Thank God I Got an Upgrade!

After 3 ½ years and 4 roommates later, I said good-bye to the 1703 camp. Stephanie, who I have recently reconnected with, came and picked up me, the dogs and Jarobie at about 6:15 A.M. With my stuff packed in, we headed downtown to pick up my rental car. We arrived early so we drove around a bit. The woman at the Alamo pick-up window couldn't have been nicer. I had originally rented a Pontiac G6, which in retrospect would have been way too small. I asked for a free upgrade which turned out to be a Nissan Altima. I quickly fell in love and the motto for the trip was established, “Thank God I got an upgrade!”

I hugged Stephanie good-bye and told her I was happy that we were back in contact. It really had been too long. I started the car, popped in the CD that Darren made me and was on my way. I had intended to be on the road by 7:30, and I was EXACTLY on time. I will say the first 3 hours were a bit rough only because I haven’t driven a car in so long never mind driving 1100 miles. I fell in to a rhythm pretty quickly. Our first stop was in central Illinois. The dogs were happy to get out and stretch their legs and I was happy to get a Red Bull. I rearranged the stuff in the car to make it a bit more comfy for the dogs and bird. No matter how much I rearranged, it was pretty cramped quarters. It’s lucky Joe punked out on me last minute, there would have been no room for him. I hated lying to my mom about having a travel companion but I didn’t want to worry her anymore than she already was.

Track 18 and 19 on the CD got to me, especially track 19. There’s something about “100 Resolutions” that gets me emotional every time. “This year I’ll try not to drink too much, this year I’ll try to stand up for myself, this year I’m gonna live like I’ve never lived before, yeah this is my year for sure.” So yeah, you can see why those words would touch me so deeply. Granted, I don’t drink too much, I am going to try to live a lot more this year. I’d been in a terrible rut in Chicago and I really hope that by changing the scenery I’ll change my perspective on my life. Leaving Chicago was THE hardest thing I’ve ever done. Saying good-bye to my friends, family and awesome job was mind blowing but I think it needed to be done. Remember, I’m just here passing time. You give me the green light and I’ll be back for you in a heartbeat.

Our second stop was after we got in to Arkansas. I pulled over at a rest area and let the dogs out again. I was sure to offer them plenty of water at every rest stop (Jarobie too). I fed them and cracked open the pretzels, trail mix and Twizzlers Aunt Dana had brought to Mom and Dad’s the day before. I was very thankful to have snacks! As we pushed on to Little Rock, I was listening to the radio and having some success with the stations. I lucked out with an hour of decent 80’s music and I sang my heart out! I’m certain a passenger wouldn’t have appreciated my screeching to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Lucky for me, my dogs are my biggest fans! In the beginning, I had planned to stop for the night in Little Rock. I was making such great time, I pushed past Little Rock and eventually, pushed on to Austin in record time!

I will say the one thing I was hoping to see was a “Welcome To Texas” sign but I didn’t. I had every intention to get out and get a picture with the dogs in front of the sign. Oh well…..I’m sure I will come up with a cute picture for this year’s Christmas cards. I started to get sleepy when I got to Dallas and everyone was encouraging me to stop for the night. I thought about it and even stopped near a hotel for a few minutes to get another Red Bull and a bite to eat. Austin to Dallas was 3 more hours or so and I had done about 15 hours at that point (my personal best prior to my Austin trip). I got back on the road and started making phone calls. It was nice to talk to Lori, Katherine and Katherine. They really got me through those last few hours. I called Chad when I got to Round Rock and he gave me directions to the apartment.

As I spoke to him on the phone, I realized how delirious I was. He may have been a little worried about me even if he didn’t say so. When I saw Austin, I began to cry really HARD. I’m not sure if it was because I was happy, sad or just exhausted. It may have been a bit of each. I remembered how I had fallen in love with Austin back in April and made what some will call, a very rash decision to move. And yeah, it may have been really sudden and poorly though out but I’ve been known to jump before thinking. I hold true to my “all or nothing” mentality. I have very few lukewarm feelings and I have rarely been known to evoke lukewarm feelings from anyone. I think its love me or hate me. I wonder if I’ll ever learn how to see the middle of the road. I doubt it and I’m not about to start trying to change who I am. I am, however, working on “fine tuning” my responses and actions.

This move is a huge opportunity for me to step back and look at my life as it is and make decisions to make it better, more of the way I want it. One of my goals is to get Tru down here by August or September. I need horses in my life. I’ve suffered through some tough times and the payoff would be to be reunited with my sweet girl here in Austin. Other things that I’d love to try to do are: learn to cook healthy, veggie friendly meals, grow some of my own veggies, learn to dance really well so I can dance with the best guys at Ginny’s. I’d also love to get a car so I can take the dogs places like that river where I fell in love with Austin. It was so nice there and it was a dog-friendly area. Austin is SUPER dog-friendly. I’m also going to look In to driving very part time for fun and volunteering at a spay/neuter clinic.

The future is mine and it will be what I make of it.