Sunrise

A time I'm not really used to, unless I'm just crawling into my bed after a long night awake.

Monica just left for work about 30 minutes ago, and hadn't been gone for more than 10 before she called me and told me the reason we'd been hearing all the sirens from the emergency vehicles this morning was due to an accident on Lexington Road (right in the path she had to travel for work.) She informed me that all traffic was being redirected onto Arnoldsville Road instead of being allowed to continue up 78. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal, but this is Monica's first day at her new Home Depot, and she doesn't really know the roads up here yet (having only lived here permanently since Saturday.) Also, we have no idea how long it's going to take her to get to work from here, but 30-45 minutes is the bare minimum, and she only had about an hour.

Well, she called me a few minutes later and told me she was coming up to Robert Hardeman Road, and that the traffic which she'd been following up until now was turning both ways. Fortunately that's a road I'm familiar with, at least by name, and told her to turn left, because I was fairly certain it crossed over 78 on the usual route I, and now Monica, will take to work. So, trusting in my usually sketchy (at least when it comes to roads) driving directions, Monica turned left. She called me a few minutes later and told me she was back on 78 again, which was good (and boosted my confidence in navigating our new surroundings a degree or so.) I told her to call me when she got to work, and then we hung up again.

Five minutes ago (7:38AM) she called and said "I'm in the parking lot." I was stunned. I figured that with the detour and the morning work commute, she'd still have at least another 10-15 minutes of travel ahead of her. But no, she was already there, safe and sound. The whole trip, detour included, took about 40 minutes, just slightly longer than it takes me to get to work, which is to be expected because Home Depot is slightly further away than OfficeMax. At any rate, she's there safely, with a few minutes to get in, get relaxed, and get set to face a new day in a new store.

Keep her in your thoughts today as she's really nervous about starting a new job in a new place. And if you're in the area, don't hesitate to drop in and say hello!

Have a great week everyone, and happy February! :)