Entry 2: Adjustments
What a month this has been. I don't think I made this many adjustments when Michael dragged me off to Kenya right after we were married. Tony and Sam have been here for about five weeks now, and while things seem to be working out, at least tentatively, there have been some problems. Tony is the kind of person who, to be blunt, can't mind his own business. I have never had an employee, be it housekeeper, secretary, or associate vice president, who is so involved in everything. I understand that by hiring him, I have invited him to my home and my life, but good grief, the man is constantly making conversation, offering advice, asking questions. To be honest, I'm not quite used to this. I'm used to employees who do their job and go home. But that's just it — Tony is home. It's not like he can leave work and go home to a wife and family. I'm all he has to talk to at the end of the day ... and truthfully, the reverse is also true.
Having Tony here every day has made me realize that I have been lonely since Michael left. There's no doubt I'm glad that rotten lout is off chasing pythons somewhere far away, but that doesn't mean I can't miss what made marriage so appealing: someone there at the end of the day, someone to talk to, share life with. Tony's constant, and yes I'll admit, welcome presence, is a reminder of all that I lost when Michael left. However, while Tony and I may have already begun to share our lives to a certain degree, I know it's only a partial solution born of close living quarters and little else. There's certainly no commonality between us. More importantly, spouses don't have boundaries that employees and employers definitely do. And even if they have already been unintentionally crossed once or twice, they've been put back to order just as quickly. For instance, the night Mitch came for dinner, Tony sacrificed his night out to keep me company; I'm not used to that kind of consideration, especially from an employee. There was absolutely nothing holding him here, yet he stayed. And we had such a nice time, so much so that Mitch's eventual arrival doused a bucket of cold water on the evening, and subsequently drenched any chance he'd ask me out again. It wasn't the evening I'd planned, but I can't deny I enjoyed it nonetheless.
As for the kids, they seem to adjusting just fine to their new circumstance. Must be nice to be so flexible. Even Samantha, who has gone from the most run-down, dilapidated school in Brooklyn to the pristine, suburban environment of Fairfield, has adjusted remarkably well. She's making friends, and while there have been problems — a rebellious jaunt back to Brooklyn comes to mind — she seems to be finding her place. She's still a bit skittish around me, at least more so than Jonathan is around Tony, but very polite, with the occasional outburst, which tells me she's finding her comfort zone. Hopefully, with time, we'll find some solid common ground.
While Samantha and Jonathan seem to be getting along wonderfully, as kids are wont to do, Tony and I are still surveying the terrain. Though his open personality has allowed me to learn a lot about him, can one really say one knows another person after a mere five weeks? So, yes, I'm still adjusting to the presence of a strange man in my house. Thankfully, he has been nothing but a gentleman, but I can't say meeting in the kitchen in pajamas – or far worse, being caught getting out of the bathtub by him – haven't taken their toll. It's those kinds of moments, with the now infamous bathtub incident by far the worst, most embarrassing moment of my life, that have made this situation so awkward. I was nearly ready to send him packing at that moment, except I knew it was no more his fault than it was mine. Perhaps in time we'll find a balance, but I never thought hiring a housekeeper would require so much work on my part!
And speaking of work, I have so much to say about being president, but as the clock approaches midnight, I realize I'll have to save my thoughts for another time. Funny, I didn't really intend to spend so much time writing about Tony and Sam; I wanted to write about work and how wonderful it is to be president. Oh well, when life gives you this much to deal with in such little time, you realize things don't always go as planned.