Category: First course
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Three’s the Charm
I have taken a third job, which means I now work eight shifts, with two as doubles. I am not complaining at all. I am grateful to be working and finally paying my bills with a little left over. I have many stories in mind, however. Soon, I know, I will eek out the time…
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Stress-Free Living
“You must live the most stress-free life down here!” commented a customer to the bartender at an outdoor spot, where my great guy and I had just met after our many multiples of work shifts for the week. My great guy and I exchanged glances as we sipped our cocktails. The bartender saw us exchange…
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Movie Monday
I don’t know the last time I watched a movie in an actual movie theater. I really don’t. I remember liking the big sound and the big screen and being thoroughly annoyed by the noise and chit chat all around me. I also remember thinking how much I don’t like seeing movies outside the solitude…
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Everyone in the Pool
Longer ago than a long time ago, I applied to Duke University as a transfer student. I had just spent a year off from school amassing a stack of newspaper clips bearing my byline at my first reporting job (okay, I was a lowly intern), and I will never forget the pride and thrill I…
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Journey Proud
The night before a vacation or any type of trip, I rarely sleep. I toss and turn, and turn on the TV, fitfully dozing at best. My Aunt J refers to this as being “journey proud,” as in excited, nervous, and all the rest about an upcoming journey. Throughout the years, I have arrived exhausted…
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Spring Break Bingo
When you live in the land that Spring Break never forgets, your local world dramatically shrinks as throngs of college kids, families, and snow birds converge on your otherwise favorite spots to eat and drink. That place is mobbed all day. That one and the other one are insane at sunset. And forget about breakfast…
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The Stuff of Dreams
Most local folks in these parts live today while thankfully leaving behind or only looking forward from what used to be–running through their drinks while running in their places, silently cheering themselves on as they cross the finish line that means they never again have to live who they once were. I used to own……
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Unwritten Stories
“So, how is everything that you haven’t been writing about?” asked a friend who, stating the obvious, wondered why I haven’t been posting as much of late. Life has a way of becoming quite full: –I work a 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift. In reality, it’s 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. when you figure…
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Considering the Lessons Learned
As one who despises the first day of any job and struggles with a ridiculous lack of self confidence through the first week, I decided to torture myself by counting up my recent employment firsts–four in three months. And I feel like I might be forgetting one. Job one–event planning in Key West. I knew…
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Cuts Like A Knife
It is cold. Again. Not cold like the 40-inches-on-the-ground-cold in D.C. Not cold like the 4 to 8 inches about to fall in Atlanta tonight. But Keys cold: 40s at night, 60s during the day. Cold enough to make the tourists happy not to be anywhere north, but disappointed enough that it’s not warm enough…