This blog now has a new home:  workhorseblues.com

See you there.

Why why why why WHY GOD WHY:

Most awkward minute of my life.  NSFW because of the word “tittays”.

It’s always fun when complete strangers tell you about their dreams, isn’t it?  Tops the list, you might even say.  Here’s mine from last night.

I lived in the same apartment building as I do now, yet the inside was like the house in Indianapolis that I grew up in and the location of the apartments was in Savannah, GA, complete with the lush, beautiful landscape and gothic romance that the city is famous for.  The apartments were on fire, and the fire became fast friends with the spanish moss that covered all the trees outside.  See the picture below?  Just like that, except the moss was glowing from fiery embers.  Quite beautiful, actually.

The fire was from the aliens, you know.  You couldn’t see them, but the fire signaled their arrival and they were watching everyone from this spotlight/eye in the sky.  It was like the eye from LOTR, only seriously, it was a giant flood light with a flashlight handle attached.  Finally, it caught sight of me and shown down, scanning, and it may not sound like the most terrifying thing in the world, but it kind of was.  I was paralyzed with fear.

Immediately I remembered that Wally and Molly were still in the burning apartment building, so I ran inside to get them.  I put Molly in her crate and when I was searching the place for Wally’s leash, I found another cat I didn’t even know I had.  It was the fattest creature I have ever seen.  Not even joking – at least a 100lb house cat.   Minimum.  It was so fat that it couldn’t walk and I had the roll the damn thing down the stairs to safety.

I don’t remember what happened immediately after rolling Fatty down the stairs, but we all ended up in this refuge center for the people that lost their homes due to the alien fire.  My mom was there, but I only caught a glimpse of her and she disappeared when I went running towards her, and that’s when I woke up.

I just watched the trailer for The Lovely Bones and it looks great.  One of my favorite books, and I cried like a baby when I read it.   This is going to be good.

The only thing that makes me go “eh” is Mark Wahlberg.  He created Entourage, something I have to suffer through every Sunday to get to the second showing of True Blood, and he will therefore always make me say EH.  Them’s the rules.

What do you do if the one thing in your life that makes you happy is suddenly jeopardized by something completely out of your control?  You have the option of sticking it out and hoping for the best with a very large, very real chance of having your heart crushed and spending the rest of your life trying to pick up the millions of tiny pieces it leaves behind..  or do you move on with your life, on your own terms, and try to make it day by day never really knowing what could have been?  Honestly, wtf do you do?

I missed home.  I missed Wally and Molly, and my bed with the comfy pillows.  I missed the cloudy, dreary weather.   I missed everything about this state, this town and my boring, daily life but it was good to be away for a while.

Where do I start?  The drive to Savannah was long.  Driving through Atlanta is a nightmare and that city can kiss my ass.  My nephew handled the long trek surprisingly well.  He’s excellent up till the four hour mark but he needs a break after that.  Knowing this, I think I was stopping so we could stretch our legs every two to three hours.   We were all tired and on the brink of insanity toward the last stretch, but I swear to god, once you see the sign that says “Savannah” the city pretty much slaps you in the face with beauty.  We were driving for hours and then BAM!  All of a sudden it went from ordinary to the most beautiful place I have ever seen.  There is something about palm trees coupled with oak trees and spanish moss that kind of takes the breath away.  I’m sure the people in the south who see this every day would think I’m crazy, but it was gorgeous.

I think I pretty much shot myself in the foot where Savannah was concerned before I even arrived.  I was so excited and wanted to do so much that I had really high expectations.  What I didn’t count on was the drive being that tiring, and us all being grumpy at the end.  I wanted to walk around and take the city in, but after walking a block in the hot Georgia sun after driving for 10 hours, I quickly saw that the plan was going to be much different.  We were losing light and patience so we all got in the car, AGAIN, just to drive around the city so we could see more.  Unfortunately, Savannah driving is kind of confusing if you haven’t been there, so we got lost and since it seemed like no one else was satisfied with aimless driving, my sister picked a destination.  Tybee Island.

