April

I spent a lot of time and energy convincing the world what a great trip/time/month I was having in April. Which is not to say that it wasn't genuinely amazing and well timed to finally visit California and see a bevy of beautiful ladyfriends and sing songs at the Pacific Ocean and jump out of big trees and to go on a bonafide hike (this was billed to me as a "walk" through Muir Woods and then we climbed approximately 10,000 stairs). I started to feel like myself again after having spent a long time away.

Who then was I trying so hard to impress with all my yakking and picture posting?

On April 1st I flew into Los Angeles where I stayed with Lana and Kevin. Having been talked out of the Drive The Coast Find Thyself option (9 hours, really? Without breaks?) I then hopped on a plane to San Francisco where I stayed with Caroline and later Andrea. We met up with my college roommate Mindy and went ziplining through redwood trees, an adventure I first read about on Mighty Girl (I will repeat her advice and say: you should do this!). With Caroline, I pledged to "put holes in the walls" and we made a five year plan. One that strives toward graduate school, and books, a potential relocation and focusing on family (existing and future).

When I got back to Houston there were more lady and boyfriends to visit; my calendar was bulging with Debi's visit and Raveonettes and Bunnies on the Bayou and some feel-good education events and bingo and I of course told everyone about it. If I was trying to impress the poet, it didn't work, and he missed the memo about being the end of my dating line. No matter, I thought. Life is wonderful and people are great and my job is fantastic and how much fun can one person have in a month--this seems disproportionately AWESOME and it won't last.

It didn't, of course, but then I didn't expect it to. Thanks to a surprise layover travel voucher and an invitation from the airline that set me up with fancy travel status for two years (O why can't every month be like you, April?), I knew there would be more "just for fun" travel in store, and I resolved to stop neglecting it as an ongoing part of my life.