So Ready To Go

I've been home for the past three weeks. Gnome socks. Target runs.

Sister is not made for this.

I'm ready to go. 

The weeks of rest have been nice -- I've spent time with my family, read books, and had lots of time to myself. And ... now I am ready to get moving.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I had a different life, one where I wasn't jumping on planes and navigating a new city every few weeks.  I'd get involved with the PTO! I'd have 17 more children! I'd find inner peace! I'd ... yeah, no. (Though after spending time at my son's school I so have some ideas to create change, and am going after that.)

The truth is: I know who I am. Who I'm not. And I get all kinds of antsy when the two aren't in sync. 

I went back to work this week and got giddy starting a spreadsheet of ideas, places that need to be explored and covered. Started going through the bookmarks I'd saved over break about new digital business models, started going through the things that needed to be done.

I love being an editor. Even now, when things are so damn challenging. Especially now.

I love figuring out what's happening across a swath of the country.

I love diving into difficult things.  

***

It's been great to have had this quiet time in Birmingham. But when I went back to work, I could just feel it. I was ready to get out and start doing what I do best.

Mid-week I set out to work on a story, one here in The Magic City (a rare thing for me.) I was sitting in Avondale Brewing, doing what I do in every other city. Talking to locals, taking notes. Learning about place. 

After chatting with some folks there, I stood in their upstairs room, and watched the sun set through the trees outside. And I knew that it was time for me to go. 

2012: Year in Review

I've been sick all week -- actually most of my vacation. You know, the one in which I dreamed about catching up with friend, going to see live music (hey, I did get one karaoke session in) and getting completely rested and rejuvinated. Ah ha ha. Maybe being relegated to the couch is what I needed.

I haven't been good for much, but sitting on the couch and reading. And flipping through photos from the year. From the photo evidence it looks like I ate a ton of oysters, went to a lot of beaches, had some fancy cocktails, and took a bunch of photos of two pugs and one child. So, not bad.**

January: Annual tradition of going to the circus with the family, a trip to Vegas with Stephanie, and a coastal SC drive, in which I saw my college friend Liz, ate oysters at Bowen's Island, and caught this lovely view from Botany Bay:  

February: Teaching a writing class at Nate's school. The spa at the new Baltimore Four Seasons. Taking Nate on his first trip to See Rock City, despite that it was so cold we couldn't feel our fingers. The lowlight of that trip was hearing about Whitney's death while huddled under the covers at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Just one of those moments.

March: A phone call saying, "Hey, you want to meet Patrick Demspey?" And then, the following day, this:

 

April: Nate's sixth birthday party (bowling style). 

May: Celebrating eight years of being married to Shane, who puts up with me despite a whole lot. Traveling to New York for cousin Brendan's wedding, during which we took the Circle Line with the family around the Statue of Liberty. Also got to see the Keith Haring exhibit at the Brooklyn Musuem of Art. I did cry that day, as we learned of Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch passing. Just saying.  

And spending an epic two weeks traveling the Gulf Coast for story research, during which time I met Alice Cooper. (Not related to the story.)

June: Eating a lot of food in New Orleans. Seeing my great friends Steve and Nancy, who were showing Steve's work at Jackson Square.

Also, a drive through Middle Tennessee, where I got to visit with my new friend Kristen, go to my first Bonnaroo (where I saw Radiohead), and sit in the, well, "a" General Lee.

July: Celebrating my nephew, Henry's, first birthday in Jackson. 

August: Family trip to Sandestin. Being surprised on my 36th birthday by Mom and Dad givine me a piece of Steve Joynt's art -- the Gulf Fish -- which I'd fallen in love with in New Orleans. And Nate starting first grade without being turned away at the door like he was the year before!

September: A drive down FL's historic A1A, where I got to visit with my oldest friend in the world, Jennifer. 

October: Dressing like Wonder Woman on Halloween. Going to the Burger Coalition's sixth-month anniversary dinner at Jones Valley Urban Farm. Visit Tampa (and seeing Courtney, Frank, and Blake in the process), and duckng into the gorgeous Dali Museum, which I hadn't seen since the renovations. Beautiful.

I also judged The Hangout's Oyster Competition, eating a few dozen oysters in the process. It was fun, but I had to declare an oyster-eating moratorium after this. (To be rescinded in 2013.)

>

November: Having the entire family home for Thanksgiving. Having Norman King, R.D. cook an incredible bird. (Though he claims the secret is in the half-bottle of Prosecco I poured on it. Per his request.) 

December: Pulling off our third annua Santa party though I was close to end-of-year exhaustion.

