I started the new job yesterday. It was a bit sudden – the HR lady called at 10 a.m. and announced that they had gotten my background check back (and apparently my record is still clean, whew!), and they wanted me to start. As in right then. Considering that I was still in my PJ’s, hadn’t even had my first diet coke of the day, and our septic system had just backed up, leaving all kinds of you-don’t-even-wanna-know-what all over the downstairs bathroom and garage, I would say that I was not exactly in an ideal state of mind to go start a new job. Oh yeah, and I had just taken 2 Sudafed, so I was on my way to being well and truly stoned. Yee-haw! I asked the HR lady if I could get start at 1:00. She said that was fine.

I had to leave Dave to deal with the septic tank issues – and god love him, he fixed the whole thing all by himself, despite my constant, “honey, are you sure you don’t want me to call the plumber?” I did have to do a bit of mopping up when I got home, and man, that was truly horrifying. The entire downstairs smelled like the elephant pen at the zoo. I showered for a good 30 minutes trying to get rid of the odor, then finally realized that the smell was just in my nose, not on me. It burned a memory into my olfactory, apparently. You know, I love our house, I really do, but what I wouldn’t give to be on a sewer line instead of the damn septic tank. Sigh.

As for the job, I think it’s going to be good. The guy who I’m replacing is another contractor whose one-year mark is coming up, so he has to take his 100 days off. He seems nice enough, and I’m trying to learn as much as I can from him because his last day is Monday. As far as first days go, it was fine. I liked that it was only a half-day, so I wasn’t completely exhausted when it was all done. (First days tend to kick my butt.) Today was a full day and I’m a bit more drained now that I’m home. But it’s looking like this is something that I could potentially enjoy. Now if I could just stop coughing…

Oh yeah, and it snowed today! A lot! I guess that means it’s officially December. I was going to take a picture of it because it’s so pretty at our house, but it was dusk by the time I got home, so the photo wouldn’t have turned out. But take my word for it, it’s lovely. It feels all winter-y and cozy, I just wish we had a working fireplace. Instead, I think I’ll curl up on the couch and watch “The Daily Show” with my mug of herbal tea and a rice krispies treat. That’ll do just fine.