This is Tuesday

Or should I say, "ugh, is it only Tuesday?" My days kind of mush together when I work from outside the office. I actually worked a lot yesterday. I kind of had this plan that I would get a lot done last week (which I did, I always do, don't I?), I would shift a few things around, delegate as much as possible (my new favorite thing) and be less busy this week. Well, it's not working out that way. I leave the office and something comes undone. There is always an emergency. Every damn time I try to work from outside the office. And it's fine - it's just that I suspect the partner thinks it would be slightly easier to deal with if I were there - but he would never say so and the only really annoying thing is that I can't print when I'm not in the office. So I have to read everything on my screen - and you know, everyone wants a teeny tiny lap top for traveling, so the screen is pretty small, I think. So here I am having to switch back and forth between documents on the screen.

Anyway, I have no complaints really. I don't know what ever made me think I could work from outside the office this week and be less busy enough that I could slip away from my computer for a few hours here and there. On the one hand it's lower stress to be not in the office and at the same time it is more stressful, just in different ways. I've been pretty much really busy for months now haven't I? Yes, it does seem that way.

I've been meaning to blog since the last one, but haven't had much chance. If my nephew is here, there is no hope of doing anything but playing with him, which is fine, but that leaves no time for blogging! I do feel better now than I did when I first got here. When I first got here I was feeling like maybe my brother and sister-in-law didn't really want me here. They didn't do anything to make me feel that way - that was all in my head. I've sort of gotten over that. I told my brother that I may go back Thursday because of work even though I am supposed to stay here until Sun (my birthday is Sat.), and he was like, can't you just get it done here? So, maybe they don't mind. I mean, if anything, I am a distraction for E.

So I went this morning to go get some coffee and a bagel. I was up and dressed and ready to go (sit at the dinning room table and work all day) by 8:07. That's 7:07 Chicago time. I wonder if I am going to be on this weird schedule when I get back there of going to bed at 9 and getting up at 5:45 since that is about when my nephew gets up (6:45 Eastern). I didn't really want to start working that early - no one in Chicago is online yet. Who would I talk to? I like the idea of moving out of Chicago and working remotely all the time - but at the same time I don't like the idea. Can I imagine sitting here all day alone? Not sure.

I like the idea of coffee but it makes my stomach hurt unless I drink a decaf latte. Yeah, I am one of those people. Medium, decaf, skim latte with sugar-free vanilla. I hate Starbucks by the way.

I have devised a way to sleep through the noise my nephew makes in the morning - well, sort of. I take the heaviest pillow on the bed and put it over my head (laying on my stomach so only one ear is exposed). I pull the corner down tight, pull the blankets up, and then leave a little crack for fresh air. It really does muffle any noise - he talks constantly pretty much. This morning, there I was, thinking about going back to sleep and wondering what time it was when all of a sudden I feel the blankets move. I thought - what the hell - is the dog in here again (the door doesn't have a lock and the dog can open it - I've been barricading it with my bag at night)? I didn't even hear the door open. I peek out from under the pillow to see my nephew peering into the bed, bright eyed and smiling with his wooden dog on a string that I bought him last year.

"Tunna," he says. "Yes, I am kind of in a tunnel," I tell him. "Tunna. En too. In der. Dog. In der. Tunna. En too. En too. In der. Tunna, tunna." What I think he is trying to say is - can the dog go in the tunnel too? I put the dog in the tunnel and I invited him into the tunnel too - thinking what a clever way to get to stay in bed longer, but he wasn't interested. He just wanted me to go downstairs. So he gathered whatever he thought was required to get me out of bed - which included my watch, my cell phone and my bottle of water and said, "go, en too." Which I believe means come with me.

More later...