hey look! my life got awesome!

So, I had been waiting to update until my life took off, but then it took off and I couldn't find time to update! My life is all kinds of AWESOME right now, but I've just got a sec, so bullet points it is!

• I decided to stay in Atlanta. There are lots of rad people here I like (LOVE), and surprisingly, the city is making me happy. It is both familiar and new, and I know the nooks and crannies I like, and am discovering new ones daily.
• I signed a lease. For a perfect little house in Decatur. Rad room mate, lush back yard (quaint gate! koi pond! clothes line!), and a stunning room with a clawfoot bath tub that's mine, all mine. I think it may be my favorite place I've ever lived and I never want to move. Ever.
• I started school. After an ordeal (skills interview, official interview, driving to Athens and getting my college transcript, driving to Fayetteville to get my HIGH SCHOOL transcript -- wtf, by the way, community colleges are weird, requesting my AP scores, and spending a lot of time in a particular waiting room, borrowing money for out of state tuition), I started a Sign Language Interpreting training program a couple of weeks ago at Georgia Perimeter College, and am loving every minute of it (well every minute other than those that keep me up at night feeling like I'm forgetting something). It has been a slightly awkward transition back into student-mode, (seriously? what happened? I used to rock at this!), I'm starting to get my bearings. It helps that my classes and instructors are awesome and I get to totally geek out about Deaf Culture and ASL ALL THE TIME. So thrilled to be starting on this long-term goal.
• I got a JOB. Seriously, the best job of all time. This is the most recent development, and thus the most exciting. I'm working for a company called Big Thinkers that does live hands-on science programs with kids in a variety of settings. Think Bill Nye meets Beakman's World, but in your school assembly, classroom, or birthday party. I get to make slime, bouncy balls, and cotton candy, play with rockets and dry ice, and basically jump around and act like a nut all in the name of getting kids curious and interested in the world around them. I am thrilled to be a part of a company whose mission statement is to make science interesting and accessible to kids! Also, I just happen to have the exact right skills set and experience to deliver some much-needed help on the office end of things. Establishing systems, dealing with contracts and scheduling, etc. and my boss wants me to take over the daily running of the office and management of other performers by as soon as January! Phew! So in addition to being awesome, it's also totally a grown-up job! Score!

So basically, my life is awesome. I am crazy busy, and crazy happy. My momma always taught me that being nice, working hard, and following your dreams pays off, and I am living proof! 

wandering. wondering.

Alrighty, so it’s been exactly a month since my return to the southland, and I still have no idea what I’m doing.

The day I moved here, I called Laura Jean, my dear sister, while taking Scout for our final walk through Portland. I just wanted to see how she was, and let her know that I was super excited to see her. Well, she proceeded to inform me that she and Dave were getting a divorce and she was moving back to NYC come August. They still love each other, and it’s totally amicable blah, blah, blah (she, in fact is living with him in Atlanta until August), he just wants to be in Atlanta, and she wants to be in New York. Okaaaaaaaaaaay. So. I’ve been through all the stages of grief, so I need no consoling, but…

What?!!?!

My plans kind of went ka-bluey when she told me because at that exact moment I realized that 65% of the reason I was indeed moving to the ATL was to be near her. Because she campaigned. Begged. Persuaded. So, that’s it. I’m done following my sister around and we will probably never live in the same town again.

So, now I’m here. Wondering what exactly I’m doing. I had an audition at the Center that went fantastic, but since their season’s set, it was more of a “who’s in town” kind of thing. Meaning, I could potentially get to do a show with them sometime this year, but no guaranteed immediate employment. So, I’ve been crashing with LJ and Dave (in their rather tiny house) most of the last month with intermittent trips to the cabin and Athens. I’ve visited and caught up with so many good friends. Laura Jean and I are actually getting along really well. It’s just been kind of a head trip kind of having no idea what I’m doing, and being in the same geographic space that I was the last time I felt this way (three years ago, after college).

In light of the reality of Atlanta, (memories everywhere—good and bad; HEAT, traffic, LOTS of people…) I’ve been trying to re-evaluate if this is really where I want to land. I’ve good savings, and a set of wheels (ah, yes. I bought a car. ’97 Subaru Outback wagon with only 95k and a few bumps and bruises. Great car. Of course I’ve already put over 2,000 miles on it…) But I could do anything. ANYTHING. This is as exciting as it is debilitating.

