a day in the life

H remarked to me yesterday that the posts here had gotten awfully short of late, so first I explained to him that what with the recent getting a job and going to work I just don't have the time to leisurely compose lengthy posts.  Also, I pointed out that he could maybe help out with the post topics - if he's going to be the ideas guy, he might offer up some ideas.  So all I've got for you today is a snapshot of what my newly employed daily life is like.  Fascinating, I know.

H gets up a little before 6:00 a.m. (still dark) and takes the princess out for her morning constitutional.  I get up shortly after 6:00 a.m. so I am mostly done with the blow-drying and primping in the mirror by the time they get back (I am a low maintenance girl, despite what H may say).  Brew the to-go coffee, snarf down a bowl of Cheerios, grab my sack lunch and it's off to the rat race!

I try to leave the apartment around 7:15/7:20 and that is enough ahead of the commuter rush that I can be walking into my 11th floor office around 7:45.  I reconned two commute options before I started at my new job - Highland Drive/Van Winkle Hwy/700E (all the same road, really) or 215W/15N/downtown surface roads - and while the drive time was nearly identical, the fear factor was not.  The freeway is scary at rush hour!  700E is much saner, thank you very much.

I work 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with an hour for lunch, and since I, as a paralegal, am expected to have 1600 billable hours/year, I try not to fritter my time too much.  It's a little challenging, however, since my office is on the 11th floor and my two bosses are on the 9th: not only are they not used to having their very own paralegal, I'm sort of out of sight/out of mind, so I am constantly emailing/calling/darkening their doors, asking for more work.  They're super-nice guys - I haven't yet met anyone at this firm who isn't nice - and I'll have them trained soon, I'm sure.  In the meantime, I like being up on the 11th floor because there are two other paralegals (litigation - eeeeeeeeesh) right next to me, and that's good for me for networking and learning the ropes.

It's only been two weeks so thus far I've been able to pop out of work right on time and miss the bulk of the 5:00 p.m. rush hour.  I get home around 5, take the princess out for a squirt, and then immediately change into my running clothes and rush to the apartment complex's little gym.  That frickin' 6K (probably most of it uphill - aigh!) Thanksgiving morning run is next week and I have a feeling that I'm going to get my butt handed to me.  I've been training and, wow, is 6K on a treadmill BORING. 

After that, feed the dog, a quick hose-off and change into jammies and figure out something fabulous for dinner.  And by "fabulous" I mean "quick and not entailing too many dishes."  H and I then do laundry, or put away clean laundry, watch a television show (prime time starts at 7:00 p.m. out here ... oh how I miss my DVR!) or surf the webnet for a bit.  Then it's off to bed, usually between 10-10:30 for me, because that darn shortly after 6:00 a.m. is going to come quickly.  Repeat, Monday through Friday.

There you have it: a looooooooong post about a day in my life when I'm not hiking or driving across country or skiing or doing fun, active, interesting stuff.  I told you it was fascinating.