Friday we were giddy with anticipation of a road trip. Drew and I are kinda addicted to road trips. First, there was the epic South Carolina to Maine and back summer 2008. Then, to Virginia in March 09 for Phish followed by Georgia to Boston and New York for some more Phish shows May 09. Off to North Carolina and Tennessee later in 2009 and then to Kansas, twice (ugh), in August and December 09. We manage to find some cool people and places along the way giving us lots of warm fuzzy memories that keep us wanting more. So when the opportunity to head to Lawrence, KS and Kansas City, MO presented itself, we were like crack heads to the street corner. First road trip of 2010 was a success! We headed to Lawrence (home of KU), which is about 2 hours 45 minutes away for Galactic. Such a good show. It was nice to be surrounded by people our own age all dancing and sweating and laughing together. I think Drew and I had huge smiles on our faces the whole time. Finally, 1 am rolls around and we're exhausted and realize we need to find a place to sleep. We rigged up our "car bed" which consists of a tempur-pedic mattress in the back of Drew's Pontiac Vibe with tons of pillows and blankets and clothes on top to keep us warm. Events like car sleeping are when being short has its advantages. Next problem was finding a place to park the car where we wouldn't be bothered. Long story short, we ended up just getting a hotel room at the Econolodge and slept peacefully. The next morning we went to explore downtown Lawrence. So Cute. Drew called it a "legit" city. While I agree with that assessment, I called it things like "amazing!" "wonderful!" "home." Like a little Athens, GA in the heart of the mid-West. Bakeries, community gardens, artsy places, delicious looking diverse restaurants, music venues, boutiques and the like, surf shops? yea, we were kinda in awe too. A surf shop in the middle of America where a trip to an ocean is, like, a 2 or 3 day drive either way? Whatever! We ate brunch!!! at a cute place called Global Cafe where they have really great local food. Omelets galore! It started snowing while we were eating and it was so cozy to sit in our little wooden booth, sipping coffee, surrounded by the smells of food cooked with love while watching big, fat snowflakes fall. There was a Jayhawks basketball game that day so the streets and bars were full of people. Think what football is to us, basketball is to the mid-west.
We had to stop by the Gap downtown Lawrence because I need new work clothes due to the fact that I got a job. Yay. I go through periods of being excited about it and then periods of feeling panicky and nervous. I'll be the data-entry clerk for the Reno county appraiser's office. It'll be me and the computer 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I get scared because never did I EVER picture myself as an office worker. No, no, not me, please. Drew is helpful, if not a little impatient with my ever-wavering emotions about this job. He gently reminds me this could open more doors in the future, not just for office work, but for things like land appraisal, community development, etc. I should learn all I can and make as many connections as possible. Its Not Forever. Please. One day I will own that bakery/coffee shop/cafe/restaurant I want. I will also work that farm that supplies healthy produce to members of my community and to my establishment. Maybe I can bring a little life and cheer to the office! I am so so so trying to stay positive and not let myself be consumed by worries. I Can Do This. Um... but I still need office appropriate clothes because the Gap didn't produce many options for me. I know I'm picky when it comes to clothes and if I had my way, I'd wear T-shirts and jeans to work every day of my life, but if I have to wear office-y clothes, I want them to be original and trendy which is hard to find. My short stature and square-ish shape don't really lend themselves to trendy clothes which are really made for tall, skinny, perfectly proportioned mythical people. I tried so hard not to cry, but it was hard. Drew was really helpful at first but got kinda frustrated at me when I couldn't make a decision about what to buy and that I didn't really like anything I tried on either. Nothing I picked out really looked good on me and I really don't want to look like a square.... literally and metaphorically. He, however, came away with 3 new shirts. I came away with a lump in my throat and tears pricking my eyes. Next stop was.... drumroll please..... a book store called The Dusty Bookshelf. Oh Lord. It was this little independent cozy cute perfect bookstore with walls and walls of books. Books were even piled knee-high on the floor, too. I had to swallow another lump in my throat, but this time it was a happy lump. I felt safe surrounded by all those books. I felt at home. I could have spent my whole life in that shop and been happy. So, naturally, I had to buy 3 books which made me feel worlds better. Forget clothes, books will be with you long after the latest fashion trend ends. Spirits were lifted and bank accounts were a little lighter too. After book shopping, we headed out to Kansas City, MO about 45 mins away from Lawrence.
