Feeling Restless

I should have known it was inevitable. Maybe it was that last entry about a life of routine and stability but I'm already feeling restless in my new established life. What I actually think it is, though, is that I miss the flexibility of working for myself. I can't be bothered with this whole forty hours a week thing and I don't want to have to worry about making my quota of billable hours. I've been doing some side jobs and I think there's enough work to keep myself as busy as I want to be. And I'm sure I could work half-time at Double-D and start establishing my own business where I can pursue some of my goals as an engineer. This would also give me the flexibility to visit Veronica for a week in Cincinnati or my father in Rhode Island and work remotely from there. I like the idea of it and I'm sure I can make it work. I thought I'd give it a year full time at Double-D before I started something like this but I feel like I'm ready to get started on it now.

Life of Routine

I received an in-person comment that my last entry wasn't very exciting, which is by all means true. My entries for the time being are going to be fairly mundane compared to the days with new countries and new cities but that's fine with me. Right now I'm busy with basement organization and couch hunting and the things one does when establishing some sort of permanency. It's been an interesting experience watching the process of a complete lifestyle change. I've been trying to step back and observe it as it's been happening, especially when I'm feeling unsettled or overwhelmed.

But now I'm feeling really good about things. I think all the major tasks have been taken care of and I'm starting to establish some routine. And a routine is not such a bad thing. I think routine gets a bad rap sometimes but I have to say that there is something very positive about it. You can accomplish so much more when you have an organized life with a fairly defined routine that you can adjust as necessary. The downside is that time starts to move a lot faster. My days of wandering were full of inefficiency because it's difficult to maintain an energy level that keeps things new and exciting. But it's definitely the way to draw time out. I think some of the longest seeming days in my life were when I was hitchhiking through Europe without any money. Some of those days seemed to last forever.

Maybe there's a nice balance in there somewhere. What would it be like?


Our new couch.

Settling In

Would you believe that I still don't feel settled? It's been three months since I've been back and I'm ready for it. Today was a big step forward for this process. Anna and I reorganized the basement, which was a complete mess and had been getting more and more out of control since we moved in last month. But now it looks great and we feel a lot better about it. And we even took before and after photos.



Before

After