Forgive me if I forgot a great part that included you. 2012 was filled with friends, family, and long and winding roads. I'm so thankful for each experience.

**Yes, there were some lame parts. I got sick way more than I wanted to. I hit a few walls.

But I also got the great gift of grace, which I really started learning about it my MORE group last winter (through Highlands), and was bolstered through the reCreate conference (which I wrote about here).

By the time I attended the LIFE Retreat this month, realized that the thrashing around I'd done this year was done, finito, in the past. But that's a whole other post. Grace is great. Great is what's getting me unstuck and moving toward the new.

And the oysters? The oysters aren't bad either. 

Travel Lessons: The Goodness of People (Three Acts)

Writing from the beautiful Umstead Hotel & Spa in Cary, North Carolina. And it is something. In the course of a welcome, I got a boot shining, a steam at the sauna and delicious chef's tasting capped off with Hendrick's and blue cheese, and carmelized pork belly.

It's welcome after a long day of travel (going on about 15 hours today, including  a visit to the Contemporary Arts Museum, above). This is day one in five days of work travel, and my day 10 of Blog Like Crazy. 

So I'll keep it short. Three things happened on my way here today. Three things that were as beautiful as the finest service at the most lovely hotel. They happened in places that aren't comfortable: airports. Three places, three separate people (and a group of people), all moments that make waiting on long security lines and being crammed into a small seat a whole lot better.

In Birmingham: At Starbucks, a kind staffer said, before 7 a.m., "Hello, Miss Erin." As always, she remembered my name, which meant the world that early in the day. And then, when someone took my drink (accidentally I'm sure) she made me another. "I don't want you to leave without your coffee." I see her every few weeks, but forgot to ask her name. Changing that.

In Charlotte: The restroom attendant (I love Charlotte Airport for this) who said, "Have a blessed day," time and time again, regardless of who put what in her tip jar.

En Route To Raleigh: Sitting in the last row of a US Airways flight,  a group of people a few rows ahead of me helped a man who was nervous his blood sugar was low. Everyone opened their bags, offering up snacks. They comforted him, making sure he had what he needed.

In each case, there were people going out of their way to be kind. The act of travel (the getting there, the in between) can be exhausting. Small acts change that. I'm thankful that I get to experience so much in the course of my work, but the best thing is really the goodness of people.

Traveling mercies. 

With holiday travel coming up, I'd love to hear stories of acts of kindness you've experiences in airports or while traveling. Share with me here or e.shawstreet[at]gmail.com.

Related Links:

Travel Discovery of The Week: Lost and Found 

Early Morning Walk Discoveries: Baton Rouge 

How To Get Better Vision

Just when I thought I couldn't love this kid any more, he gets glasses. I know I'm biased, but how cute is he? 

My parents took him to the opthamologist, because I am on the road. He'd been having some vision issues, and the doctor pinpointed it. I'm thankful for that, and for a family that helps so much to take good care of him while I'm boarding a plane, like today. 

I was tired today, but moving from one places to the next (Atlanta > Knoxville >Sevierville) a few things popped in my head. First, being thankful to be able bodied to move quickly from one place to the next. It's not a minor thing to be able to run across airports, up stairs, down hallways, and still have the energy to do whatever has to be done. 

Finally, I am thankful for a job that brings me joy. On my lunch break I got to stop and go the Elvis Museum in Pigeon Forge.

I knew soon enough I'd be looking for wireless so I could get some work done, but for an hour, I got to commune with Elvis' silk shirts, and raquet balls, and a Cadillac or two. 

Just my perspective. One of thanks. 

 

How To Smell Like A Winnebego/ Florida

Buy this cologne, found in an antiques store in Fernandina Beach.

Antiques stores are my weakness. Ducked into this one 10 minutes before close and before I was to have dinner at a new restaurant. Did the detour dissapoint? No, it did not. 

I just regret not buying it, or the Greyhound perfume sitting next to it. Thought, "The photo will suffice." But it's been floating through my head ever since. 

This has been one of the best trips I've ever taken. Whoa, I just said that. 

Like that first "I love you." [Dear story, I'm serious about you.]

And I can't wait to share more. Like where I saw this:

Clue: somewhere in Northeast Florida. 

Northeast Florida now has a part of my heart. Plus I drank from its waters, so I can call it home, right?

I have so many things to share about this trip. And most will stay quiet until I write about them. But I will say that I don't mind the mosquito bites I've gotten while being on the road there.

Every trip to Florida has similar themes. There's the beach, which is pretty, but there's more. Traces of Old Florida found between the strip malls and the tourist exits. That's the stuff I want   am going to write about. 

Florida. What's it to you?