Hello Spring

I feel as if life is passing me by this month. Changing jobs and adjusting to my new routine has really made me very self absorbed. I could not believe that last week spring had officially arrived. The cold weather ensured that it did not feel like spring, but Easter came and went and for me that holiday always signifies the change of seasons.

I am finally starting to get accustomed to my new routine. I won't say that I'm totally comfortable and that the 'adjustment phase' has concluded, but things seem like they are getting back on track. I even went out a bunch this weekend, starting on Friday when a group of us went to dinner and then to see Avenue Q. And on Sunday I went to my parent's house for the Easter holiday. I ate far too much and had a great time.

Yesterday (Monday) was a friend's birthday. He planned to have a large (20+ people) dinner party at Ashmont Grill in Dorchester. Normally I'm not a fan of large groups going out to dinner but last night definitely exceeded expectations. Suffice it to say, it was both delicious and a lot of fun.

And lastly, today, the Red Sox won the first game of the season against Oakland in extra innings in Tokyo. I look forward to the baseball season, because if Easter signifies spring - baseball makes me think of summer, and I love summer in Boston.

I have been unable to accomplish anything the past few weeks and although it has been convenient to blame the new job I think it is just sheer laziness. I'm trying to rally but the freezing rain and lack of sun has definitely caused another relapse of GetMeTheHellOutOfHere Syndrome.

I have a beautiful view of Boston harbor from where I sit on the 15th Floor in downtown Boston, but on days like today the view becomes depressing. The fog is so thick that it is hard to see the airport and the sun is nowhere to be found. Refusing to let the weather get me down, I have decided to focus my thoughts on Friday night's performance of Avenue Q. I first saw Avenue Q in NYC, and when I found out the show would be in town through a mutual friend, we bought tickets.

Bostonist

So I have added a new blog/website that is all about Boston called Bostonist to my list of favorites. The site appears to be part of a larger family of websites - other "ist" cities that have blogs include: Phillyist, Chicagoist, SFist, Torontoist, LAist, Londonist, Gothamist, Seattlest and Austinist.

We'll see how the site shapes up. For now I'm going to add it to my growing list of blogs and websites I periodically check.

The past week - not one to dwell upon

The orientation training I did in Atlanta for PwC was both fun and exhausting, but somewhere along the way I picked up a cold that really had me down for the count until yesterday. I made sure to continue with the self guided orientation at work each day, but at night I went home and directly to bed.

I also received sad news last week when I learnt that a former co-worker, Tim Rifenburg, lost his battle with cancer. Three days later I found out that a former co-worker of mine lost her husband, Scott Viera, to cancer as well. Both men were cancer survivors who ultimately lost their fight when the cancer returned. They are survived by their wives - Jenn Rifenburg who is only 31 and now widowed; Kelli Viera who is in her early 40s and now must care for her daughters without the help of her husband. It was really a depressing week and my heart still aches for their loss.

I have spent most of this week trying to get myself into a routine at PwC. People still are not use to the idea of my being here and with the team scattered across the northeast it is easy to be overlooked. This weekend my boss returns from a business trip that took him to Portugal, and I hope to talk to him for a bit at some point next week. I wish I had more to share, but the past week is one that I would sooner forget. Hopefully I'll have more fun and interesting news to share in the following week.

Orientation

Yesterday, I started my new job. The first week will be spent in orientation and today (my second day on the job) I flew to Atlanta to join approximately 75 new employees from all over the country. Today we were mostly fed company propaganda; mission statements, value speak, etc. However, I have to admit that I've found the dialog and the sessions very interesting.

The highpoint of the day was when I had to assemble a bicycle within a set time frame to be given to a local charity called CHRIS KIDS. This is an organization that offers free residential and summer programs as well as affordable mental health and substance abuse counseling to homeless children in Atlanta. For those who know me, the thought of me assembling anything is quite comical so I'm very proud that I was able to accomplish this with my team. I had hoped / thought I would be able to sit back and let more talented people assemble the bike but as it turned out - I was the one to do all / most of the work.

I am so pleased that my new employer included this in their orientation. The activity certainly made all the value speak from earlier in the day seem very real and not just semantics. They could have easily chosen another team building program that was either a contest or totally selfserving and the decision to turn this into an activity that gives back to such a worthy charity was not lost on me.

I'm still uncertain what my new job will bring, but I have definitely enjoyed this opportunity and am excited about moving forward.