First Day on the New Job

So I made it through day one. It wasn't a big deal; I've known the people I'm supporting for more than 20 years. The work is the new thing. A lot of pubs work, some tracking, nothing as difficult as what I did on engines...so far, at least. My cubicle mate is soft spoken and kind. It's just the two of us, which is fine. We're in a sort of aisle-way that gets a lot of foot traffic, so we get a lot of attention. The iPod will be coming out soon.

I was homesick today, homesick for the gang on the engine team. What I didn't miss were the phone calls and demands and constant hurry-hurry-hurry. Still, I came home with a headache I can't shake. I stretched out on the floor for a while, then did some slow yoga and a little bit of belly-dancing to loosen up my back. I'm still achy. The plan for tomorrow is to fetch my ergonomic chair from the other office and maybe hook up one of those keyboard trays so I can put my mouse on it.

I'm thinking about going to The Big City this weekend for a writers' group meeting. They're going to do a panel on the YA market, something I'm interested in. Plus it's an excuse to go up to the city. ;) It would just make for a short weekend.

I think a long soak in the tub is on the ticket for tonight.

e.e. cumming for bedtime:

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life, which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

What's One More Blog?

Is there a 12-step program for blogging? I'm thinking I might need one.

As 2007 wound down, I told myself 2008 would be different. 2008 would be the year I would make the changes I've wanted to make but haven't had the courage to do so. I don't like doing what everyone else does, so I pretty much skipped the whole new year's resolution shtick. Instead, I found a list of mistakes to avoid in my local newspaper. I printed out the list and stuck it on my desk at work and read it every day.

So here we are at the start of the second month of the year. I've lost 13 pounds in a little over 2 weeks thanks to the South Beach plan. Losing weight---for good---was high on my list of changes. I've been an emotional eater all of my life. I'm built like my father; we're both apple shaped, which means we're at the top of the death-by-cardiac-event list. He loses weight by limiting carbs, so I assumed the same would work for me. Boy howdy, does it. Bad carbs out, good carbs in, and I keep tightening my belt and hitching up my pants and wondering if I should go ahead and buy new lingerie now or wait a little longer. Wonders never cease.

I start a new job tomorrow. A new job was also high on the list of changes. Since I work for the government, I'm pretty much at the mercy of many layers of management, myriad processes, and boatloads of roadblocks. Yet the opportunity came, and instead of shying away from it because of my idiotic loyalty and my fear of the unknown, I took it. I'll miss the people on my old team, but I won't miss the constant crisis-mode style of management.

It's after 9 pm, so I'll stop here. Early bedtimes are another change; I spent most of 2007 severely sleep deprived, and it took a toll on my body.

I'll close with some beautiful lines from "Nobody's Cryin'," one of my favorite Patty Griffin songs:

May you dream you are dreaming in a warm soft bed
And may the voices inside you that fill you with dread
Make the sound of thousands of angels instead
Tonight where you might be laying your head...