One week, two weeks, three weeks, four?

So here we are.  Two weeks into it, sort of.

I left Seattle on January 11th (with a bit of good grace, I’ll add.  Getting on that plane was an interesting adventure) and here we are on the 25th.  I had set off for a three-week crash-course in the new life I had chosen for myself and my family:  Prudhoe Bay, or “the Slope Life” as they like to call it.  I was optimistic about it (and still am, I’ll add) but I’ve come to learn that I’m one of those creatures who, when it comes to change, isn’t as adaptable as I used to be.  Well, sort of.  Change, I can handle.  It’s change after change after change after … you get the picture.

The meat and potatoes of this post is that I came up here for a three-week stint.  Got two weeks into it and was notified that it had been turned into a four week stint.  What’s the big deal?  Pretty easy.  I hadn’t planned on missing my family as much as I do.  Especially Isabelle.  See, as time rolled on, there was this hole that wasn’t being filled.  I realized that Isabelle had created and filled quite the large hole.  One of the many new things about being a new parent.  I always made a point of making a really big deal out of when I got home every day from work when I was working at Microsoft.  Now what I’ve got is just … a dorm-like room (for those of you who went to college and stayed in the dorms, that’s what I’m staying in basically.  It reminds me a LOT of the room I had at the U of North Dakota and even more of another dorm room I spent some time in as well.

I’ll survive because I’ve got a great support system.  Technology is really saving my behind on this one with the use of Skype, a laptop, a crappy Internet connection and a webcam (oh boy does the Internet suck up here!).  Getting to talk to and see my family every night has been a thrill.  Tonight was the first night I didn’t get to see Isabelle because she had partied too hard and passed out a little early.  It gave me an opportunity to have a nice, uninterrupted conversation with my wife, which never happens.  So there was totally a plus side to that.  I still definitely look forward to talking to Isabelle tomorrow night.

Speaking of which, it’s about 10pm.  5am comes early.