I’ve been on “vacation” for the last eight days, and all I have to show for it is this freckly driver’s-side tan up my left arm from having driven to and from Bloomington/Indianapolis three times. Also, I’ve probably lost ten pounds via sweating in my Cavalier, sans AC. But, I’ve arrived. I’m a now a resident of Indianapolis. A Indianapolitan. A nap-towner.

It’s a crazy time. I haven’t had to adapt to a new city since I moved to Bloomington six years ago. We live on the northeast side, in the Castleton area, which I’m finding ridiculously busy, and commericial, in the best of ways. I don’t know where anything is yet, but I’m getting really excited about stupid things, like how I can now go to Trader Joe’s, or how the security guards in Castleton Square Mall ride around on segways.

Tomorrow is my twenty-fourth birthday. It is also my first day working at EchoPoint Media. Tonight, I feel like a child on the last day of summer before starting first grade. I bought a new first-day shirt (At Ann Taylor Loft — if that’s not grown-up, I don’t know what is.) I’ve gone over my morning rush-hour driving route to downtown multiple times so I don’t get lost. I know I can do this, and do it well. I know I can make people laugh, and make friends. I am not worried, just nervous — because it means so much.