When this Old World....

Week 11 is finished.

Holy Shit.

11 Weeks.

This semester alone, I’ve spent almost 40 nights in a hotel room. (Shout out to all my HIX, HI, CW home away from home hommies.)

I’ve wasted time in 20 different airports----many of them multiple times. (Gotta say Midway and Austin have the best food. San Diego is the worst for food options and electrical outlets---get with the program SD.)

I’ve eaten out for just about 120 meals . (Good Grief. That’s disgusting)

And I’ve still got 3 more weeks to go. (Oye and Wahoo!)

Trust me. In the grand scheme of things, I’m almost done.

However, this is totally one of those weeks where I’m on the verge of some sort of cosmic burnout screaming, “Take me out Coach. Take. Me. Out”

This time of year, these burnouts are normal. They tend to involve gnashing of teeth, blood, violence, etc. etc. etc. I’m practically a walking MMA fighter.

I wouldn’t say it’s just the travel, but the world right now is really weird. The Trayvon Martin story is horrifying me. I’m reading a book by Paul Farmer called, “Pathologies of Power” (everyone should read it) that is haunting me. I’m exhausted all the time and so incredibly ready to be in my bed. At my house. For more then two nights a week.

Is wanting to shut the world away and only catch up on episodes of Grey’s Anatomy or Dance Moms such a bad thing?

Just a note, I always feel incredibly lucky to be doing what I do for a living. Do I get frustrated? All the time. Do I get tired of it? Oh yeah. Do I realize how incredibly awesome and sort of insane my job is? You betcha.

For such a time as this, when everything in me wants to quit the this thing called ‘my life’ I often remind myself of funny moments I’ve had on the road.

For example. The time I got taken off of an airplane in Alaska because they thought I was caring concealed weapons.(I blame Sarah Palin)

Or the time Friend AM and I literally had to flag down a boat with red t-shirts in order to visit a summer camp across a massive lake. And the time we accidentally took a road that led to nowhere because the GPS told us it was a real road (I totally understand all those people who end up in lakes)

Or the time Friend D and I evacuated SB because of wild fires.

Or the time Friends A,J, J2 and I took a taxi to Kansas. Simply because none of us had ever been there.

Or the time I went to Oscar After Parties in Hollywood.

Or the time I hit the pole (twice) and the rear view mirror of my rental car broke in half, but I totally figured out how to snap it back together (girl’s got skills). The Company didn't even notice when I returned it.

Or the time Friends A-Z and I went to Disneyland and rode rides and ate caramel apples and laughed all day long.

Or the time Friend K, A and I ran across bridges in Vancouver. Illegally.

Or the time Friend R and I went to Drag Queen Bingo.

Or the time we all stayed up late, eating, drinking and being merry in a KC diner, in an Los Angeles restaurant, at the Santa Monica pier, in a San Diego wine bar, in a Washington coffee house...

You get the picture.

Sometimes you just need a good memory and a sweet melody to calm you down (a nice, tall glass of red wine doesn’t hurt either).

Tonight’s selection is from The Drifters-“Up on the Roof”

When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space

On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so…

****Side note: I don’t actually have roof access. If someone out there does and would let me borrow it for an hour or two, I’d be eternally grateful. ****