Taking Stock

Dear Friends and Family,

I turned a corner yesterday. I realized it after I parked the car and walked through the building to meet Mr. mouse. After a month of trial and error, things feel like they're falling into place. I'm beginning to get the hang of it.

• job: It's still new and I'm still figuring it all out. But, the building, my colleagues, the cube, it all feels normal now. I have water stocked in my cube and tea bags. I have napkins and tissues. I have friends to laugh with and I'm making progress on my project.
• house: Living with Mr. mouse again is working out well. We don't have a lot of time together on the weeknights with the crazy commute, but it's beginning to feel normal. The mouse pad feels like home now. Before, it just felt like a place I visited when I needed a haircut.
• wellness: Yesterday's gym routine went okay. I found an elliptical I like. And, I was strangely okay with the weights. Maybe it was just using it a half dozen times to get used to it.
• financial planning: I am still really excited about the loan modification. I'm also rolling over my 401k from my old work to my financial planner. No more orphan 401ks.
• commuting: It's still is super long. Let's not kid ourselves here. But, between carpooling and public transportation, this is becoming routine too. The new lot is working out well too. It'll be my default going forward and I'll see how I like it.
• eating schedule: I still haven't figured this one out. Dinner is a LOT later now with the longer commute. Breakfast is a lot earlier for the same reason. And, for some ungodly reason, there is no refrigerator or microwave at work for the time in between. So far, I've been making do with room temperature food. It's getting old. I ordered a tiny fridge from Amazon. Will post it when it arrives. And, I have a deal with a co-worker with a contraband microwave to use it for my lunch. For now, this still requires some tinkering. Plus, with my killer weigh-in this week, I lost another point. So, that needs to be incorporated into the routine.
• sleep routine: Bed by 10 PM. Up by 4:15 AM. Sleep when on the bus or Mr. mouse is driving.
• car: We kept the Jetta.
• driving in a new city: Mr. mouse does the city part. I do the suburban part. The suburban part is no different than driving anywhere else in the country.
• learning roads: I've learned a couple of alternate routes if for some reason Mr. mouse and I are going in separately. Or, I can slough it out on the highway. More importantly, the roads around work are beginning to make sense. I have a decent chance at not getting lost each time I try to do something new.
• finding service providers: We have a dry cleaner. Lisa. I got a quickie manicure at work. It was okay, but my hands are super dry from winter. Will need to experiment more on this one. It was convenient, but average. Everything else can be taken as needed. The dry cleaner was the one I was most anxious about.
• pilates: I might be putting this on hold for now. I think I can make the gym routine work with my current gym. And, the only pilates studio I found by work only offers it in 1 hour sessions. That's a little too rich for my blood. I might hold off and see how I feel in six months. For now, sacrificing it to feel like I've transitioned is worth it.

We have a couple of big dates in the next couple of months - Feb 3, I'm hopefully transitioning my 401k. Mar 1, I'm starting contributions to my new 401k. Apr 1, I'm hopefully modifying my loan. I think by then I'll be able to revisit my Top 3. Right now, it's wellness, transitions, refinancing. By then, I think I'll be comfortable replacing the latter two with other stuff. It'll roughly coincide with the start of spring a period of rebirth. I like that. Winter always seems to last forever, but it inevitably gives way to spring. I just need to get through winter and by spring life will be different yet again.


Cheers!
mouse