you know me too well but you keep twisting my arm

It's like I snapped my fingers when I left my job and was suddenly transported back into my old life. Now the four and a half years I spent at work seem like a strange dream, and the endless sloth and satisfaction of an easier existence is my reality. Granted, I'm oversimplifying, and my college life had its own types of trials and tribulations. But I can't quite explain how strange it is to feel like I'm waking up from a coma, rediscovering all of the things that I used to love to do.

For instance, I've read a book nearly every night this week. I've had the ability to read them straight through, start to finish, just like I used to do in my childhood, when I would stay up far later than I should have just to get through the story. I've been reading too many romance novels and need to turn my attention to the stacks of 'real' books that have accumulated over the last half-decade, but it's nice to be able to read like I used to without itching to check my email, or wondering whether there's anything else I need to prepare for tomorrow's endless string of meetings.

Then again, today was steeped in a combination of happy exuberance and bittersweet nostalgia, just like all of the other days of my leave so far - the effort to simultaneously reconnect with and say goodbye to all the friends I neglected as my job consumed me has been fun but sad. I drove up to Emeryville (in the East Bay, which rivals San Francisco for my disaffections) and spent the afternoon hanging out with John. We had lunch at CPK (where I indulged in my 'lady who lunches' status by having a cocktail, in this case a raspberry mojito), and then drove over to the park around the Berkeley Marina and walked around for an hour or two.

I wish I had had my camera - that marina has more squirrels than I have seen in any given place in a v. long time, including some squirrels who were being fed by a mangy-looking guy who was letting them eat peanuts out of his hand while they scampered around on his arms. It also has a path through some reclaimed wetlands, and John led me all the way to the remote recesses of the area to show me a sign detailing the 'progress' they have made, in which the 'before' photos looked the same as (if not slightly better than) the current reality. We had to play a bit of real-life Oregon Trail and ford some water on the way back to the car, but neither of us got cholera, so it seems that we were successful.

I'm glad that I've had the chance to play with some of my oldest friends over the past week or so, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again over the next couple of weeks. It does make me wonder what my decision will be this summer, though; even if I don't come back to work, I do have a great group of people here, even if I haven't been seeing them as much as I would have liked, and the attractions of the Midwest are going to have to be v. strong in order to outweigh their pull. Of course, my parents are threatening to lock me in their basement and not let me leave, so it may not be up to me, but time will tell.

Okay, I should go to bed, since I have plans tomorrow and can't sleep in too late. Goodnight!