3 Weeks Later...

There I go, starting to slack again. At least I have good reasons though. So much has happened since I last wrote on here, so let me get you caught up.

The birth of my nephew: My older sister had a baby boy, Gianni (she’s infatuated with Italian names. Trying to convince her to at least give him an Afrocentric middle name to balance it out lol). Initially, I was hesitant to go home to see him but it had been 8 months since I saw my family and I was going through it. I figured it was a perfect excuse to go home. Lay eyes on my parents, hug my niece/nephews and God son, say what’s up to my siblings and closest cousin and break bread with my sister wives. Hopped in a rental car, loaded up on the proper PPE and went up to Boston. I did all of this in the span of 2.5 days. Wasn’t nearly enough time and darn near ran myself ragged but it was the trip I never thought my soul needed. It healed me, in a way, from some of the loneliness that I had been grappling with. Holding a newborn (had my mask on of course) will do that to you. Gave me the warm fuzzies I had been craving.

Applying and acceptance into a Master’s program: I’ve actually been taking grad classes since Fall of 2016, but enrolled in a grad certificate program in Fall of 2019. I had completed it this past March and was given the option to matriculate in the MS program. It made sense to apply since I only have 6 classes left to take in order to complete it. I can graduate next Spring if I take the full course load this Fall and next Spring, which I am planning to do. I was elated when I found out I got accepted, but the realization of the time commitment I’m making has sunk in, so I am preparing for that.

Returning to the office: So I’ve been working remotely since the pandemic started and have been able to do my job 100% from home. Felt like I was working harder at home than in the office. With our office building re-opening, we’re expected to go in at least once a week. The preparation for returning to the office was harder than I thought it would be. Still trying to re-adjust to being back even if it’s just for one day a week. On-boarding our new folks, the planning and execution of their orientation/virtual happy hour and making sure they were acclimated was a tad bit daunting but I’m thankful that it all went well. I survived the first official week back.

House-hunting and packing: I am officially over renting and decided not to renew my lease this Fall. I had started thinking about purchasing a home in Philly last December. I did some home-buying workshops and even secured a realtor. These last 6-7 months, I had been preparing to start the process by making sure my finances and credit were in order, researching the different neighborhoods I’d like to live in and setting a reasonable price range. This process has been grueling. It’s been almost a month since I started pounding the pavement to look at homes and I’ve already put in 3 offers. The last house I lost out on, the seller accepted another offer that was $16,000 over asking! I didn’t realize how cut throat the Philly market was becoming. I was hoping to secure something before classes start next week, but looks like I’m going to be juggling this search, school and work for a while.