T minus 2.5 Weeks

I think the reality that I only have 2.5 weeks left in New Orleans is starting to hit me. I feel like I just got here, but at the same time feel as if I've been here forever, if that makes any sense at all.

This has not been a summer of one singular accomplishment, but a whole bunch of little things mushed together into a very scattered experience. Property campaign letters and photos and merges, oh my! Endless SalesForce, Constant Contact and Excel spreadsheets. Prep for day camp and maybe another fair at the Freret Neighborhood Center. Outreach and phone calls at both centers. Circle Food 4 Thought phone calls and emails. Marketing stories to edit. And now I'm writing copy for... the entire NHS website? Or at least leaving it more organized than it's currently convoluted condition--there's so much content and so much debate about what that content should be and look like (ahhh office politics!) that I'm not sure I'll have time to finish.

I've done a lot, but it's kind of all over the place, so I don't have a very straightforward answer for the question of "What did you do last summer?" Everything!

Outside of work, I've also done a lot, and I feel like the experience of living down here has been just as valuable (if not more valuable) than what I've done at work. I've explored a new city, pretty much entirely alone--I have roommates, and while I did spend a little time trying to teach one of them to drive, I rarely see them. So I'll add adventuring into a bar alone, and shopping and entertaining myself alone, to my list of things I did this summer. I also got a lot more practice cooking for myself--it would have been awesome to eat out at all the delcious restaurants down here, every day, but cooking was friendlier on my wallet. I can't say I haven't ever been lonely (thank god for Firefly and The Office on Hulu! And books!), but I did end up meeting some great people. When they weren't around, I'm pretty great people, too, so it all worked out :)

I've also biked more than I ever have (thighs of steel!), and took yoga classes for the first time (love it!). Yesterday I ran 4 miles along the levee, the second 2 in the pouring rain, I might add--it kind of sucked, my headphones and/or iPod might be the price for not paying more attention to the weather. While I'm disappointed I couldn't get a gym or pool membership (that water is going to feel sooo good when I get home!), I've been pretty active. I'm also semi-tan, which is a first (for real! Lauren said so!).

So what about these next 2.5 weeks? The past 2 days have kind of sucked, actually--I can't seem to get back into working mode after Lauren and Katherine left on Tuesday morning, and getting stuck in a downpour 2 miles from my house, and then having a chuck of my living room ceiling collapse last night (the apartment is quite literally coming apart at the seams!), I haven't been in the best mood. But yoga tonight was restorative. I have a to-do list to work with and just enough time to do it (hopefully). Time to get cracking.