Final thoughts on the 2008 cross country not a rock star tour.

In which Liz wraps up some loose ends
It is 7/26/08 which means it took me about two weeks to finish updating my blog. I procrastinated on purpose for much of the time. I'd been reluctant, because writing about it keeps it alive somehow. After this I have to find other ways to keep adventure alive. I know there are plenty out there, but this adventure was very special. But life has many special things in store, they are just different.

Also the past few weeks I've been busy with lots of stuff
I dealt with most of the details of things both mundane and enjoyable.
- unpacked giant box I had mailed to myself
- printed pictures and bought a frame for a collage of friends from the trip
- put up postcards, prayer flags, and other souvenirs around my living room.
- returned the broken tent to EMS and got a replacement, plus made 10 bucks on the deal. (EMS is now officially off my S*&! list)
- Bought a new gold pencil and finished Jacob's drawing. (I will post it when he receives it.)
- Paid the bill for the rental car.
- And knitted Dan's scarf til it's almost as tall as me (it comes up to my nose)

I took time to enjoy thaty which I came home to. I came home to some terrific things, including these right outside my door. When I left there were tiger lilies (another of my favorite flowers), and when I came back there were sunflowers. I have been promised at least one sunflower on my birthday. That's pretty cool.
Also a few days after I came back I got to see Bean and even hold him.
(Bean and his mom above) (Bean and his dad below), Holding Bean was both cool and scary because I felt like his arm was getting smushed and I worried. Bean is very light, but long, and also very cute.

Also somewhere in there I managed to get sick. Surprisingly wandering about the country exposing my allergies to things they've never sniffed and getting less sleep than typical can lead to illness, who knew?

Still it hasn't stopped me. I've been pretty busy with friends since I've returned. It's been great, and helped ease the transition back. I'm trying to keep a balance of doing things that bring me joy/things I want to do, and dealing with everyday life. Work has been low-key since it is summer and kids go on vacation and often don't come to therapy in the summer. Home has been nice, and I am working on learning to relax here, and just take care of myself. It's like the trip was a boost so that I could get back into good habits around taking care of myself, my body, my heart my mind, and my own personal spaces and places. Sometimes I do okay at that, and other times the good habits fail, or get pushed out of the way by drive to meet obligations. So I'm going to try and relax take care of myself and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Which does not mean I haven't got some ideas mulling around the back of my head for the fall and the up-coming year. Believe me I have some ideas. One of the things is this winter I plan to ACTUALLY make it to a UConn Women's basketball game.
Then there's always next year's trip to plan. On Memorial day 2009 one of my cousin's is getting married in Vegas. (she's a cousin on my dad's side, so not in the pictures thus far) This means I'm going to Vegas. I've never been. I've also promised Curt that I will actually visit him in San Diego sometime during that trip because he is not that far away from Vegas. I was thinking I could combine those two stops with some traveling around the southwest (Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico) for about 9-10 days. I could potentially do it so that it would involve whoever came using about 5 days of vacation time, which isn't quite as hard as my most recent escapade.

If you're interested let me know. I won't be putting my planning brain fully into action until around January, so think about it.

That's all for the NARS tours for now
Happy journeying to you all.
Liz