changed. a little. no, actually a lot.

i knew this was going to happen. i asked for it. prayed for it, even.

a few posts down – and what seems like a lifetime ago – i wrote something about how my job is always forcing me to waltz myself into people’s lives, stranger’s lives . . . whether they like it or not.

since i left home, and watched the odometer tick from 278 miles to 3,899 miles (and counting. ohhh we are still counting), i have spent a pretty decent amount of time alone. mostly in the car. and in the hotel rooms. and occasionally at whatever joint i stumble into, always with a notebook in hand.

the notebook makes me look like i’m doing something. like i’m busy. like there is a reason i have the notebook and am semi-pathetically eating by myself.

which i don’t actually mind.

there are weirder things than eating in a restaurant alone.

and on a few stops, i have even managed to strike up a conversation with whoever is lucky enough to be seated next to the girl with the noteboook. who is eating alone.

on another stop or two, i actually made a friend.

but back to waltzing my way into stranger’s lives . . .

yesterday morning, i watched the sun rise over the red rock canyons of new mexico.

with cecilia.

cecilia is a Navajo chick with kind eyes, leathered skin, and a thousand years of wisdom.

i knew cecilia for about 12 hours.

i’ll probably never see her again.

but for 12 hours, she was my sidekick. we explored God’s paradise and corners of the earth that are not only mostly uninhabited, but rarely visited by the likes of us who choose popular and rather cliche haunts (i won’t name these spots. i don’t want to offend. but you know what i mean. and if you don’t, it’s really not that important) to vacation or simply pass through with a wide eye.

for 12 hours we swapped stories about life. stories about adventure. stories about which barista at starbucks she prefers best and why.

and then i was gone.

on my way to a new city, to meet new strangers, to waltz into new lives.

it leaves me a little sad. the knowing that i won’t likely see cecilia again. ever.

but it leaves me changed.

and better.

there are a lot of good people i have met throughout this journey.

they all have a story to tell me and they each come with a simple way of opening up my mind and my world. and even my soul.

definitely my soul.

most importantly my soul.

[sunrise over the red rocks. with cecilia. gallup, new mexico.]

need this with water. every day.

can we, just for a moment, talk about the awesomeness of this tub?

(that exists is des moines – or west des moines - i can’t remember)

room enough for 2. or 3. or maybe even 4.

and here’s the bummer:

i only had enough time to sit in it.

literally.

not bathe in it.

not splash around in it.

not even bring a rubber ducky in it to see if he could swim.

such is the life of a girl who checks in and out of hotels faster than you can say hey.

but i am happy to know that someone (other than me) paid enough dolla dolla bills to let me have a brief and satisfactory moment of knowing what it would be like to own a hole in the porcelain like this.

next time i move . . . . . .  i will have this.

travelin’ (wo)man.

been on the road for 10 days now and this is what i have to say about it:

I HAVE THE BEST JOB IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD.

i knew (read: thought) there would be highs and lows along the trip.

there have been no lows.

well, except for yesterday during the period of time when i thought i was going to pass out on the fax machine at staples because i never went to sleep the night before and i was in full red bull-induced adrenaline overdrive.

but that’s okay. no one deals better with sleep deprivation that yours truly.

it’s an art form and i have mastered it.

i heart chicago.

and that’s all i have to say about that.

you get an a.

when did the hampton inn become nice? or has it always been nice and i just didn’t realize it?

hampton inn gets a thumbs up. two thumbs up even.

three, if i had three thumbs.

so far, i’ve inhabited 3 or 4 on this journey. each room a bit better than the one before.

this morning i was so comfortable in my over-sized king bed with the amazing sheets that i am sure were brand-new-never-been-used-just-out-of-the-packaging-no-one-has-ever-touched-these-sheets-before-me. it was pitch black dark (thank you, heavy curtains that i want in my own real life bedroom like as soon as i get back home. whenever that may be) in a way that probably feels natural to bats.

i had to drag myself from the bed. not at all because i was tired. in fact, i woke up well before my alarm. but because i am in l.o.v.e. with this bed.

which has never been slept in before me.

don’t tell me otherwise.

off to chicago.

off to another hampton inn.

(p.s. indianapolis has a make-your-own waffle machine thingy . . . bonus points)

pittsburgh at 10:41pm.

there is a long stretch of road where my hotel is. we are calling it route 8 because that’s what all the signs say. with the advancement of technology, such as gps, i don’t really have to pay attention. but let’s assume it’s called route 8. there is probably another name. something more local. but anyway.

there is an assortment of establishments along this road. and gas stations. and rite aids. and other things the people of pittsburgh probably frequent more than necessary.

it came down to Applebees and this other “restaurant / tavern” joint that looked like it probably housed a clientele a step or two above Applebees.

and i was right. and happy with my snap last moment selection.  Applebees can go either way, and after a full day of scouting soccer fields followed by 5 hours in the car, i wasn’t in the mood to play Russian Roulette with food chains.

Joe was really nice to me. his daughter is going to college and he loves her so much that he wants to move to Penn State if she ends up there. and she said that was just fine. and i like that because i can tell he would be crushed if she chooses to go to Tulane. even though i told him she would really love living in new orleans. he didn’t want to believe that. he has his heart set on Penn State.

he bought her mace and a stun gun for Christmas.

i like Joe.

it would be incredible.

#1: if it was 11:15pm on a friday night and i wasn’t still working

#2: if i had 30 free seconds to myself this week to do something normal. like laundry. or eat dinner. or walk around the block. or sleep.

#3: if i had 5 free days (or seconds) to get that thing called “life” in order before i pack up and leave town until the middle (or end) of november

#4: if i didn’t have to figure out a way to pack for ALL FOUR SEASON on said trip lasting until the middle (or end) of november

#5: if i wasn’t getting sick

#6: if i had a puppy

that’s all.