What a week! I started my first week of work at Persona, and it’s going great so far. I had orientation all day on Monday, including a tour of the whole office and the production site. I can safely say I’ve learned a lot more about signs this week than I ever thought was possible!

Since I am technically working two jobs at Persona, my two supervisors took turns training me in this week. I usually went with one of them in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It was a very busy schedule every day, but I refreshed my brain on a lot of the market research stuff, and learned a lot that goes into the graphics and specs portion as well. I’m actually kind of looking forward to Monday so I can get back and learn some more.

One thing I found a bit difficult about getting back to work this week was waking up early again. When I was unemployed, I rarely woke up before eight, but now I’m getting up at six or earlier again. I’m sure many people reading this are probably rolling their eyes and thinking: “welcome to life, kid” and I don’t blame you! But after a month of doing things on my own schedule, it was really draining getting back to a normal working schedule, and I’m sure it’ll take a few more weeks before I’m used to it again. I may have to hook up the caffeine IV haha!

And if I wasn’t tired enough after my first week of work, I ended up going for a ten mile run this morning with my mom and a couple others from the run club. Usually it would take a lot to convince me to run that far, but in two weeks, we are going down to Lincoln, Nebraska to run a half marathon. I needed to get a long run in before then since I didn’t start training for this race until a few weeks ago — because I didn’t actually sign up for it. My dad signed up for it back in April, but he hasn’t been able to run more than four miles at a time since he had his health issues.

Instead, I volunteered to run it for him, and even though running isn’t my favorite workout activity, I really want to do this for my dad. I think it made him happy when I said I’d fill in, and it’s the least I can do given everything he and my mom have done for me. And the ten miler this morning actually felt pretty good, so I’m excited to see how I do.

Speaking of running, my mom and I both tried running with Dobby this week to see how he would do. I still thought it was a bit of a struggle because he still pulls a lot on the leash, and he gets distracted very easily, but hopefully in time we will be a well-oiled machine. My mom also volunteered to take him a few mornings last week so I could sleep a little longer, and she would come back and say: “I loved spending some quality time with my grand puppy!” 🙂 She had to soak it in while it lasted, because starting tomorrow, I will officially be moved into the cabin and Dobby and I will have our own place!

It’s still crazy to me how many changes are all happening at once, but it’s also a great way to keep me distracted and busy. I’m taking this new journey in stride and I can’t wait to see what this next week brings.

Also, as a side note: when I’m done training for this half marathon, I’m planning to get back to the pool more often. BUT swimming by myself is boring! If anyone in the Watertown area wants to come swim with me, please let me know! I usually try to swim around 4000 yards, which I understand is a lot, but we can alter it as needed. So feel free to give me a shout if you also need a work out buddy 🙂

Until next time!

Megan Reiffenberger