Per my usual journey through life, I have completely taken the unexpected and “Are you crazy?” path.

First, I feel that a little background information is required.  For several years, I have been offered a job with a company doing field work on their job sites that are building natural gas compressor stations.  I have continuously declined the offer, until now.

I accepted the job only because it will help tremendously with reaching a few of my financial goals within the next year.  So here I am, outside of Washington, DC, working on a compressor station as the only female.  The job is for one year, and I am really hoping I can make it the entire year.  It is 11 days on, and three days off.

I have been here since the first of the year, and I can say that I haven’t seen my neighborhood in the daylight yet.  Dark when I leave for work, and dark when I get back.  I know how my Dad felt all those years.  I am exhausted by 7:00 pm and trying to stay awake just to eat dinner.  My life will be drastically different for the next year, and I hope all of this will be worth it long term.  I took this picture leaving work one night.

My friends keep texting and messaging me to check and see if I am doing ok.  It is pretty funny!  I guess they are worried about my mental state for even being here!  I am not a boots type of person, and my new required steel-toed boots aren’t as bad as I thought they would be.

I also have my own hardhat.  My friends have been asking for a picture with me in all my hi-vis safety gear.  Since I am the only female, I have to have my own bathroom per labor laws (I think labor laws).  So I use the main bathroom on site.  Which from the looks of it, hasn’t ever had a female in it.  I thought I would take a picture in the dirty mirror of my hardhat, and this is how short I am compared to the mirror…It really made me laugh.  If I got closer to the sink,you could only see the very top of my hat.

I would really like a palm tree to put in the corner of my office.  I am having to settle for my Carolina Coast calendar.

Tomorrow is my first day off, and I am going to head down south for the weekend just to reset my patience.  Working with all men…let me just say, I feel like I am in the middle of a 13 year old boys locker room.  I keep telling myself that this adventure will put me exactly where I want to end up and it is only for a year.  Even my alarm clock reminds me when it goes off in the morning.

I want to join the DC swing community while I am here, but I am not sure I have the energy yet.  I am not used to getting up at 5:10 am just yet.  Hopefully, my body will adjust soon so I can have some sort of life outside of work.  I also have a list of places in the area that I want to visit for field trips once I have days off.