This WAHM Does Not Miss the DC Commute
When I left my editor position at a trade association in Dupont Circle for an editor position at a publisher in Gaithersburg, I was so glad to give up my Metro commute. I saved money and more importantly time each day. After commuting to D.C. for over 5 years, I came to resent the time spent on the Metro. I would devour books, occasionally use the office laptop, read the newspaper over someone's shoulder (yes, I was one of those people), or snooze, but whatever I did always felt like I was killing time. I never drove to D.C. as parking was prohibitively expensive on my salary. I have worked from home on and off since 1996 when my oldest was a tiny newborn. My current writing/tweeting/product promoting/blogging job requires the shortest of commutes -- bedroom to computer. My only forays on the Metro or driving to DC involve visits to the Mall or the Spy Museum with the kids. The photo shows from left the preteen, the teen, and the kid at the Roosevelt Memorial in D.C. Which brings me to Monday morning... In an odd turn of events I was scheduled to attend an early morning breakfast meeting in the heart of Capitol Hill. After not needing to go anywhere early in the morning, I was suddenly faced with commuting to DC in rush hour from my little place in the country. Country mouse goes to the city!
I'm not cut out for commuting to D.C. everyday. There I said it. As a WAHM, I like living in the middle of nowhere. The lack of street lights...the cows mooing near my backyard...the dead deer on the side of the road. Well, I love everything except the deer as my son started screaming at the sight of him. My life out here in the country is ideal except for the commute into D.C.
I'm not sure what aspect of my Monday morning was more distasteful. Perhaps all the factors were equally horrifying. Perhaps I am getting older and less tolerant of change. Crotchety, much? Perhaps it was simply too early in the morning. Suffice it to say commuting to DC from my home was AWFUL. Let's break it down shall we: - Rising early for an early morning breakfast meeting -- I have not seen 5:30 a.m. in years. - Dressing in clean, business, non-Mommy clothes that I have not worn recently to a blogging event. I think I might need to invest in at least another blouse. - Leaving 10 minutes late -- still horrendously early at 6:10 a.m. - Searching for an ice scraper in the dark while wearing a sleeveless blouse. Brrr. - Not finding an ice scraper, but finding and trying to use the following to scrape ice off my window -- a water pistol, a plastic sword, and a dive stick. - Heaving a sigh of relief when I manage to scrape the ice off the window with the trusty rusty, handy dandy Little Tikes garden shovel. - Making a hasty decision NOT to take Metro even though at 6:30 I would surely get a parking space at Shady Grove Metro...right?!? - Ignoring MapQuest directions in favor of "Chloe" -- my GPS. - Sitting on I-270 pondering why I always listen to Chloe in matters of driving to DC via I-270/I-495. Chloe is not God! Chloe can be wrong! Stop listening to Chloe! - Still sitting on I-270 wondering why I did not take Metro. Realizing that 7:15 is way too early for me and why is everyone on the road. Not used to crowded roads. - Finally driving in to DC, but realizing I am now very late due to traffic and it is still only 7:30 a.m. - Pulling up to a hotel, jumping out, throwing keys at valet, racing in to hotel...only to find that I cannot find the meeting room. No, I cannot have driven up to the wrong hotel, can I? Chloe! - Racing out of hotel. Thankfully retrieving keys from valet as I race away to the correct hotel. - Railing at myself for not looking and listening carefully to Chloe. It's like a game of "Mother May I" as Chloe never said "You have reached your destination" -- did she? I saw hotel entrance and assumed I was at the right hotel. Wrong! - Re-hooking up Chloe to drive to actual hotel with the meeting. Realizing it is pointless to rush as now I am in morning drive time at 7:35 a.m. - Arriving at hotel and quizzing valet about actual name of hotel. Not making same mistake twice. So boys and girls what did I learn from my 1 hour and 30 minute drive to DC with ice, delays, and detours? I am no longer cut out for commuting. Give me a comfy pair of sweatpants and my not-so-comfy computer chair, and I am all set for the job with the shortest commute -- WAHM! In more cheerful and uplifting news, the breakfast meeting was very informative. I was given a look at an infant/toddler/child development website. My older children are old enough that the resource I used when they were younger was the book: What to Expect When You're Expecting When not driving aimlessly around the DC Metro area while having arguments with Chole, her GPS, Jill blogs at Musings.
