welcome to the weekend

thus endeth the first five days of my new job.

in celebration we went out to dinner. i'd heard there was a newish middle eastern restaurant and so we decided to check it out. charlottesville is sorely lacking in middle eastern food, i must say. so we drove down stripmall lane to a small, tucked away eatery called zandi's. by day it is a sub shop, by night it transforms into fine halal dining. well, if you don't mind eating with plastic forks off of styrofoam. the food was scrumptious.

dan and i started off with a large bowl of smokey fine babaganoush and pita. then we both had the chicken kabab platter. the kababs of marinated grilled chicken were delightful and tender to the palatte. the grilled tomatoes & onions combined with a heap of rice and some sides of mint yogurt and tabouli were perfectly savory accompaniments. tashi was satisfied with her kid's kubedeh and it all disappeared into her happy little tum. parents are pleased when kids clear their platter. the vegetarian dishes looked very nice too. i saw some golden falafel land on a neighboring table, along with some sizable grape leaves and a bowl of fresh salad. i brought home a beautiful piece of baklava which right now is a shiny centerpiece on our kitchen table until i have some room in my belly for it. so much for a diet. but heck, it's friday. after my first week at a new job.

what have i to say about the new job, you ask, oh faithful invisible reader of my minutiae? the job is not yet as intense as i was predicting, but i think that might come in waves. my brain is getting some much needed exercise. i work amongst a really great cast of loons. my supervisor rocks. my office windows are full of sunlight and trees. i have to play detective to figure out what to do and how to do it, as the woman i'm replacing is not there to train me, and my supervisor hasn't much experience with my specific tasks. i am enjoying myself and sometimes wanting to cry. time flies. i'm learning a new language. i'm meeting lots of scholars. i'm tooling around with several new computer applications and have to memorize like a dozen passwords. sometimes i write small poems on yellow stickies. sometimes i just pretend. chai, lotion, energy bars. tashi's artwork surrounds me. i need to get more sleep at night so that i don't need to drink coffee in the late afternoon.

at this moment i'm feeling pretty crispy. so i'm going to go crumble into a heap on the couch and watch the dvd i rented.