I made it back to work today. It’s incredible how inexplicably good it can feel to wake up and have somewhere to go. A job to do.

I didn’t even make coffee at home this morning. I got dressed and fed the dog. We made our way downstairs. I sat outside with him for a bit, then inside he went and off I went to the office. There were so many little things that had piled up in the last two weeks that needed tending to. Faxes to be sent, invoices to be paid, phone calls and emails to return. I got swept up into two meetings while I was there which consumed a good 2 hours of my time. It was nice to take the focus away from my foot. It was nice to plug in again, into something bigger than me.

I’ve been working from home the past two weeks but there’s only so much you can do without the readily available accouterments of an office. At the office everything is right there waiting for you to do your job and make use of it.

At home I have a Lulu lunch bag tied to my crutches. It’s what I use to cart light items from room to room. I drop things in there as I go so as not to forget them. It’s important when on crutches to try and stay efficient and not let the chores pile up nor the clutter of items accumulate that have not been put away.

At work I have a stack of the brown lunch bags from Chipotle at my desk. In my mind the bags are too nice to throw away. Today I used one to carry my faxes and copies and tape dispenser refill to and from the copy and supply room to my desk.

Someone stole my scissors but they didn’t get far. I have my name written in Sharpie across the handle. Once my return to my desk was learned today the scissors magically made their own triumphant return as well.

Not much has changed at work in the two weeks plus that I’ve been working from home. There are still too many meetings, folks still stand and chat while passing one another in the hallway. There’s still an incredible amount of work to be done. I’m going at my own pace now. While folks offered to help me, to refill my coffee, to get my papers off of the printer, I find I’m enjoying my slower pace. Once the person usually feeling overwhelmed by the requests for help, now I’m feeling calm in being left to just be and do.

As I embark on my last month with this company, in the final days before a large portion of staff will be exiting due to a company wide transformation, I found spirits remarkably high, with a team willing to work and willing to help a fellow coworker.