Gratitude Monday: Boldly going

Last week was rather hectic for me—started my new job, met a lot of new people, reconnected with some old friends, began wrapping my head around the challenges, tried some new things. It’s clear that 2016, when I permanently relocate to D.C., is going to be a time of stretching for me.

Today I’m grateful for the kindness and generosity of new friends, who (without having ever exchanged a word  with me except by social media and email) offered me their hospitality for the entire week, set me off in the right direction for the Reston Metro station the first morning (I never saw that place in the daylight, so good directions were crucial), lent me an operational sat-nav device (one that actually recognized the existence of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which mine did not), and enthusiastically received my nightly reports about the day’s events.

I’m also grateful to them for the sharing of the kittehs, mostly Worf and Kes (the downstairs felines), the revisiting of an old Herndon eatery favorite and the introduction to a new (to me) one—with wiener schnitzel. And a lovely Saturday night dinner with neighbors over delicious Szechuan food.

It was an extraordinary gift to have an actual home to go home to each night and it made a huge difference to my capacity for showing up at work each day pretty confident that whatever happened, I’d be okay. And I am deeply grateful for it.