One month and 4 days ago i quit my job of 8 yrs. Yes i realize this seems like the most ridiculous thing someone could do in an economy that's flailing but in light of the circumstances that were around my departure i just couldn't convince myself that a move to Fairfield CA which is 417 miles away (Yes, I google mapped it because i truly care about accuracy in stories, no Big Fish here) was really the best idea for my personal life. Also i felt sick to my stomach at the thought of having to uproot my entire life and house and move to a town where i would know NO ONE. Somehow companies think, "Oh, moving must be so easy for you. You're young and single. You don't have a family to move." Sure yeah, maybe physically moving a single individual is easier because all of my possessions will fit into one medium sized U haul with half of that space being taken up by my shoe collection and i don't have a playpen of toys that have to come with me containing 12 different Elmo dolls and an ENTIRE princess castle complete with moat but i think what people fail to realize is when a single person moves it is ONLY they that moves. It's not a small family community that moves together to restart their lives in a new home with each other to lean on through the hard times. It is only ONE (The loneliest number) that moves with me and finding shoulders to lean on is about as hard as finding jewelry along the CA coast line, it takes long hours spent alone swinging a big piece of equipment looking ridiculous to everyone else on the beach until that other freak with the metal detector comes along and knows exactly why you're out there searching for loose change. And after 3 yrs on my ghetto neighborhood street I've finally found a group of beach combers that find the same ridiculous joy i do in scouring life for buried treasure. And i just couldn't bare to leave my band of pirates and swashbucklers, after all we pirates must stick together.
So that was it, i said NO Thanks to offer of relocation and decided to see what the big wide sea of employment had to offer in deeper waters. And what have i found so far? Well absolutely nothing because instead of manning my ship and sailing out to destiny, i decided to walk the plank and take a bit of a swim around my little ocean island. A week and 2 days after i was handed my last two pay checks i boarded a plane for the land of leprechauns and rainbows for 9 days. And although i never did find a small red bearded man i did find a 4 leaf clover and found out that i indeed have mad skills in driving on the wrong side of the road (even you couldn't shake my skill CLIFDEN CASTLE, in your face) After my return to browner pastures i packed another bag and flew up to the land of green in Oregon. I had decided i should spend some time in the homeland of hippies and recycling. But i did learn that giving myself less than 24 hours to recover from a 12 hr plane ride the day before was probably not the best idea. I had to spend most of time laid up on my couch trying to rid my body of the enormous cankles that had formed from sitting for hours on end in a seat that is way too uncomfortable. Strangely enough my feet did not swell which is good because i was able to go to DSW with my $10 off coupon and purchase a new pair of incredibly cute pumps I'll probably wear once this year (I wasn't exaggerating about the shoe collection) and i did one load of laundry. But that second journey on the plane was incredibly difficult to manage. I felt like a caged animal ready to spring forth and rip the seats to shreds with my finger nails and run up and down the isles screaming for the lack of space i had in front of me. I had enough of sitting time to last me a good month. The anticipation of being on the ground and not cooped in a metal tin box with recirculated air was straining my last nerve of patience.
But Oregon was the out in its best form. Beautiful weather, green fields, trees and flowers all in bloom. Yes, i know it seems like i am describing a Disney movie but seriously it felt like i was walking through a landscape painting for 2 weeks. Oregon new it's friend had returned and wanted to greet her with the best spread it could offer. And after my stint back home i realized a few things: Ireland is hard pressed to be in competition with the green fields in Oregon, i love long motorcycle rides as much as i did when i was 5, i have the cutest niece and nephew EVER and there are plenty of reasons i no longer live at home.
And then back to the brown cloud of So Cal i went. Once again in town less than 24 hrs before i took off to AZ. My sister was graduating college and being a good older sister i decided to see her cross the stage and receive that diploma she had worked 11 hard years to get.
And here i sit in my friend's house composing this ever intriguing blog entry reminiscing about the 9 yrs i spent in this desert landscape and thinking, Yes this place is still TOO hot. But good friends will always be good friends, the movie theater will always be the easiest escape from the unbearable heat, baseball games are always better in person, the freeways here cannot be beat and i will always be involved in the lives of those that live here to matter how small and when God blesses you to see the most amazing shooting star you better make a wish that your life will always be wonderful and that being temporarily retired is AWESOME! (Now to find a way to become independently wealthy so i can remain retired)
Here is a picture of the CURSED Clifden Castle, that story to come later.
