Last Days and First Days

I am currently sitting on the couch in a blazer, my nicest work shirt, curly hair… and sweatpants. I have pumpkin-tomato soup simmering on the stove and a glass of malbec in my hand. I guess that’s how you end your last day of work? It works for me!

Today was my last day at The Washington Times, which is bittersweet. My internship on the paper’s national desk a few years ago was my first real reporting experience and produced what is still one of my favorite stories, an expose on domestic minor sex trafficking in Portland.

My job as a digital editor was my first job at a national paper, and it was a pretty sweet gig. I can tell you all the headlines, and I actually learned a lot about politics and policy just by reading so much news and commentary. I learned how to advance news with a story and find what’s lacking in a bland one. I learned a lot about the web side of news production, too, which has proved itself more useful than I imagined.

But I’m eager for the first days coming up — first days of working downtown (everything is downtown compared to New York Avenue), first days taking the metro (daily date with G.K. Chesterton), and first days of a new job.

I’m most excited for the first days of spending evenings with Bryant. He’s been so patient with my schedule for the past year and a half; for most of that time, whenever he’s not working, I have been, even on weekends. It will feel like the height of luxury to be off work at the same time together every evening.

So while my sweatpants might be my concession to a long last day of work, the glass of wine is in celebration of first days coming up. Here’s to a new year of first days.