU'RE HERE FOREVER." Homer tapes photos of his daughter Maggie on the sign so that instead it reads:



I think about this a lot lately. I'll think about it on the plane. And at the conference. And during those seemingly endless commutes.

I do it for him.