One more week

The title of this post refers to the (rapidly dwindling) amount of time I have until I start my new postdoc job.  You might think that I would be dreading starting work again - but really, I'm pretty excited.  I think that this job will be much more......mine?  I don't know how to describe it, exactly, but I can see the opportunity to take full ownership over a project, immerse myself in it, and enjoy it (well, most of the time).  And hopefully I'll be able to do all of this without going completely crazy from overworking myself!

Since I have 2.5 weeks off total from work, I have been taking this opportunity to do a deep-clean of the house, take care of chores, and hit the gym a bit extra.  I've lost about 6 pounds since the beginning of the year, and I would say I'm in my best shape ever - I'm on a roll, and I'm going to exploit this time off to make sure I get as far towards my goals as I can.  Of course, since that means going to the gym 6x a week (sometimes 2x a day, if I'm feeling particularly crazy), it means a lot of the rest of my day is spent looking a little like this:

If I remember, I'll take some "before" and "after" photos so I can compare them in a while, when I'm closer to my goal.  I'm really proud of myself for sticking to this for so long - I've been at this gym for 4 1/2 months now, and I'm doing things I never thought I'd be able to do.  And I've actually been able to stick with the 5am wakeup for the 5:30 classes - this will be totally essential when I start working in earnest, because I rarely make it home at night without feeling totally wiped out.

Anyway, just wanted to wish you all a happy February - this is when the New Year's resolutions start to either hit their stride or fizzle out, and when we really settle into the year, so I hope you are all having a wonderfully fulfilling 2012 so far!!