Unceremoniously, the calendar rolled over last week, which means that I have now been back in the States for over 1 month. It’s not surprising that the time is passing quickly. When does time really move slowly, anyway? With the exception of an occasional tweet about a dreadfully boring meeting, when is anyone complaining that time is moving too slow?

The last four weeks haven’t been a whirlwind exactly, but we have kept busy. I traveled to Boston and San Francisco, we have been scheduling dinners/barbeques/wine with friends and family, and of course we’re dealing with the “life admin” of moving back. Despite all of this evidence that we are establishing our  life here, I don’t feel settled in a new routine.

Housing
We’re living in corporate housing for another 2-3 weeks. We’ve been waiting for our tenant to move out of our flat condo so we can paint, replace carpet, and make a few other updates. Additionally, our shipping crate won’t arrive from London for a few more weeks, and it only really contains clothing and kitchen supplies. It felt cathartic and liberating to get rid of all of our acquired stuff two years ago when we moved, but perhaps we were a bit overzealous. I was charmed by the idea of buying furniture together upon our return since most of what we had was selected by one of us before we got together. Great idea, until you think about buying an entire living room, office, and bedroom furniture set within 2 months.

 I’ve also realized that while I appreciate good design aesthetic and can vocalize if I do or do not like something, but I am really bad at creating on my own. This reminds me of students who are good at true/false or multiple choice questions but terrible at essays. So, whatever is the parallel example in home design is me. I can “like” away on Pinterest, but drop me in our empty living room, and I’m at a loss. I’m more likely to walk into Restoration Hardware, point to a corner of the showroom, and request that “let’s do that.” No DIY, no consignment shopping, no year-long projects. I’m not sure I like what this says about me, but there it is. I don’t like a project, and having our home up in the air right now is certainly contributing to my anxiety.

Work
Somewhat related to the above, my work is in a state of flux. I have agreed to stay on board with my company in my role through the early fall to help with a transition plan, so I’m working from home. My job has always been very independently driven, so I’m not struggling in that regard, but I’m not sure how well I am adjusting to the quiet. I hadn’t realized how used to the open floor plan chatter and brainstorming sessions I experienced in our Swedish style office.

I’m partially excited (except for the aforementioned home decorating stress) to get into my office in our permanent place so that I can construct a space that is conducive for work and is also inspiring. Believe me, this view is a full affront to feng-shui. My hope is that I’ll come to love the flexibility and solitude of working at home because I’d really like it to be an opportunity to stay on board.

Health
This issue might have a little more emotional weight than physical weight. One thing I instantly noticed when I got back to the States was the omnipresence of the health industry and how competitive it all feels. In London, no one in my office bragged about how many miles they ran or how many yoga classes they attended. I’m only back for 4 weeks, and it’s all over the place. London obviously had health magazines and I’m sure I saw a few weight-loss commercials while I was there, but it’s nothing like the mass overload of weight loss tv shows, diet supplements, and diet books on the shelves.

Physically, I’ve gotten rid of the few pounds gained during my pre-London-goodbye-bonanza-binge & post-return-BBQ-beer-Southern-cooking-spree. As always, there are another 10 pounds I’m always struggling to commit to lose, but they bother me a lot less when my running regime is on track. I don’t mind a little jiggle when I feel strong and powerful. Now I’m mostly sidelined waiting for my hip to heal. (After two solid weeks off, I had two pretty good runs last week. Oddly, 3 days after my last run it started to ache again, so I’m not pushing it. I’ve got 4 weeks til the 10K, so if I rest for the next two weeks, I’m thinking I’ll be good to go).  Since I’m not doing any cardio, I’ve been spending some time with hand weights and with Jillian’s 30 Day Shred, but it doesn’t have the satisfaction of a nice solitary jog.

I am pretty sure that these three issues will settle together in time, but as a Type A lady, it’s pretty hard to just let it go.  Maybe part of me doesn’t want to settle into a completely new routine, but to find one that melds the best of London with life here in RVA. To that aim, I guess I need to go find a pub.

 

Tagged as: America!, Back in USA, daily life, getting settled, home decor, job, Reflections, running