May 15, 2019 diary
6:30 Up and at ‘em! My therapist has been riding me about having a more consistent morning routine, including getting up at the same time every day. I hate to admit it, but it works. I can actually get up when I want to now. This morning is a bit earlier than normal, so the dogs are confused, but as soon as they realize that I AM getting out of bed for the day, they are excited as ever. Brush my teeth. Open the blinds. Feed the cats. Walk the dogs. Make coffee. Get ready.
8:00 Ack! I’m running behind! I need to get to Lafayette by 10, and I’m not ready to leave. I finish throwing stuff in my luggage when D, our new house cleaner, comes to the door. Honestly, I’m glad that I’ll be gone for her first day at the house. On one hand I’m really excited to have the extra help around the house because I don’t have time for it, but on the other hand I’m really self-conscious about it! It feels SO bourgeoise and foreign. I was poor growing up; I always assumed that I would be the one cleaning houses, not hiring that out. I feel a little better about it because D has a good job and just does this on the side for more money. Am I just trying to justify it to myself? Am I contributing to the exploit economy? Sigh. Sometimes being a sociologist is a pain in the ass.
- let me have the last piece of frittata. I shove it in my mouth cold, tell the boys goodbye, and am out the door by 815. Not too bad.
8:15-10:15 First priority: get gas. Why didn’t I get gas last night?! It’s $0.15/gallon more this morning. I run into the restroom before I leave and totally walk in on a little kiddo and grandma. I shut the door quickly, and hear the little girl say, “who was that, grandma?” Haha! It was adorable!
Back on the road. I have to remind myself over and over the first 30 minutes to slow down. I already know I’m going to be late; there’s no point in killing myself in the process. I text my boss that I’m going to be late; his reply, “no worries.” One of the many reasons I love my job. It’s a nice morning – sun shining, not windy – so I’m trying to enjoy the drive.
10:15-6:00 Big chunk of time, but it’s all the same … we’re hosting and teaching a community development course in Lafayette, which is why I’m here, but I’m working on a project that needs to be done by the end of this week, so I’m not really paying attention. Luckily what I’m doing is relatively mindless and repetitive, so I can do it with talking and commotion going on around me.
End of session 1 and there’s a break, so I get to say hi to M and T, who are in town from California to teach the class. It’s great to see them. They are both more than colleagues; I’ve known them since grad school. Even still I’m never quite sure what the decorum is in these situations. I’ve been very conscious of how much I touch people lately, especially at work. I give them a hug anyway. M was good with it – he’s a hugger; I think T was surprised, but not in a bad way.
Lunch was gross. I ate too much anyway.
More work during session. I want this damn report to be done already!! By the end of the last session, I’m done with 5 counties, and have 15 more to go. Sigh. This is going to take forever.
6:00-7:00 Break? Kind of. Mostly not. At least I’m not around other people – alone in my room, but I’m still working. Mostly I tweak design rather than do the actual work. My brain is mushy, so doing work right now is probably a bad idea.
How did an hour go by already? I feel like I’ve only been sitting on my bed for about 10 minutes. I rush to refresh my makeup and meet my colleagues downstairs in the lobby for dinner.
7:00-10:00 Deciding where to get dinner; my priorities are drinking and sitting outside, in that order. Everyone concurs. We walk to a bistro a couple of blocks away and find a perfect outside table. It’s pretty good food. M and I split some deviled eggs. Oh man. I love deviled eggs!! They were tasty too – capers, salmon, magic … everything! I also had some carrot ginger soup and beer. It was a perfect evening for it too – warm, but not humid. Lovely. I really appreciate that I work with folks who I enjoy getting dinner with and talking to. There are a lot of reasons that I love my job, but that’s a really important one.
About ½ way through dinner, we all started to notice that there was some live music wafting our way from somewhere: keyboard and vocals. After dinner we decided to go find it; ends up it was just at the other end of the block at a bar. The musician was playing outside. We all decided to stop in and get a night cap. I got Four Roses, single barrel on the rocks. Delicious!
One of my colleagues had a little too much to drink. She’s hilarious when she’s drunk, but had a hard time walking back to the hotel.
10:15 Get ready for bed. I actually brushed my teeth and washed my face, which I don’t always do when I’ve been drinking. I’m not excited about getting up at 630 tomorrow …