I now have grown-up furniture! The apartment looks so different with an actual dining table and chairs, and a loveseat. It's almost embarrassing that I basically used dorm furniture for so long, but I never had the space to expand, and the fact that I would ever have to move this real furniture again terrifies me, but that's what movers are for, after all. I also have an adjustable height desk arriving soon since if I keep working from home, as I intend to for as long as I can, I need something that is durable and the possibility of standing is a plus. Ergonomics are important when you spend 10+ hours a day on a computer!

I bought the loveseat and table over President's Day weekend since that's a big furniture shopping holiday, and yes, my parents helped me pick it out. God knows they have more experience than I do when it comes to buying big ticket items, and have been a huge help overall while I've been here. This past weekend we celebrated my sister's birthday with dinner at a fantastic Indian restaurant in Freehold and I spent the night on the couch so I had time to bake her favorite dark chocolate orange pie.

Overall it was a nice time, but my mom is in super control mode again for no reason I can find. After one night I was so tired of the relative din compared to my quiet apartment where no one yells or argues that I fled back here, even though I had packed to possibly stay two nights. Again this hammers home that while I put up with it for three years, at this point in my life I'm better by myself rather then forcing myself to remain calm and ignore the dysfunction as much as possible. That alone is worth the price of my rent.

I love my family, but some distance is ideal.

Out of everything that's different about living here one of the best is that I haven't heard anyone shouting at each other. At least twice a day my parents ended up bickering, usually over something stupid, and I was SO TIRED of hearing it and occasionally having to intervene. The peace and quiet has lowered my stress level an incredible amount, and I no longer have to worry about an argument erupting in the next room, breaking my concentration in the middle of an complex and/or urgent request that requires all of my attention, or when I'm on a call with vendors or colleagues.

I also am getting more exercise, although no luck with actual weight loss yet. I've been to the gym 3 times in February and can report that I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. What limits me the most is boredom - when I'm on a treadmill it's fine, but walking the streets of NYC always gave me new stores to look at, people passing, cars streaming by, lights to pay attention to, random happenings going on, etc. It occupied my mind and made me WANT to get out in the city.

Treadmills? Not so much. Yeah there are TVs but I need more than that to want to continue moving for more than 20 minutes at a time.  Today I walked on the boardwalk at the ocean and it was lovely but again, kind of boring. I really have to work on something that works for me in a static environment. 

For now I'm still focusing on small goals around the apartment and trying to cook healthier. Last week was yogurt since I was busy the weekend prior but today I made Filipino chicken adobo with mushrooms, leeks, and rice. I have the three components (chicken, veg, rice) in separate containers so it will be a quick assembly line when I grab dinner in the 10 minutes I have to microwave something, but it's got to be better for me than what I used to eat (cheese quesadillas, takeout, and buffet food).

Here's hoping I start to see some weight loss soon!

Again, I blink and the weekend's gone. I can tell that this week is going to be crazy busy yet again by the amount of requests people have put in over the weekend, but the only saving grace is that Monday morning London and the daytime NY people get to deal with it before I get in. At least two Mondays from now we have a holiday, and I had carryover days to use before the end of Feb so I'll get a few days off then.

I'm still tired, even though I've tried to rest, but I think it's my body settling into the new routine of working full time and doing all of the chores, cooking, etc myself. How people deal with children on top of this is completely baffling to me, and I'm so happy for yet another reason that I never desired to to have any of my own.

Next week is my sister's birthday but as usual no one knows what her plans are, so I'm not carving out any time, instead I'm planning on furniture shopping since I still need a table that doesn't fold. At 43 years old I should own one lol.