I’m currently at Sissy’s. Tomorrow I fly out to see Apurva and then a couple of days after, Liliana. I am excited to see them both as it’s been a long time. Road trip here we come!

On my drive to Sissy’s I realized some things. For eight months I made this gruesome drive to and from downtown for work. I guess I never really knew how tired and overworked I was spending over three hours in traffic daily sometimes. I mean, you’d think the horrible car accident would have been a red flag but I’m thankful I’m alive.

One of the things I realized these last few months was how depressed I was at that job. The drive, feeling like my career was a dead end and I wasn’t amounting to anything, and driving to Scruffy’s almost every weekend and even some weekdays. I would always want to take a nap whenever I got to his house so that I could give him 100% when I was refreshed. I remember him getting angry at me for taking naps when I was there to see him and I’ve realized that he never took the time to realize or even ask how I was doing.

I guess that’s where it took a toll on me. I tried so hard to give everyone 100% that I forgot about myself. No one was giving me 100%. I didn’t have alone time. I didn’t have time to recharge. I felt like my world was crumbling and I couldn’t do it anymore. I just needed a break from reality because no one understood me. And I knew only I can help myself.

This job is also pretty gruesome with the hours I put in but I feel like I matter and that I am actually putting in hours where value is added. My ideas are being heard and things are actually going better than I expected. I’ve always been a workaholic and being able to actually prove myself in that front helps.

Today was my Boss’ birthday. Wacko, Erin, Chris, Phil and I decided to take her out to celebrate since we’ve been so busy we haven’t really had time to relax. She suggested Sylvia’s near work and my goodness … they made one of the best carne asada I’ve ever had! So freaking tender! We got the waiters to surprise her and sing happy birthday so that was a fun memory we had especially since she was really freaked out about it.

Here’s to more happy memories.

Stay Positive & Think Good Thoughts!

I’ve been listening to an audiobook that someone suggested which I’m hoping to finish by the end of the trip. Fingers crossed so that I can add finishing my second book this year. I’m behind due to such a busy first few months with work being so demanding and new. It’s still tough but I’m finding time when I can.

This popped up on my Facebook memories today. It’s funny how everything came back full circle over the same guy.

Less than two days and I’ll be reunited with Apurva and Liliana. Can’t wait to see these two. It’s been so long!

No volunteering tonight so it was finally time with Mallory! Everything worked out since she’s usually busy on Thursday’s.

By the time I got to her house food was already available along with a bottle of wine. I’m thankful for her always.

Having times like these with them melts my heart. This boy is growing up so fast it’s crazy and I’m glad I get to be along for the ride. I cannot wait to see all he’s going to accomplish.

Daniel and Jade had their annual crawfish boil and I finally got to go! Jade did a great job flavouring it Cajun style since they’re both from Louisiana. I thought it was adorable that both boys asked for my validation. Apparently people told them I was a master at crawfish and if I signed off on it then they are golden.

It was mostly old team members and now that we are kind of spread out throughout campus it’s nice to see them outside of work and to talk about non-work related things. We talked about game night in the near future which sounds fun.

A bunch of us decided to meet up online to race on Mario Kart with our Switches and after a bunch of races I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not that great and the more I play the worse I get.

Work has still been hours on hours. I do miss being a contractor because I’d be banking with all this overtime. I’m hoping all the hours I’m putting in will make a difference for my future. I’m currently learning a lot since this position is outside my scope and it’s been a tough journey but as my mentor says, “Take it one day at a time because at the end everything will work out.”