During my long walks along the lake, I've often passed an outdoor trapeze school. Each time I passed it, my horror levels dropped a little until I finally started to consider taking a lesson. Then Groupon sealed the deal.
Yesterday was the big day. To slightly misquote Dickens, it was the worst of times:
It was the best of times:
Bruised and tattered but triumphant I am now going to don a sleeveless dress and head to a wedding. When else will I get to tell people I had an incident with the net while trying to perform a catch on trapeze?
Sitting on the bus, I spent a good ten minutes listening to a group of friends amuse themselves by revisiting pickup lines they had invented earlier that afternoon.
On a whim, I decided to get one of their pickup lines (the one they prefaced as the most hilarious of them all) on video to share with you, my gentle reader, and see if you thought it was nearly as funny as they did.
Minutes later, the man in the video saw me loading up my video editor on my iPhone and used that as a segue to...try and pick me up. I tucked my phone away quickly and made a mental note to not edit videos while sitting next to my unsuspecting subject.
A few stops later I happily bid him and friends goodbye and hopped off the bus.
THREE HOURS LATER, while riding the bus home I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard someone say "No way - aren't you the girl we met on the bus a few hours ago?" It was the same group of friends.
And the same guy tried to pick me up again ("Maybe I could, you know, find you on Facebook or something").
I like to think my video altered out destinies and entwined our paths. Maybe everyone who watches this will have good luck. I should start a chain letter. Or a cult.
Starting a new job is something like being the new girlfriend. There's the honeymoon period. The butterflies and anxious nights. And the process of slowly moving in some of your things. And learning a whole new cast of characters. And of course the ex - the mysterious one before you that left her mark, for good or for bad, and whose shadow you must live under for a while.
But despite this only being the first week, I can safely say this is The One which means, it's time for introductions.
My job is housed inside an old, ivy clad 1920's building which has been brilliantly incorporated into the new building:
My office, with it's loft space, looks like a secret club.
Behind me at my desk are two bright windows. What you can't see with my little iPhone camera is the lake. Yes girls, I got one with a lake view.
There is something just a little anti-climactic about having your last day off be EVERYBODY'S day off. My secret little city that I've had total run of these last two months is suddenly flooded with people. Where did they all come from and how do they know all my favorite shops and streets?
On the other hand, what better way to celebrate than to stumble upon and join in a parade (really):
It was the Lakeview DIY Parade but they had a marching band and all and so I couldn't resist.
This all happening while on my way to do some last minute shopping. Oh, the spoils of Memorial Day Weekend:
A bit of necessity before starting a new job and a bit of self indulgence for starting a new job.
I am excited to start tomorrow. Anxious. Ready. But...I have loved these two months of reflection, growth and healing. How I will miss these adventurous mornings and quiet afternoons.
I don't know why I picked it, exactly. It's not a typical last hurrah sort of trip. I mean originally I was looking at Cabo resort packages.
And while there were no margaritas on the beach it was a PHENOMENAL trip and a perfect reminder that it's more than possible to find excitement and wonder in your own backyard. For someone like me, starting a scary new job, that was a much needed refresher course in adventure.
