My new work project is kicking my ass. Basically, I'm taking over from some incompetent people who didn't get their work done. It sucks.

It's strange being here alone for so many days without The Scientist. This is the longest we've been apart since he went to Australia for 10 days in 1999 when we were first dating. I don't envy couples who have long distance relationships.

I find myself eating like a bachelor. Microwaved burrito for lunch. Dry cereal for dinner. Chocolate cake for breakfast. I made an effort yesterday and had a yogurt for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, a banana for a snack, and fettuccine alfredo with shrimp for dinner. The lettuce was all grungy or I would have had a salad.

It probably didn't help that I spent all of Saturday (after finding out about the space shuttle Columbia and going to my tennis drill) reading Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids, and Life in a Half-Changed World by Peggy Orenstein which is our February book club book. It was very interesting and I'm sure it will prompt a great discussion, but reading it cover-to-cover when I was alone and already depressed was probably not a good idea.

It's all about women and the choices that we make (or are forced to make) in our personal and professional lives and does not portray a hopeful, optimistic picture of our ability to "have it all" (successful work life, satisfying marriage, time for our children). When The Scientist called me to say he'd gotten to Omaha, I told him he needed to read it. I don't know if he will or not, but I may read him some underlined passages.