I feel confident that it was time for me to move on from both Tears of Joy and from Portland, but where to? Well, I’ve narrowed it down to either Atlanta, or Brattleboro, Vermont. Currently Atlanta has going for it: family, friends (college, friends of family, and childhood friends), familiarity, puppet community, opportunity, good food, CHEAP, and lots of stuff happening. Brattleboro on the other hand: small (13,000 people), BEAUTIFUL, quaint, Deaf school (the Austine School), trapeze school, puppetry, new-ness, a place that could be mine.

It’s pretty close right now. I have some days where I’m totally sold on Atlanta (these days usually involve hanging out with Nina), and others where I’m in love with the possibility of Vermont, a place I’ve dreamed of living since I was 13.

So, I’m knitting a sweater to help me decide. I am project-oriented, so I figure it’ll give my hands something to do while I think things through. It’s coming along quite well, and I’m all kinds of in love with both the pattern and the yarn.

I also told LJ I’d drive her up to New York, so she could take a load of her stuff up (yippee station wagon!) and I could continue on to Vermont and check out Brattleboro and maybe even spend a week or two at Bread and Puppet. We’re currently set to take off around the 11 of August, and I plan to hang out in Vermont at least a week, but maybe until the beginning of September.

So that’s the gist of it. I’m hanging in there, and making things happen. You know, like I do.

my head is exploding. in a good way.

Wow. I am everywhere at once.

Have spent the week being intermittently productive, social, lazy, and emotional. Somehow, I've managed to sell most of my stuff off craigslist, and when all is said and done will have made around $365. Cha-ching! I'd say at this point about 98% of my stuff is packed save some laundry, bedding and toiletries. So glad I moved in October and got rid of so much stuff then!

Scout is vaccinated, and certified as a healthy doggie. Had a minor breakdown Wednesday when I missed my hair appointment because of bad time management, traffic, and the fact that I go to a vet waaaaay out in Oregon City. Poor Jen, I just kind of exploded all over her. I think I really needed it at that moment though, because I've been better since. It was just that in the middle of all this stress and frustration that was supposed to be the one moment I had set aside for myself. To be pampered and gossip for an hour in the midst of all the craziness. And, I had scheduled it like, two months ago. 'Tevs. My hair actually is looking cuter by the day, so maybe it's all for the best.

I've been trying to snatch little moments with people before I leave. Lunch Tuesday with Jon, dinner Monday with Kendall, intimate but delightful get together at Alberta Street Pub last night with Nancy, Mullins, Aaron, Gina, and Jonathan. Culminated in a game of exquisite corpse newfangled for the twenty first century. Everyone gets out their cell phone and opens a text to a person that would appreciate random ridiculousness. Then you write one word and pass it to the person on your left. OMFG. So amazing. Laura Jean received:

"If mammals pontificate on freedom then why cant (sic) we experience ephemeral joy until The moment when James Brown kicks ass again."

Had a moment yesterday when I was buying groceries that that would be the last time I bought groceries at the Alberta Co-op. This weekend, I am heading to see the Nomadic Theater's production of Alice in Wonderland. Should be a neat way to say goodbye to Portland, since I spent so much time with them when I first got here. Thankfully, it's rained everyday since I got back from my long trip. EVERY DAY. Also, it's been cold. Hoodie weather. In JUNE. That makes it so much easier to leave this place full of so much stuff and people that I love.

My flight is at eleven Tuesday evening and I'll arrive desperately in need of coffee early Wednesday morning. Woah, my life is about to change. 

pajamas

So, Jon and I completed our awesomely-amazing tour of the southwest. Pictures here.

After that, we had a couple of shows in Everett (north of Seattle). Stayed with our friend John. He was in a show, and got us in fo' free, which was super fun. It was a musical, 110 in the Shade, and I've been singing show tunes for a week. When we got back to his place he fried us up some phillipino pork spring roll thing-ys (home made by his bf's momma) and we stayed up and chatted until late. It was a truly relaxing and delightful way to spend our final night on tour.

Shows went great, despite some minor technical difficulties with my mic. Thankfully, I knew taping the cord to my back during the scene change would do the trick. Ah, such is my glamorous life. On the way back (our last trip down I-5, of course on a Friday in traffic) we stopped one last time at the Burgerville in Centrailia, our unofficial favorite pit-stop/home away from home. Monday and Tuesday we had local shows, then unloaded our set into storage Tuesday afternoon. I was surprisingly unsentimental during our last show. It wasn't until we were doing our post-show spiel about staying quiet and listening to their teachers did I get blindsided by the fact that I'd never do this again. I'm going to miss Jonathan so much. So much! Looks like he turned out to be my best friend after all.

