Too soon, too fast... can't get any better.

31 hours... something like that. Plans are falling into place.

I got Jose checked out today. He got clearance to be driven cross country. Also, the cigarette lighter in my car works now so ipod playing will ensue. I cleaned the car today and started to vacuum him as well.


















Tomorrow I'm packing my stuff, spending one last shift at work, saying goodbye to people and finally, sleeping.

We're leaving so soon. A text from Ciara today, replying to my text that stated we had about 36 hours left, "Weird. Exciting. Scary. Weird."

I think that sums it up.

T minus four days.

The past couple of weeks have been uneventful chaos. oxymoron? perhaps. Either way, the reality has set in. Today was my last day at the Eagle. :( I work the floorset this weekend, but it was my last real customer helping shift. I'm going to miss most of those people.

The responses to us leaving are varied. Most people are really excited for us and some are jealous. Some are looking at us as immature girls with reckless ambition. Some think it's smart to take this adventure. ome think it's dumb. I don't care what anyone thinks. I think all of those could apply. Yes, it's crazy and unplanned and scary. But it is also the most exciting thing I've ever done in my life and one of the few instances I truly feel alive. There has been so much planning, but so much lack of planning. I love it. I think this is the best way to do this. No strings, no ties, to time frames. It's kind of like a friend with benefits situation. The outline is covered, but all the details are fuzzy and blurred and not quite figured out, because that road hasn't been traveled yet.

I talked to my cousin Jamie today. When she was my age, she moved to California for three years. She gave me a lot of advice: what to look for, where to look to live, jobs, etc. I liked hearing her point of view. A young girl who did the same thing we are about to do. She was excited for me. That meant a lot.

I left Orlando today. I said goodbye to one of my best friends for at least a few months. Then I cried the whole way to work because of it. Those roads are so familiar. The faces and places. The names and flow. As much as I hate Orlando, I built my life there. My grown up life. That's where I feel like I became a grown up. I took on responsibilities there. I changed, I matured, and I lived. The city itself had become part of who I am. Now I'm leaving. For another adventure, another chapter nonetheless, but I still feel as if the ties were cut too harshly. Too quick. In my head, I tried to disconnect myself months ago. I thought it was working. It wasn't. I did it today though...

I keep thinking, what if something happens and we change our minds last minute? What then? I'm almost anticipating it, not because I want it to, just because it doesn't seem real to face the unknown. But here we are. It's Wednesday night and we leave Sunday morning. In four days time, I will not be living in Florida anymore. That sounds delightful...

Time is up...

I returned home from camp and the immediate subsequent vacation with the kids to North Carolina. Camp was amazing, we ended the week with seven baptisms and only one kid got sick enough to send home. North Carolina was a fantastic trip as well. The weather was gorgeous and the scenery was breathtaking. I got my tonsils out on Monday, so I am still recovering from that.

I vaguely remember talking to the male nurse in Spanish after the anesthesia started to wear off. He answered my questions in English and then I looked at him and started laughing and said, "I don't even speak Spanish." and he replied, "Neither do I." It was hard to laugh with stitches in my mouth, but I did the best I could.

Our stuff (mine and Ciara's) is everywhere. The apartment is empty and who only knows if they have been in there yet. We each have a storage unit and we also have stuff housed at other people's houses temporarily as well. We both feel homeless (especially in Orlando). I didn't know what to do the other day as I left the kids house after we returned home from North Carolina. I went to the old apartment and got dressed in the car in the parking lot. It was really sad. I loved that apartment.

Oh well. Here is to another chapter in our lives, and here's to an adventure of a lifetime...



"Broke into the old apartment
This is where we used to live
Broken glass, broke and hungry
Broken hearts and broken bones
This is where we used to live
Why did you paint the walls?
Why did you clean the floor?
Why did you plaster over the hole I punched in the door?
This is where we used to live
Why did you keep the mousetrap?
Why did you keep the dishrack?
These things used to be mineI guess they still are, I want them back
Broke into the old apartment
Forty-two stairs from the street
Crooked landing, crooked landlord
Narrow laneway filled with crooks.
This is where we used to live."

- "Old Apartment" by Barenaked Ladies