Ride a Damn Bike: Oh my goodness....yes I know it's been so long

Hello my faithful readers...all 10 of you I'm sure have been on pins and needles since my last post. Or a more likely scenario is that you've forgotten entirely about this blog and are now shocked that you are getting more alerts.

WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE!!! I am back and here to update you on the life that just doesn't stop moving.

So...where did I leave off? Ahh yes...I was in sunny San Diego and about to set sail on the Janice fishing boat headed for Tahiti...or something...definitely to be at sea for 4 months. Well, once I pulled my head out of my ass and realized that the captain was a pretty severe alcoholic I decided to ditch that plan. But then...what was I to do? Tamara had already left days before for Slab City in the desert. I could have easily hitch hiked there and found her again, but only to hang with her for another month until she had to head home to Canada? Oh sad...I would have likely been all out of money then and then what? Where would I go and how would I get there? Tamara also, as you know, doesn't have a cell phone, so a dialog with her wasn't possible.

As I sat on my air mattress in the Mulvey's living room, trying to decide my fate, I got word that my paternal grandfather had passed away. He was 91 and a great man...sadly I wasn't able to make it to the funeral due to the timing and insane cost of airline tickets. That was the first signal of something pulling me home...then I got word that my maternal grandmother fell and broke he pelvis and was in the hospital...make that 2 things. Soooooo....then I was on the interwebs, as I frequently am, and I was messaging with a dear friend, Jo, who recently had moved to Vermont from St. Paul to work at a deaf school where she works as a paraprofessional for deaf students. At this point I started applying to ski resorts all over the country, Northern Cali, Colorado, New Mexico, aaaaaand Vermont. Turns out Jo was keen to the idea of me moving to Vemont to live with her in her 2 bedroom apartment and shackin' up Lavern and Shirley style.

>>>>>Fast forward 10 minutes>>>>>>

I have purchased a one-way ticket from San Diego to Minneapolis, with the intention of hugging some friends and family upon arrival, gathering my stuff (my car and 2 rubbermade tubs, oh and my snowboard) and driving out to VERMONT!! So that's what I did. Nevermind that MN got blasted with the worst storm they've had in 20 years, crushing the metrodome while it was at it and me getting my car stuck in the snow several times while trying to escape the suburbs as much as possible. NEVERMIND ALL THAT. I was grateful to see friends and family of course, but I was also equally ready to leave again. I learned on my trip that I still long to be away from the place I grew up...though it's hard to say goodbye to friends and loved ones again, it was less difficult the second time around. If you look back to my very first entry once we got to Portland, you will notice that due to nerves and stress from leaving I procured a case of shits. This time it felt empowering to pack up my VERY FEW belongings (although it is nice to have more than one sweatshirt and one pair of jeans) and drive off to uncertain future. EAST COAST STYLE!!

Me, Emma and Tessa

The drive was actually really nice...I stopped in Milwaukee to visit some whore I went to college with, by the name of Shannon. It was magnificent to see her and we are now snail mail pen pals...which is cute and old timey, plus it give her something to do at her painfully boring job. I also managed to get trapped in the endless rush hour traffic in Chicago and send my pal Sarah some HILARIOUS voice memos while I was driving and getting lost and OH YAY! THEN I got to stop in Cleveland and spend much loved time with my Dads side of the family, including my grandma and my VERY pregnant cousin, Mary and her two deliciously adorable kids Tessa and Emma.

After Cleveland it was the home stretch to get to Vermont, but a little state called NEW YORK took forever to get through. I made it...in 9 hours...Jo's estimate of 10-12 was proven wrong...thank you thank you. Since then it's been a non-stop fun zone. Primarily, Jo and I have been watching netflix, making dinner, taking trips to the co-op, walking around downtown Brattleboro....ya know...small town life. Brattleboro is in the southeast corner of the state. Massachusetts is about 20 minutes away, I could fall out of bed and land in New Hampshire and New York City is about 5 hours. You get all the wonderful nature, with an urban progressive feel not too far away.

I'm trying to look for jobs that will be rewarding and won't crush my soul. At the moment I have a job at a ski resort an hour away. It's lame to drive that far to work and on my first day I managed to drive through a blizzard and smash up my car...go me. Thank god for insurance...never thought I'd say that and mean it. Hmmm.

As for other updates...I'm working hard on making friends in town...primarily by going to the co-ops bulk section, making eye contact with people and smiling at them really really big. Also, I've been riding my bike around town and going on jogs, trying to wave at people. For the most part they all seem a little unsettled, but that shit don't phase me. I'm gonna friend the shit outta this town. Other than that I've been making internet friends and actually hanging with some of them. Jo also has friends so of in the area, Boston and Upstate NY. 3 of her Boston friends came for New Years and we all geeked it up with pajama's apples to apples and an intense game of trivial pursuit. The power went out at about 9 pm so there was the added element of danger to spice up the evening. For Christmas, I was invited to Jo's moms house in Cambridge, NY to spend the holiday with her mom, Susi, her brother, Ian and her sister, Toby. Jo's camp pals, Howie and Moxie also came and spent the night and we...of course played trivial pursuit...after Howie smack talked me into a rematch, it was only fair to hand her ass. Maggie 2, Howie 0.

Apparently I've filled my picture limit for this site so I'll just add the pictures that it let me add and see about maybe getting more space some other time...maybe when I have money.......or care. Anyways...that's all I have for now friends. It feels weird to not be moving around all the time and in sunny weather, but I find this turn of events to be quite inspired and wonderful. Something magical about these mountains...more on that another time!