Return to Minneapolis

It has been an adjustment moving back here. Not that I expected it to be incredibly easy, but it's taking some work to get back into things here. The internship is going pretty well, though I am realizing that perhaps it would have been better if I started next week rather than last week. My boss has been incredibly busy hiring new staff members over the past several weeks, and hasn't been completely prepared for a new intern that reports directly to her.
The trip to New Ulm went well, and I managed to stay awake in the car, which felt like a major accomplishment (I was sitting in the back seat, it was gray and rainy, and we were driving through farm land, which isn't exactly anything new for me). But, because I was in the car with the president and my new boss, the vice president, I felt like potentially doing something embarrassing while sleeping wasn't what I was going for on the first day. Instead, I pinched myself when I felt like there was nothing else to distract myself with.
I have been assigned several projects to work on over the course of the summer-- looking at women's health, community health, a children's book on heart health, and potentially working on some professional education projects/documents for the medical community. But, for right now I am doing a lot of background/generic work, because none of these projects have a particular direction yet. I have been working on ideas, and sending them to my boss, but it looks like this week's meeting has been pushed back until next week, so it could be awhile yet until I have a better sense of direction.
On the plus side, this has meant that I can leave the office early every day to read articles/do research from coffee shops. I have been getting into the office between 7 and 7:30 in the morning, and leaving around 2 or 3, doing research from whatever coffee shop I feel like working from after that (and this has been a great way to avoid rush hour traffic). I even convinced my boss to let me take Friday off so I could go cheer my cousin on at the state track meet in the morning, and work from home in the afternoon.
It's been weird to realize that Cody and I will be celebrating our first anniversary apart though next week. I think that isn't going to be very much fun. My dad jokingly suggested that we call each other on skype while eating dinner as a mini-celebration. Oh well, I guess we can celebrate together next year!
But, Cody will be in town a month from today, and that is giving me something to look forward to. It also helps that I am making lots of plans to spend time with various friends that I haven't seen since last summer or Christmas. It's keeping me distracted (unlike last week, when I was bored out of my mind every night).
Now back to the research.