I. Am. Tired. Omg. So tired, I had to take a 30 minute nap in the middle of writing this post. That tired. And I'm not even the one with the job. (Neither is Nibbles, but she's always up for taking a nap for the team.)
I know from many past experiences that the first week in a new situation is exhausting no matter what, but the change of pace from NEPA to NOVA has probably been the greatest shock so far. I feel like a big country bumpkin. The District is entirely way too caffeinated. No wonder no one's allowed to drink on the Metro.
Monday was Mr. C's first day at the new job. We're trying to keep Geoff out of the gridlock as much as possible, so Bert's taking one for the team and doing the public transportation thing. Our apartment isn't really convenient to any of the bus lines he needs - there's about 3 miles round trip of walking involved, in addition to the bus - but he's made it work so far. (With mostly success, I'd say, no thanks to the folks at SmarTrip. Don't add money to your card online. There's a country mouse lesson we learned super fast.)
For my part, I walk to the bus stop with him in the morning and extol the benefits of all that free exercise. The walk is especially exciting on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Wednesday is recycling day, when I must suppress the urge to rummage through my neighbors' trash for free coupon inserts and Thursday is "Bulk Trash Day," when everyone puts unwanted furniture out on the curb and dares me to take it home. So far, I have conquered all temptations, but I can tell that's not going to last very long. Sorry Bert, I might have to stay home those days.
Mama V. arrived on the train Tuesday afternoon for a few days of Arlington County fun. Picking her up at Union Station was an adventure in itself - one that began with me getting trapped in my Old Town parking spot by a tractor trailer and ended with me losing the car in the Franconia/Springfield Metro station garage - and the fun continued from then on. (Why did no one tell me Springfield is so far away? Omg. I felt like I was on the moon.)
Mom and I walked around Shirlington, got some 'coffee and' at Best Buns, did some shopping, splurged on pedicures, and ate out at The Burger Joint in Old Town. I brought her back to Union Station yesterday morning, but I learned my lesson and just paid for street parking near the King St. Metro station instead of driving all the way out to the 'burbs. Consequently/Thankfully, dropping her off at the train station was much less exciting than picking her up.
The bulk of my tiredness, however, comes from going out to DC on a school night. Several weeks ago, my friend E. from college invited me to a play at the Folger Shakespeare Library. (Many thanks to her bf for volunteering his ticket. ;) The last show E. and I went to together was "Waiting for Godot" at school c. 2005, so even if I had seen her since the wedding - which I hadn't, so we were due for hang out time anyway - we were definitely due for some serious English-nerd culture.
We met at Union Station for some delicious veg at Chop't (Yes, I was at the train station three times this week. My new personal record.) then walked a few blocks past the Supreme Court and the Capital to the theater. E. was a good sport and even let me take several, gratuitous tourist photos:
I was in bed by midnight and up again at six, which really doesn't do much for my sunny disposition. However, I may or may not have gotten 14 hours of sleep last night, so my outlook is much improved. Bert and I are planning on doing pretty much nothing this weekend. (Other than adding to George Lucas' retirement fund by catching Episode One in 3D at some point!) Do you have any plans? I hope they're equally chill.
No comments:
Post a Comment