It sucked.  My thinking was – we’re going to be in Florida after this for a few days doing nothing but beachy things, so why are we wasting precious Savannah time looking for the damn beach?  I wasn’t a happy camper but I sucked it up because it wasn’t all about me and I did what the group wanted.    After that we had time for a quick dinner and then we gave up for the night and returned to the hotel which was nice and comfy.  I crashed.

The next morning we slept in and then went out to Bonaventure Cemetery.  Unfortunately, the only pictures I managed to take of Savannah were here because I spent the rest of the time being grouchy and driving.  It was hot and muggy so we didn’t stay long, but even the cemetery was gorgeous.  I swear, it’s those damn trees.  They make everything look magical and painted in a ghostly but charming way.

That’s it for Savannah.  When we left the cemetery we said goodbye to the city and drove six hours to our destination in Florida.  I won’t talk about the drive there, but basically there was a lot of family and beach time when we arrived.  I was enjoying myself in the ocean for a while and I don’t have one single decent picture of the ocean without a family member in it because of the vacation mode I was in and my fear of getting water/sand in crevices, but I do have zoo pictures.  Let’s go there.

West Palm Beach zoo was fun!

This “lizardy thing”, as I like to call it, is everywhere in Florida.  This one was at the zoo, but while I was visiting my Dad I saw about 7 or 8 of them in his backyard, mostly sunning on the fence.

My favorite animal at the zoo was the West African Crowned Crane.  Weirdly beautiful creature and uhm, quite taken with me if I might say so.  If I walked two feet, it walked two feet.  And it stared.  Honestly, I don’t know if it wanted to eat me or date me.  I did leave my number, though.  We’ll see.

More about the trip and the drive home later, but I’m tired.  I’m going to relax now.

Do you realize that I am 29 years old, and this upcoming trip is my first adult vacation where I actually GO somewhere?  It’s wildly exciting and I am excited.  I was six years old the  last time I went somewhere on vacation, also to Florida, but there’s nothing enjoyable about being six, sunburned, and in a hotel for two days because there’s a blister that stretched from one shoulder to the other on my back.   This was in the 80’s, back before the time of sunscreen, apparently.  This time the Florida sun will be kind to me.  SPF 50 guarantees it.

As for the hotel I mentioned a few posts back, that isn’t happening anymore.  The Guy insisted that I stay somewhere else and he booked two rooms at the Inn at Ellis Square for my sister and I, and it most certainly is an upgrade.   Besides the obvious lack of health concerns, the best part of this hotel is the location.  It’s right by everything I want to see, but now I wish I had more time in Savannah.    He also bought me a Savannah guidebook as a gift, and the more I read it the longer I want to stay.  I’m in love with a city I’ve never been to.  Don’t disappoint me, Savannah.  This heart of mine is fragile.

It also seems as though I’m a little anal in the planning department.  I’m one of those people now, but what can I say?  There’s a lot of satisfaction in making a list and crossing things off.  Mostly the lists are things I need to do before the trip, what to buy, what to pack, directions and backup routes, emergency numbers, reservation and confirmation numbers, etc.  Don’t get me wrong – there isn’t an itinerary of any kind.  Once we reach our destinations we’ll play it fast & loose, I think.   The Savannah Plan is to walk around and walk around some more, and maybe drive out to Bonaventure Cemetery.  That kind of thing.  Florida’s plan is beach, family time, snorkeling, zoo and some kind of safari adventure that my Dad insists we do.

There will be lots of picture taking too, I assure you.  Buying another memory card is on the list.  I’ll cross it off tomorrow.

By the way, I know the lists are kind of unnecessary but I do it because it keeps me focused on being happy and excited.  The sister and nephew don’t seem excited at all and have barely mentioned it.   In fact, the only time my sister seemed excited was last night after some drinks, but she was drunk and excited about everything so it doesn’t really count.   I put on my best Aren’t You Excited?! face to my nephew and all he says is “yeah” before walking away.  That’s it, people?  That’s all the excitement you got?  Well, you’re not bringing me down.  I’ll make lists and be excited with my notepad & pen, all by myself.