Update

It's been a whirlwind of a week. I'm exhausted and exhilarated simultaneously, which is immensely confusing for me.

Pros and cons of Albuquerque:

PROS:
- Clean! Clean air, clean city, clean apartment, clean.
- Mellow. Both work and the area are really laid back.
- Cheap! Things are cheaper here than in LA, including gas and groceries.
- CHEAP RENT. This deserves its own line because HOLY MOLY is rent cheap here!
- Plentiful resources. I found two Korean markets, a Whole Foods for my cheese needs, and countless other stores. There's nothing that I haven't found yet.
- No traffic!

CONS:
- No family. : ( I miss them so.
- No friends. I miss some of them. : )
- No cloud cover. The sun is stingingly hot. I now realize what the term "dazzling your eyes" means.
- Altitude. It is over 5,000 feet high here, and I feel it. Ouch.
- Humidity. Or really, the lack thereof. It's so dry that I think I can count every single teardrop that I produce.
- Maniacal drivers. Okay, I'm from LA, but these people drive EVEN CRAZIER than LA'ers. Oy.


Time will tell if I adjust to the things I don't like (altitude, I'm looking at you). I think it'll be fine. Besides which, as soon as work starts to get crazy, I won't have time to notice what city I'm in!

I'll still arranging things in my apartment, and that's a big time-suck, since I spend most of my free time doing that.

Work is in a large corporate building with a revolving door in the front. Have I ever mentioned my fear of revolving doors? It's rearing its ugly head as I traverse through those doors every day. I don't know why I have this fear, because I never got stuck in one or anything, but it's most definitely there. Perhaps this is a sign that I need to face this fear. Sigh.

Just next door to the building is a 7-Eleven (I know, not exciting) and a French bakery! Called La Quiche Parisienne Bistro. It's more than a bakery, admittedly- they do breakfast and lunch items that are not necessarily bakery staples. I picked up an almond croissant this morning and it's quite good, though a bit too sweet. The baker and the manager are both French and very sweet and cute. I plan to have lunch there at some point, because I love quiche. The four-cheese quiche was eyeballing me this morning, so I might have to go back and show it who's boss.

I'm swinging drastically between exuberance and sobriety lately. I'm so happy to have a new start in a new place, an adventure that I've never really had before. But I really do miss my family and friends, and being in an unfamiliar area can be daunting- I actually have to think about where I'm going, which is frustrating.

I'm going to let myself slowly settle in and get acclimated, because I know that I'm impatient and impetuous about these kinds of things.

Work is definitely helping, since it takes out the majority of my daylight hours. I'm enjoying work so far, the people are nice, I'm having fun, and they're letting me figure things out at my own pace (breakneck). I hope this part lasts, though I know it won't, since there are deadlines to meet and a ton of work to do.

Well. With that convoluted post, Happy Tuesday!