Working late

Today was the first day I felt really stressed at my job. I have to give a presentation at 7am tomorrow morning to a group of pediatricians (7am! Damn these hardy New Englanders, up with the sun and all that) and have been wrestling with a massive data set that simply refuses to make any sense. I was at work until 7pm--though that's much easier to palate, knowing I have a 15-minute drive home, not a 1-hour subway commute--and was feeling completely frazzled and overwhelmed when I left. But I noticed that I'm able to unwind a lot more quickly here. It was warm tonight, almost 80 degrees, and I when I got home I changed into shorts and sat on the deck with the animals, took in the color of the moon from behind some clouds, and within minutes I was feeling so appreciative of our view and the soft air that I realized that I'd been spending years not knowing how to unwind from one day to the next.

On the other hand, this has also been the week that my I-miss-New-York feeling has truly kicked in for the first time. Six months ago I was single, living in one of the largest cities in the world, and had only myself and the occasional Rufus snuggles to answer to. Now I'm coupled off, with three animals to feed and pick up after, and I can't even drop my garbage down the hallway chute anymore. I have to carry it downstairs and to the curb, like a responsible adult. I have a "drinks" date Thursday, the first one in weeks, which feels like a special treat rather than yet another obligation, like they so often did in New York, when I had so many more of them.

But everything is fine. It's just a period of adjustment. It's just a whole new world, is all.