The arctic freeze.

When I agreed to start my new job on December 6th, I had no idea that I'd be starting in the middle of an Arctic freeze. The indoor/outdoor thermometer has been reading some incredible temperatures. 23 degrees in the morning (that's outside, but it doesn't feel much warmer in here!) when I leave for work and a balmy 28 degrees when I come home. On Monday, my first day, I stood at the train for a little under an hour in the wind and the cold (train issues - of all days!). I was wearing a skirt, and even though I had my boots on and my long down coat, my hat, scarf and gloves, I still was freezing. Today I broke down and jacked up the heat. I set my thermostat to 62 when we're not in the house (no need for the kitties to freeze, too!) and 65 when we're in it. Somehow that 2-degree jump doesn't seem to make much difference, though. I'm still wrapped in my downy bag and wearing my hat and scarf.

Santa is cheering me up, or at least warming me up a little. We got him at the cut-throat Santa brunch we went to on Saturday (let me know if you want more info on cut-throat Santa. I found it to be great fun, and a great way to get rid of stuff you don't want, but a very risky game.) We also got a fondue pot (but without the fondue forks, I just realized - how can we use the pot without the forks??), which I suppose was only fair, since someone got the nested mixing bowls that my sister gave to us way back when we moved into our Allston apartment. Seems like we got a taste of our own medicine.

Doug's at practice tonight (here's a photo from his most recent show - a good one, too (both the show and the photo)) and I am trying to figure out if I want to read or watch a movie. Regardless of which I do I'll be asleep in 15 minutes, max. My first few days at work have been great - really great, actually. Everyone is nice, everyone is very eager to show me around, show me the ropes, and I've actually been enjoying both the people I've met and the things that I've learned I'll be doing (who would have thought that I would ever say that I am enjoying what I do at work?), but I'm exhausted. Lord only knows the state I'll be in by Friday. I've been getting to work at 7:40am, which is not all that unusual for me, considering that I used to get to Bain at 7:45/7:50am, and I haven't been doing a whole lot of actual work yet, but it's so true what people say about transitions taking a toll on your energy levels. On the one hand I'm psyched about being at Harvard, but on the other hand all I want to do is sleep. I'm definitely not used to all this excitement, and admittedly I got a little used to going to bed late and waking up well past when my alarm goes off these days. I'll get into a routine, but until then you'll probably see more photos like this posted here (this one's courtesy of my loving husband): I'm the lump under the mop of hair just above Sasha's ears. Flattering, no? As long as I don't end up like this (which I just may when I work the overnight shift), I'll happily assume that position on the couch.