On the Road AGAIN (fuck)

Hey all,

As usual, I've wanted to post a million times, blah blah blah ad nauseum. But I just haven't. I have found that 8 1/2 hour shifts at Target can dramatically deteriorate this pushing-34-year-old body. When I get home from being on my feet (and walking and walking and squatting and walking) for that whole time, I take off my shoes and gimp around like I'm crossing a fire pit, complete with "Ooh owie ahh ooh ouch ooh ouch"s.

Not to mention, Beau's arrival about two weeks ago kind of became the eclipse overshadowing all in my life. Too bad I don't see enough of him.

As for the tattoo, it's the first of the three that hasn't evolved into a nasty, pickable scab and except for one slight flake, has been pristine, and finally, pain-free. Hooray! As for Beau's reaction upon seeing it,....well, let's just say he was surprised. There's no return receipt with this baby though, so he's just going to have to learn to love it, I guess. I still do, though my enthusiasm has been slightly dampened, as you might imagine. Like me (originally), he was not a believer in the "name" tattoos, knowing the big curse around it, but unlike me, he has not yet seen the light. (It's all about faith, baby!). In the end, my tattoos are like my ever-changing hair, although it's great if people like it, think it's beautiful, etc., in the end, it's really for me, and I do it because I have so much fun with it, either looking at my tattoos every time I undress or changing my hair color/style once again (which I just did a few days ago).

And now, for the BIG news, though not as big as Lazuli's gender-revelation, we are moving, TOMORROW, to Missoula, Montana.

*waits for cheers, applause, confetti*

Okay, well, maybe it's not New York-New York (what a wonderful town!) or (I left my heart in) San Francisco, but it's a place I can feel excited about. Honestly, if I had to write down five places in the United States I could choose from, Montana would be on that list, so I'm happy about that. Furthermore, it's Beau's home state, and he's been burning to move back there for about 20 years now, so he's obviously excited as well.

My only stipulation was that we MUST land in a city of sizeable...size. As charming as Itty-Bitty, Missouri was (in Spring), it became pretty clear to me that Small Town, U.S.A. was not. for. me. Besides all my own admitted prejudices of small town prejudice, the simple fact is that my particular services (in administration or education) are just not in high, if any, demand in a small town environment. There aren't a lot of immigrants clammoring for ESL (English as a Second Language) classes in White-Bred, Corn-fed, Rural Midwest. Nor are there any large, international non-profit agencies, another field where I have a good deal of experience. Little ol' me is a Lotta ol' useless in a small town. And my uber-complex-to-be-content nature cannot continue my life working at Target since my homicidal thoughts toward the undeniably disgusting thoughtlessness and piggishness of customers (particularly women! GOD!) will explode with the heat of a thousand suns and I will KILL the next person who knocks a shirt off its hanger, onto the floor, and then kicks it under a table!

*pant*

So anyway, *whistle* we talked about it a bit and we decided upon Missoula. Reasons being:

A) Missoula is in the southwest. According to Beau, anywhere in the eastern part of the state is a windy, frost-bitten hell, and the western side is all majestic mountains, sparkling lakes, and "mild" weather.

B) Missoula is a university town (University of Montana), which is a big fat plus to me! I have now had 3 different people who have either lived/spent a great deal of time in Madison, Wisconsin tell me that Missoula is a smaller version of Madison. This is great news to me, since Madison was one of my favorite residences of my life. And now that Madison is beginning to become a monster, it seems the right time to be in a place like Missoula. Also, I loved working at the University of Wisconsin and look forward to the possibility of working at a university again.

D) Missoula is "big" (that is, if you are from Montana and a city of approximately 60,000 people seems massive to you).

E) Missoula is pretty. Well, so I hear. May seem like not a big deal to you, but it is to me.

So, if all goes well, we will be heading out in our little Honda, with each and every crack and crevice stuffed with every item we own (what we have left after all these moves in the past year and a half) and one very pissy cat. Knowing us, Beau will drive, I will read from Drums in Autumn, and we will make it there in one exhaustive day.

But the story doesn't end there. Our first stop? The in-laws.

*gulp*