Letting Go

Mystery Castle, Phoenix AZ
Photo Credit: RJS Photos

I’m not very good at letting go when I don’t have to.  I’m good with action, and if I’m forced into a situation, I can get through it.  But if I don’t have to, it’s hard, and I don’t like it.

My husband got an awesome new job, which means in the next month and a half, I’m moving from Phoenix, Arizona, to Austin, Texas.  I’ve been to Austin exactly once now, in a whirlwind house hunting trip that mostly left me with the impression of a lot of green.  Before that, I’d never actually been to Austin, but people keep telling me it’s a great place to live.  I love the fact that the city slogan is “Keep Austin Weird!”  I’m not excited about the humidity.

The move is going to be good for both of us.  I’m a firm believer in the idea that life is a series of adventures, and this is a pretty cool one.  I have a lot of loss ahead of me.  I have to leave my awesomely cool backyard, my friends (though I’ll keep in touch with them), my job, restaurants I eat in and grocery stores I shop in.

When we moved here 7 years ago, we moved fast, and we brought with us a lot of things that we haven’t used since then.  I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t even finished unpacking everything.  So, in an effort to be more efficient this time around, I’ve been trying to get rid of a few things.  Like the Gamecube I haven’t touched in all that time, or the PS2 that’s been gathering dust.  I sold them on eBay, and as I’m packing them up, I’m sad to see them go.

I’m not sure why those things cause me to feel the tug of nostalgia.  I obviously didn’t think about them for long periods of time, but somehow they feel more important than they are. A lot of things in life are like that.  We have no use for them and don’t want them until we try to let them go.  Then suddenly, they become bigger than they are, and we feel as if we want and need them.

I feel better when I let go of the clutter in my life, when I rid myself of things I don’t need anymore.  I’m trying to make an effort to do more of it.

What clutter is holding you back in your life?

It Could Have Been Worse

Look! Green stuff!

Sorry for not posting anything this week… it was kind of a hectic week.  Here’s a story for you though.

I always consider things like Friday the 13^th and full moons to be lucky for me, so when I decided to travel on Thursday the 12^th, I really didn’t think anything of it. As many of you know, I’m in the process of moving to Austin… well, I needed to go on a house hunting trip.

I decided to work on Thursday and fly out after work so that I’d be in Austin bright and early on Friday. From the moment Thursday rolled around, one thing after another went wrong. I couldn’t find my keys, and racing around the house to find them got the dogs excited. I put the dogs in the backyard, eventually found the keys, and decided to load up the car. The dogs jumped at the gate and barked at me from the backyard like they were going to try to jump through.

Finally, car loaded, dogs loaded, and I dropped them off at my parents’ house. Then on to work. I won’t say how late I was to start, but I only got in 10 minutes late. The way our schedules are set up, we have no time between appointments, which is usually okay because at least one person no shows or cancels. EVERY. PERSON. ON. MY. SCHEDULE. SHOWED. UP. I can’t tell you the last time that happened. Amazingly, I managed to leave on time, and then I got lost going to park my car. Yes, I know. I always park my car in the same lot, and for whatever reason, my maps program directed me to the wrong place, and because I am who I am, I thought, “I’ve never gone this way before. Maybe the map is rerouting me around traffic.” Yeah, go ahead and laugh.

I got to the airport one hour before scheduled take off. I figured, “Security at Sky Harbor never takes more than 10 minutes. I can get something to eat, and it’ll be fine.” Except that Sky Harbor did take more than 10 minutes. It was about a half hour, not excessive, but here we are at boarding time. I figured, “No big deal. It’s a two and a half hour flight. I’m hungry, but I’ll snack and eat something on the other end.” (Are you seeing a pattern?)  So I zipped in to one of those places that sells magazines and bought Combos and dried apples. Best decision ever.

We boarded late and got into the air late (if I had known that, I could have gotten real food!). We were about a half hour from Austin when the captain announced that there were bad storms in Austin, so we’d have to circle for a half hour. A half hour later, he announced we were told to circle for 50 minutes, and he didn’t have the fuel, so we’d land in San Antonio.

At this point, all I wanted was to get up and stretch. When we landed in San Antonio though, we had to sit in the plane on the runway for an hour because of the lightning; no ground crews could come out in that. So, then we got to go inside the terminal. The wonderful terminal. The magical terminal. Where I got to walk around and stretch. (Still no food open though.  It was way too late at that point.)

Then we were informed that the crew was at their maximum work hours for the day, so we’d have to wait for a crew to get in from Phoenix (yes, the very place I’d just left.) They got there after weeks… months… years… (it seemed). We were barely in the air before it was time to land (the flight time is 22 minutes).

So… my original arrival time in Austin was about 11 p.m. Actual arrival time was 3:30 a.m. When I got to Austin, it didn’t surprise me even a little bit when I realized that the rental car agency didn’t open until 6. At that point, I just laughed. And laughed. I waited by the baggage carousel, fully expecting my luggage to be gone. Lo and behold, it was there! Honestly, I’d rather wait two and a half hours for Hertz to open than to buy a new swimsuit.

It’s a comedy of errors, and a few times through the night, I found myself annoyed, but I have to keep in mind that I’d much rather have this story to tell than telling a story about a plane crash due to bad weather.

So yeah, it definitely could have been worse.   🙂

Amy Schumer Live

by The TV Guy
The Celebrity Theater in Phoenix is likely the worst place to see anything for regular sized people of any venue we have here in the valley. The seats are old and too close together both vertically and horizontally. It does not look as if this poor excuse for a venue has been updated since Nixon was pardoned, but I digress.

The show itself was funny.  Amy was her irreverent raunchy, slutty self. This aptly named Inside Amy Schumer’s Back Door Tour is not for everyone. Amy has girl next-door looks with the tongue of a sailor and the self-esteem of a gnat. Her self-deprecating, raunchy, sex and alcohol-laden debauchery style of comedy kept the crowd laughing from start to finish.

The new season of Inside Amy Schumer starts April 1st on Comedy Central.

10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Moving to Arizona

South Mountain, Phoenix AZ; Photo Credit: Doree Weller

1.  Everything here wants to kill you.  Bugs, plant life, monsoons… everything.  Those cacti look cute and fuzzy, but they’re out to get you.  Scorpions are cool-looking, but pack an awful sting (though it probably won’t kill you).  Black widows and brown recluse spiders can cause some awful damage.  Everyone gets their home sprayed to kill bugs.

2.  No amount of lotion will keep your skin hydrated.  Learn to deal with it.  I’ve given up.

3.  Drink twice as much water as you think you want.  Seriously.  You’re always on the verge of dehydration here.

4.  The city would actually be a nice place to live.  It has more of a suburban than urban feel to it.  Especially in the older parts of town, it doesn’t look much like a city at all.

5.  No one knows anyone, and you won’t know your neighbors; everyone is from somewhere else.  I’ve had some neighbors try to be friendly, but it seems like everyone is always moving in and out.

6.  The sunsets are amazing.

7.  The hiking is great.

8.  The summers are HOT.  Yes, they’re dry, but nothing can prepare you for the take-your-breath-away heat.

9.  You can adjust to the heat.  Cover as much of your skin as possible, wear an undershirt in the summer (you sweat into it, which keeps you cooler), and drink more water than you think you possibly can hold.

10.  If you happen to find friends who are from Arizona, they will complain about having to drive more than 15 minutes to get anywhere.  I live 45 minutes away from everyone, and no one ever wants to visit.