Tiny Hats and Big Words

The days of waking up with a blank slate to fill now feel like the days of yore. It's been more than a full month of working a real job for a real organization and I'll tell ya, I'm tired at the end of the day. I like it and all that, yes yes, it's just an adjustment from being so utterly free and in-charge of my day, to a life of ...meetings. 

I remember having a meeting once in one of my other jobs several years ago and being tickled by the seriousness of it. I tend to become especially amused in "business" settings because people are trying so hard to pretend to be anything besides a sweaty, sleepy, farty human. You want to appear composed, and coiffed, and intelligent. So when someone's howling pup or big, frightening roommate interrupts a zoom meeting, I have an especially hard time maintaining my composure. They've been outed! 
Someone was picking their teeth in a meeting the other day, realized what they were doing, and then apologized for being "inappropriate." They were really digging way far back in there and I outright laughed. It was after the fact, when everyone else had moved on, that I seemed to be the only one still struggling with leftover amusement. 

Everyone's just trying so hard! 

The finishing and moving on from Grad school process was surprisingly quick - kind of like coming back from a weekend trip. You just dump the contents of your suitcase into the laundry basket and get back to making grocery lists and answering emails. Brett tried to warn me. He said, "Take a couple weeks off between school and the new job," and I disregarded those thoughts and started the job before school even ended. He was right, not only because the new job's onboarding process was overwhelming, but because it took all the focus away from enjoying my last few chats with school friends and feeling like I finished something big that I care about. It's not a big deal - just something to remember in case of a next time. 

I'm excited to tell you all about the new job and the funky fun people I work with. It seems like a great place for story fodder - already got a few good ones. 
To make sure we took a moment to like... celebrate me?, we had a tiny dock day and cook out celebration. Please note World's Tiniest Graduate Cap upon my head.  

Unbeknownst to you, I'm writing this on a Monday morning before my FIVE meetings today that start in about an hour and will carry me on through to 4:55 this afternoon. What is this life? What have I done? And who knew helping animals required so much computer work? 

... can't wait to start using official business lingo in my upcoming blog posts... collaboration hours. Deliverables...

 This is so fun!