Kansas City is great too! Oh we loved it! We got to our Econolodge (sketchy!! more on the sketch-factor in a minute), settled in for a mid winter afternoon nap, burned some incense, and watched the snow continue to fall outside our teeny window. We were super excited to find a Chick-Fil-A close by since we hadn't had any Chick-fillet in forever and that is our one fast food weakness. It was delicious and no tummys got upset afterwards either, Laura :) By this point in the evening, the roads were icing up and snow was really falling hard so we stopped by the liquor store, grabbed some bottles of Chimay and drank them in our sherbet- green (no kidding) motel room out of plastic cups while watching the Olympics. We fell asleep and were soooo rudely awoke about 6:30 a.m by argument between a "Lady of the Night" and her "man friend," if you get my drift. Expletives were flying around outside our door as she was not being paid for her "services," which, obviously, isn't cool. More screams and yells and slamming around of doors and maybe people, the police show up and threaten to shoot their door down (!!!) if they don't open it up. There are probably three police with guns out kicking their door down while I'm cowering in the bed and Drew is trying to watch from the little hole on our door. This whole ordeal lasted about 2 hours and there were accusations of rape and theft and drugs and good lord knows what else. I really thought someone was going to die. Luckily the police diffused the situation and we managed to fall back asleep for another hour or so before we quickly checked out. Drew complained and got us a discount. Smart man. The show we were going to see Sunday night wasn't until 8:30 so we had about eight and a half hours to kill in super snowy Kansas City. We ate a deliciously hearty breakfast at Mama's 39th St. Diner and then went to a bar for bloody marys, etc. A few beers and bloodys later, we headed to the "lot" across from the Uptown Theater around 5 or so when one of Drew's Phish Buddies was going to meet up with us. Lots of waiting later, we meet up with the Buddy and his wife who were so cool. We chatted and drank more beers in the snow and then went into a face-meltingly good Trey Anastasio show. So so so so so good. Lots of dancing.... or well.... my kind of dancing which just involves bouncing and swaying and groovin'. You want me to bounce? I can do that. You want me to find my own beat and move around to it just like everyone else around me? I can do that. Just don't ask me to wave my hands in the air like I just don't care because I'm too white and uncoordinated for that. I mean, I can't even take a sip of beer and "dance" at the same time. I did not get whatever dancing gene might have been floating around in my gene pool, but its alright. No One Cares which makes me feel free. Seriously. No one cares what you look like while you dance because everyone is doing it differently and who cares if you look stupid.... we all look stupid! We smiled through the whole show again and finally got on the road to come home around midnight. Driving home in the snow and ice was an adventure. We were exhausted but I drove on through. That is, until our f-ing Garmin GPS thingie directed us the wrong way. I don't know what happened or how. I thought I was following directions well, but I still haven't gotten the hang of these roundabout things. Seems like a simple concept, but its not. Plus, there had been recent construction and the Garmin wasn't up to date. I was sooooo upset. Drew was trying to make me "chill out" but I couldn't. It was 4:30 a.m and my lack of sleep was causing a major meltdown. Three-year-old style. All I could do was cry and say I wanted to go home. But really, when I'm at that point, its best to just shut up and let me sulk and be angry for while.Yea, I know.... grow up, Kristin. Finally, we get home to Echo and Eliza at 5:30 a.m. We're greeted by lots of sniffs and angry meows saying "Mom! I'm really not happy about this! Don't leave for that long ever again!" Everyone curled up in the bed and we slept. Finally.
Drew went to work around 10.... we met up for lunch and now I'm supposed to be looking for work clothes at the mall, but I'm here, blogging and procrastinating. I will get this accomplished today. Hopefully I'll start work sometime this week. I'll keep you posted.
Happiest girl in the world.
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