This work week has been absolute hell. Our team is way behind our revenue goal, and I’ve been taking client and conference calls at times anywhere between 1:30-7:30am, oftentimes waking up at 1:15 and staying up until 3, then waking up again at 5:30-6 for another set of calls. I cannot complain much about this given that I know I’m lucky to be able to work remotely at all, but of all the years I’ve come here and worked remotely, this year and this specific week have been the most brutal. I feel exhausted every day, and feel a little bad when I feel like dozing off when meeting with Chris’s family and friends. But, I am fortunate to have this choice to come here and not sacrifice my job.

My friend, who is doing her medical residency, is always so amazed every time I tell her I’m going on a trip or am spending 2.5 weeks in Australia and “working remotely.” As a doctor, she will never have the ability to work remotely. She will never have the flexibility I’ve been lucky enough to take advantage of. Hell, each year during her residency, she receives only two weeks of paid leave, and she needs to schedule them out almost a year in advance. In 2016, she took almost all her leave to attend our wedding and fly from Arkansas to Southern California, and that ultimately meant she missed two of her cousins’ weddings in California at other times of the year. It made me sad to know she made those sacrifices and missed out on those important family events, but I felt extremely touched she chose my wedding over her own blood relatives.