Embarking on New Paths

Today was my first day of work as a federal employee. As I stood there pledging to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic (yes, even us health policy wonks have to take an oath of office when accepting a federal appointment!), I couldn’t help but notice the timing of my choice in new careers---that my decision to embark on a path of public service came to fruition just a few days after celebrating our nation’s birth. I’m not sure you can get more patriotic than that.

The downside of this momentous occasion was that I had to drive to Baltimore for new employee orientation (this was day 1 of 3) which meant a 5:15am wakeup call and an hour’s drive north. Fortunately, the early start meant that traffic was fairly non-existent and I was home in time to get dinner together before Jason got home. Notice, I said get dinner together…..I did not cook dinner tonight. No, for this first week back to the real world I chose several make ahead menus (including shrimp and orzo and gazpacho) that also yield a number of leftovers. That way all I have to do after an early morning and a long day sitting in orientation/on the road is take dinner out of the fridge and heat up some bread to go with it.

There’s hope for Jason’s dinners yet!