http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x22t90fKaEw


I have not written in this thing for almost a year. It has been a crazy wonderful year, but that is another story for another time. Today I want to briefly comment on my recent skydiving trip with my mom and sister. I am attempting to post the video here for a friend. My sister wanted to go for her birthday in May. I couldn't go at that time so I got her a gift certificate instead for a future date. We picked this weekend and it came on fast. I can honestly say i was not afraid of the jump. When I thought about how it might feel I got a little nervous. . . .I could induce the stomach turning feelings just imagining the drop. The thing was the drop did not feel like I expected at all. My stomach did not drop. It just felt wonderfull to be so high up above the world. The actually feeling was more like riding a bicycle fast downhill while standing on your pedals (except a lot more wind hahah). I could feel the air rushing by me, but it was great!
We got to pick music to be played on our videos. They actually let me pick songs from my own personal cd. For the record, I don't actually think I am a badass. . . but "if you let me tell you what I imagine. . . . ." For about 60 seconds I felt like a million bucks. Worth every penny.

Cheers
Kelly

Is a Commute a Commune with the Highway?

11/19/09
For approximately 6 weeks I have been communing with the hoard of Southern California Commuters. I drive to San Diego every day for work. The commute is just under an hour with no traffic, but there is usually traffic. In the morning I get to cruise by the ocean for 30 minutes. The sun comes up over the hills to my left and it gleams off the crashing waves to my right. Right about the time the higway pulls away from teh view it also slows down, way down. In the evening I get fabulous sunsets and if I left early enough (4pm) I missed the worst of the traffic. At first the drive didn't bother me. The view was wonderful. I got audiobooks from the library and listened to my quickly growing CD collection. (It pays to be friends with those who love music). I now know all the lyrics to the wicked soundtrack and have developed a true appreciation for Def Leppard and Kings of Leon. I have listened to books by Richard Feynman, Dr. Weil, and am currently boning up on the History of Everything, by Bill Bryson.
Despite all this wonderful distraction I still get that antsy gut wrenching feeling everyday before my evening commute. I don't want to sit in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes, for 10 minutes, for 2 minutes. I want to be home. I find myself getting off the highway at the first sign of traffic and taking the local business or rural roads. My favorites are the Pacific Coast highway (which alternates between beautiful coastal drive to 25MPH, stop sign every 50 feet town road) and Via de Valle (a road that winds like a ribbon in the wind). Of course these alternate routes are never faster, but at least I am engaged in driving them.
I guess for now my life is truly a highway, I just hope my scenic detours don't keep me driving all night long. . . . . (wah wah wah)

Californicated

I am officially a California citizen; today I passed the witten driving test, gave a fake smile to a camera and forked over $234 to receive a license, registration, and plates. My plates no longer have a VT Hokies logo on them, nor does my license plate say Num20. I am a little sad about this, but I try to suppress my sentimental side as much as possible.

It is also September. August went by fast.

If I Managed. . . . .

One of the fabulous benefits of working at the library was my introduction to the comic strip Unshelved. The humor centers around life in a public library and librarian stereotypes. I don't need to do any research, reading this comic strip makes me certain I would fit right into the library scene. Yesterday's strip is a great example (see picture above). I actually brought books with me to Georgia, but I did not get around to reading them, which is very out of character for me. I had a book in my soccer bag last night (I had an evening indoor soccer game) and when we were all sitting around after the game I pulled it out and opened to my bookmark. . . .and then this little voice in my head said "Stop! Don't read the book now! Put it away. . . .socialize!" And so reluctantly I put my book back into my bag and joined the conversation around me. I do have a stack of books I want to read building on my nightstand though. I think tonight may be the glorious night I get to read some of them!!! (M. Scott Peck's autobiography, A nonfiction about what happens in our brains when we dream, The Last Lecture, A nonfiction about life in a hospital, and a few editions of The Week Magazine). I think I have some red wine left too. . . :)

Georgia

It's Saturday morning, and I am getting ready to go for one last run with my Mom. We walk for about 2 miles and then run two miles back. Some might call us joggers, but any exercise is welcome after all the crap I have eaten this week. Nothing busts a healthy diet like family dinners.
I had never been to Georgia before. I think at one point i was looking forward to surfing, hahahaha. I have never seen a surf so flat. I did float around on raft and burnt the crap out of my tummy. I did not get stung by a jellyfish, neither did I step on a stingray. All in all I think it was a good trip. Everyone is driving back today to miss traffic. I will be dropping down into Florida to pick up a friend to ride back with me tomorrow. Maybe I'll nap today because one thing is for sure, it is impossible to get sleep when vacationing with my family. There is always too much to DO!

It's After Midnight

And I am up fiddling with my computer. This is the norm. So tonight I am fiddling specifically with my blog. I've had this blog set up for years, but I have never written in it and wasted many hours trying to decide what color scheme I wanted (Blogger simply did not have a big enough selection of background colors).
I would like to use this blog as a means of keeping in touch with friends despite moving to California. We'll see how long it lasts. Right now it is bed time. I will write more later (famous last words?)