The View From The Cube

It's pretty nice, actually. The new job's most resplendant feature is the third floor windowfront cubicle facing due west into an undeveloped swampland full of brackish water, trees, shrubby undergrowth and birds galore in every color under the sun. Black crows, yellow goldfinches, crimson cardinals, gunmetal bluejays, tawny hawks and a tumble of squirrels chasing each other across the wickedly fun bendy top of a juvenile tree.

I waltzed into the new office on Monday, July 2nd and was promptly handed a laptop computer pre-loaded with most of the software I need including a VPN client so I can work from home, as agreed, one day a week starting... immediately. So, I was in office the 2nd, the 3rd, home for the holiday on the 4th and home again working on the 5th. Unbelievable.

The commute, while longer than I want, is not without its consolations. I get to (choose to) drive through historic Lexington past Battle Green, the Buckman Tavern, and countless excessively beautiful 17th and 18th century homes. Oh, and some 19th century ones, too.

The technology is cutting edge. The people are smart, fun and funny. The coffee is Starbucks. The sodas and snacks are free.

Still, the Coach is not a happy camper. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure this one out. I think one of my Knitting Group members hit the nail squarely on the head tonight, though. She likened this return to work to what a mother goes through at the end of her maternity leave. As long as you have a child in the home, that feeling of deprivation never really goes away, no matter how many weeks, months or years have passed between your child's birth and your re-employment. Perhaps worse is that the whole elevator ride to the emotional basement of parental longing and guilt isn't a one-time deal. You get to go through it every time you wave bye-bye to your kid(s) and head back to the office. It happens after family vacations. It happens after job changes. It happens after unemployment and subsequent re-employment. It happens until junior is packed off to the Freshman Dorm at the University of Fledgling Independence.

Peachy.

On the knitting front: my niece has won major brownie points with Auntie Coach by requesting a pair of mittens she can wear to figure skating practice. Bless her frosty little hands. I cracked out some leftover acrylic in forest green and white and have been following a rose pattern from The Mitten Book which is an English translation of a Swedish book that reprinted patterns originally published in 1925. I'll try to get a photo tomorrow to post here.

I'll try even harder to catch up on the blogs listed on the right-hand side of this page. I miss those folks over there. I'm having withdrawals and I've got a lot of catch-up reading to get under my belt before my pre-ordered Harry Potter 7 book arrives from Amazon.co.uk (before my vacation please, please, pretty please with sugar on top!)