Swing of Things

It’s just…been awhile. Updates on being back in the US, being back at my old site at work, being back to hourly instead of salary, and getting ready for my sabbatical.

Now that it’s been over a month since I’ve been back from India, I’ve finally adjusted…just in time to leave again. Of course.

It took a lot longer to adjust being back than it did adjusting to being in India, at least in the jet lag sense. It took me a solid week to feel like I was getting back into a normal sleep schedule, while in India it took me maybe two or three days. Weird how that works. I miss everyone there terribly. They’re such amazing people and I really do hope I get the opportunity to go back again at some point. I know if I go for work, I won’t have to go back to Chennai so at least there’s that. Sorry Chennai, Bangalore is definitely way better. Even the locals agree.

Food doesn’t seem spicy enough, even after being back as long as I have. The flavors of things here aren’t vibrant like Indian food, so I’m going to have to find a good south Indian restaurant to eat at here. It took me a little to feel comfortable driving again, and I’ll be honest I kept drifting toward the left in the beginning.

But now I’m back in the US and not only have I needed to adjust to being back home, I’m also adjusting to being back in Chandler. Before I left, I was working with the same company but in a different location, and now I’m back to the original location in Chandler. I’m technically in a new role at work. I was a supervisor before I left for India and while I was there, but when I came back I started working in social media. In the most technical sense, it’s basically a demotion. However, and I can’t stress this enough, this was my choice. It’s mostly only a title change (and I’m going from salary back to hourly), and I was working with social media before and I’m continuing to do that now. But because the last site I was at closed, I had to make some choices. I’m actually really happy with this title change. As a supervisor, I felt like I couldn’t really live my work at work. Now, the minute I clock out and leave the building, I’m actually done with the day. It’s been a huge stress relief. I’m starting to remember what it was like to have work-life balance. The only sucky thing is taking time off–before I had untracked PTO, and now I most definitely have tracked PTO. It’s not like I took a ton of time off before, but I’ll just have to plan ahead a little more.

And that brings me to the present. As of today, I have 7 days until my sabbatical starts and 12 days until I leave for Europe. I just got back from Disneyland for Pixar Fest, and now I have the whirlwind time where I have to pack everything and hope I’ve missed nothing. I’m sure I will. The good news is, I’m not going to be in the middle of the ocean, so if I forget anything, I can buy it.

Everything is paid for, scheduled, and booked. Now I just have to get there.