After we finished unloading our tech stuff into the workshop Brian had to do marketing, Nancy had a meeting, and Jon wanted to spend time with his soon to be business tripping girlfriend, so a rather anti-climactic ending to the year. Not quite the bang we went out with last year, but I suppose that's alright. I'm planning on throwing together some end of the year/I'm leaving shindig before I leave.

It's been raining incessantly, and I've stayed in my pj's watching Buffy for two days. Only now am starting to feel slightly pathetic and stir-crazy. I did walk Scout for the requisite hour yesterday though, and then got the bright idea to go for a run. I'm kind of surprised, but I was able to run comfortably for 30 minutes. Probably the best side effect of being recently unemployed I've ever had.

Everything feels very surreal. I have so much to do, but am having difficulty getting off the couch. Also, my computer power cord is kaput, which is limiting my entertainment while procrastinating mo-jo. I've figured out a way to gerry-rig it, but the solution of sitting very still and holding the power cord seems impermanent.

In less than two weeks I'm Atlanta bound. (sunny Atlanta!) I'm excited for beginning, but still can't really grasp what I'm ending. I guess that's normal though. Remembering that helps less than you'd imagine, but it's just enough.

what day is it?

In the past 3 days I have driven over a thousand miles, visited with Jonathan's parents, two of my cousins, walked on a beach, seen my first puppet slam, and warmed my bones in copious amounts of sunshine.

Sometimes, tour is awesome.

reason no. 1 I am moving

It is May 4th and it is currently 46 degrees and raining in Portland. Earlier it hailed.

sun and storms

Wow. April came and went. The sun is shining momentarily, and even though it's 50 degrees, I'm thankful for it.

Let's see... So, the Malika run was pretty fantastic. We had a great response from the community, and every house had a 100+ people in it. It went by super quickly though. It's hard to believe we put in so much work for a two week run. Two days after we closed we hit the ground running and were back on the road for our final stop in lovely Bellingham, Washington. Got dinner with Brandi and Andrew, and drinks afterward with Amanda. It was the first of my lasts (at least the first that I was conscious of). It was a perfectly lovely evening, and a lovely capstone to several casual and somewhat spontaneous visits I've had with each of them these past two years. It was kind of fitting, too since we're all moving on to bigger and better things next year. Brandi will be finishing her program and looking for teaching positions, Amanda is off to grad school in Boston, and I'm headed southward for adventures as yet unnamed. I would have never expected that part of this job (one of my very favorite parts of this job, to be honest) would be getting to visit a friend from Fayetteville/Savannah, and a friend from Bread and Puppet in the same lovely little town.

This week was a bit lighter; just a show and some workshops down in Dallas, Oregon. Got to perform for a theater full of fourth graders and a small contingent of high school drama kids and did workshops with each. It was the first time Jon and I have gotten to do workshops together, and it was so much fun! I especially loved working with the high school kids. It was a nice change of pace from the extreme regimentation of an elementary school. Also, the hosts told us that we came highly recommended as the company's best team and were extremely satisfied after we were finished. That always feels nice; you know, to hear from strangers that people have said nice things about you.

Then, to make up for all the weekends I've worked this month, I got the past three days off. Unfortunately, I've been sick with a pesky sore throat that won't quit. I've rested, watched the entire season four of Buffy on Netflix (time warp. is it just me, or did every single outfit she wore look like it came out of Wet Seal?), and drinking lots of tea. Last night as I was walking to Whole foods for some ginger, honey, and lemons, it occurred to me that I had an entire bottle of my favorite cold tincture (Umka) on my dresser. I should have started taking it Sunday when I stared feeling crappy, but better late than never. I started last night, and am finally starting to feel better. Marginally.

Oh! I also had brunch Sunday with Kendall, which was perfectly lovely. It was the first time I'd seen him since we broke up in January, and it was great to see him. I think we waited the perfect amount of time, because we were quite friendly and it was comfortable and good. I think this may be a sign of maturity that I've started dating guys I actually want to stay friends with after we've broken up.

I'm kind of all over the place about my big move. I'm totally impatient, but simultaneously completely unable to accomplish anything. There is so much to do, but I feel like I can't do anything until Jon and I get back from our Great Southwestern Adventure of '10, which we leave for on Thursday. We'll be out three weeks, and then I'll have about two more to get everything in order before Scout and I fly to Atlanta. I actually have very little planned out after than other than buy a car and spend my time split between Atlanta, Athens, and the cabin until I can find a job and a place to live. I think I'm gonna have some major culture shock re-entering the southland, but I can't wait to take weekend trips to Athens on a whim, or go over to LJ and Dave's to raid the fridge. [Oh, shit I hope I can find a job.]