The Commute

Good morning! So, blogging is still sporadic, but it appears that Sunday will be my best day. And, since Reina has decided 6:30 am is the best time to... um... use the bathroom (eww! stinky)... I think morning blogging will now become my thing. I finally found my wireless connection in the house (fortunately, on the recliner in the living room) so it's not as bad as it could be.
I have a ton of pictures, but not much to say about them. So, I'll mix up my regualar text with the pic descriptions. (Oh, and thanks so much for all your comments! Although I'm not blogging much, I do get my comments in my email and I check that several times a day.)

Every morning I drive from Rio Rancho to Albuquerque. As the crow flies, it's probably 5-7 miles. Following the legal roads, it's 15. This is at the top of the hill just outside of my parent's neighborhood. Way off in the distance you can see the skyline of downtown Abq. I can even just about pick out the exact building where I turn to go to work.

When I hit the road on time, that is, by 7:00 sharp, I get to experience a beautiful sunrise. As far as sunrises go, I've never been especially interested in watching... the sun... rise... but watching it come up over the mountains makes my day start out a little bit nicer.


I drive through part of Corrales, the part with backyard vineyards and horse corrals. With a strictly enforced speed limit of 30mph, I have ample time to observe the small vines and playful horses.


Sometimes I see a hot air balloon or three. That morning there were actually three, but the 2 already up were so far off that they didn't really show up in the picture. In fact, I had to take this picture 3 times to get it this good!


Then I hit the traffic. This little road is the worst of my traffic--especially if I leave the house late (even just 5 minutes). The constant stop-and-go is so frustrating (and bad for my brakes)!
I do actually work downtown, and I have to drive through here, too. The building are mostly courthouses and "municipal buildings," but they're very pretty--all stucco/adobe-like and very new and clean.
Work is going great and I was actually really, really busy last week! I'm learning to enjoy (and appreciate) my weekends. I signed up for a bank account (old bank was regional to the SE). And, I miss R like crazy! We're down to less than 4 weeks until he comes here, so that makes me feel a little better. I'm doing good here with the family (although getting used to dad--who is so different than R--will take some time). It's hard for me to imagine how different things will be once R does get here. I mean, I feel comfortable and everything, but I just know that something is missing without him. I think it will actually feel like home when he is here to make it feel right.

It's Been One Week

After completing my 3rd full day at work, I find myself extremely exhausted and ready for the weekend. This is the first time I've had a "real job" that required me to complete a full 8-hour shift (10 hours if you include the commute). By the time I get home around 6, all I can think about is crawling into my too-small twin bed and going to sleep! Of course, I make myself stay awake until at least 9--to eat dinner, help little sis with homework, and be otherwise "social."
Let me go back to last week...
We left Starkville around 8pm on Friday and made it into Albuquerque around 3:00 (4:00 MS time) on Saturday. The drive was okay and only slightly eventful. Nabi decided that she needed to use the litterbox approximately 10 times during the trip (okay, that wasn't entirely true--it was probably closer to 20). I had to stop and clean the litterbox at each gas stop we made, but it wasn't so bad, I guess. She alternated her time between prowling around the truck, sitting in my lap, and sleeping in her kennel. Guapo was very well behaved and only spent an average of 10 minutes sniffing everything in sight when we took him out for the potty. Birdy spent the whole ride covered with his blankie hanging from one of the hangy-thingys in the back with Guapo--the only time he started squawking was when Guapo poked his nose under the blankie. Reina was pretty wonderful. We started getting extremely worried about her when she went the whole night without using the litterbox. Actually, she didn't use it at all until we were already in Albuquerque (and only 30 minutes from mom's house)!
We had pretty good weather for the first half of the ride, but by the time we made it to the Oklahoma border, we ran straight into the cold front that was moving across the country. Once we reached Amarillo, we were getting hit with sleet and possibly some ice on the roads. We had a very close call with some kid in a 4Runner who couldn't keep it under control. Somehow he ended up skidding across 4 lanes of interstate and nearly made me clip his back bumper! Saturday found us extremely tired, but we managed to crawl out of bed and drive around town with the family for a few hours. We even had a little snow storm!
Sunday we attended church with gramma and had a nice time at her Easter Cook-Out.
Very early Monday, R flew back to MS to spend some time with his family on the coast (I already miss him like CRAZY). I hung out around the house, made a trip to wallymart, and cooked dinner for the family. Tuesday, I had every intention of sleeping in, but was woken up by the stirrings of an active family. By 10:00 I found myself walking laps around the mall with gramma (I prefer to call it long-term window shopping and NOT exercise). She treated me to lunch and let me pick out a few new shirts for my new job. I made another trip to wallymart (oh, the joys) and cooked dinner again.
Wednesday was my first day at the NEW JOB and I am happy to say that I think it's going to be okay. I can't say yet that I love it--I mean, all I've done yet is get introduced to like a million people (okay, maybe only 100) and get thoroughly confused in the labyrinth of halls, labs, and offices! I have my own desk and computer (in a shared office), the others in my lab seem really nice, and the Dress Code is CASUAL (I mean, you just don't know how happy this makes me)! I will probably spend the next 2 weeks or so getting acquainted with the lab equipment and standard protocols, and hopefully after that, I will begin work on a project of my very own.
I am absolutely shocked by the looooong commute (Holy Crap! 45-55 minutes to go 15 miles!?!?) and by how exhausted I am when I finally do make it home. I never realized what this whole 8-5 (1hr break) work day was all about! For those of you who have been doing this for years: How do you do it? How long did it take you to get used to the schedule? At least I have a space of my own and am allowed to write emails and stuff (although this blogging stuff will have to be done at home).