After finally getting my acceptance letter from UGA, I have to admit, I have been riding pretty high. It has been hard to care about the current semester (except for the fact that I want to keep that magna cum laude distinction) and I even forgot to turn in a discussion assignment on time!I kicked off week six by heading to Panama City Beach Monday afternoon to spend a little time with my mom, who was there on a business trip. Her hotel, the Holiday Inn Resort was right on the water on Front Beach Road! Even though it was still crisp and breezy, I loved being able to walk on the beach, dig my toes in the sand, and get back to my roots. For most of my life, I grew up in Cali with beautiful beaches just minutes away. I could see the ocean from my backyard, I collected sand crabs and sea kelp, and floated in the water until I was red as a lobster. The one thing I have missed so much while living in the south is the ocean! The salty smell in the air, the breeze, and the sound of the waves. I know I will probably never live very near the beach again (unless of course Mr. Big & I decide to one day retire on one???) so I was glad to make a trip to the beach while I am still only 2 hours away from it. In 6 months, I will be soaking up the sun somewhere different - the lawns of North Campus!!!
These days - I am divided and all over the place. My heart is far away with Mr. Big, my feet are in Tallahassee, and my head is in Athens. Sometimes they all switch places, leaving me extra confused. Despite my excitement to return to the Classic City, I know I will shed some tears for the friends and memories I am leaving behind in the Capital City. I have loved my Bulldog family here, my FSU friends, and my work family. I will miss them all - and the Kraken (our office's Keurig) too!! Even when you are traveling a path you are excited about, goodbye is never fun and I hope that the people I love here in Tally will stay in my life as I move forward.
As a military brat, I am no stranger to moving. There are good things and bad things about wanderlust. I hate looking for boxes. They never seem to be the right size. I have a million books which I don't plan on getting rid of and they will break the backs of all of us who have to carry them during the move. There is always one box which is "leftover shit" that you throw in it right before the truck pulls away. No one knows how the contents of this box never got packed with the other shit, but it always happens. And rather unfortunately, sometimes you lose a box during moving, the contents of which will never be seen again (ex: moving trip circa 2008 in which a box containing all of my t-shirts fell off the truck spurring me to start a "new" t-shirt collection).
The fun? Shopping for new furniture (I might actually buy my first official living room set - on a payment plan, of course), sitting around a half empty apartment eating pizza on the floor and laughing about the good and bad times you have had there, the adventure of hitting the road with all your belongings in tow, and the day you lay down a new door mat in front of a new home. This 2012 move will be 27th move in my 27th year. I have seen a lot of places, met a lot of people, and I am better for it...
I leave you with this sweet Valentine, as the holiday approaches. Who could resist that face?
