garden state girl scout

When you work so far away from where you live, prepping to leave the house in the morning requires effort far beyond the average thermos-filling and PB & J packing. You must be prepared for just about any scenario that could happen in the 8 work hours plus 4 driving hours that you’ll be away from the house.

First and foremost, the cell phone must be charged.

You must assemble a small arsenal of pharmacy essentials: Advil, Tampax (not just for personal emergencies, but also for use in bartering future favors from desperate colleagues), Chapstick, backup Chapstick (cuz those suckers disappear faster than socks in a dryer), contact rewetting solution, and my favorite little vice – cherry flavored Halls.

Then, of course, there’s the buffet of snacks and beverages that someone maintaining a metabolism like mine requires on a bi-hourly basis. (It’s been suggested that I eat more before noon than Super Yummy Boyfriend eats all day.)


And then there is the sweater for ridiculously cold air conditioning. The flip-flops to wear between the parking lot and the office. The umbrella in case the weather is different “up north”. It’s not like I can just run home during lunch to grab something I’ve forgotten.

Clearly, considerable foresight is essential…or else my normal workday could turn into one of those first day of school nightmares. You know the kind? Where a lucid dream leads you through half a morning without a bookbag and pants, and none of your dream buddies alert you until lunchtime? AWKWARD. And I know, because I’ve actually been there.

For some people work is just work. For me...it's a serious excursion. Gotta be prepared.