springtime and the livin' is easy

This month has truly been a vacation. There was a time last weekend in Austin, amidst my mid-afternoon porch-sitting and wine-drinking, where I actually thought to myself, 'I'm having so much fun, I'm pretty much jealous of my own life right now.' It was about 2pm, and it's when I knew I was drunk.

I spent another few days in Houston visiting with family, playing the part of personal chiropractor for my parents, and then I played and totally won at car tetris: I packed up my lil '96 Camry to the brim and rolled my way to Hot-lanta. Which, thankfully, is not hot yet. I made it here during the few weeks of spring, before the humidity descends and I begin traveling everywhere in a bathing suit. The first 8 hours of the drive, I thought to myself that I could make a career of driving across the country. (The last four hours, after I'd exhausted the new music on my ipod and was squinting to see the lines on the road, I reconsidered.)

Once at my destination, I made about six trips up to the third-floor apartment (54 steps in all), with my bike, one of two of my enormous suitcases, and various other personal effects. I took great care in manually locking the passenger side door of my car, since lately it's been acting all busted with the automatic lock. Then this morning, when I went to my car to run by Target for a shower liner so I could bathe myself, I wiped the grime from my face, jaw dropping, to realize I'D LEFT THE GODDAMN REAR DOOR OPEN. Meaning: ipod! suitcase! car stereo! bike rack! shit, TOYOTA! all exposed to the residents of the complex, begging someone to steal it all. Luckily, it was all still there. I want to believe that this is because I am a good person, and not because I am really, really fucking lucky. Maybe both?

So anyway, the weather here is amazing (70 degrees, sun shining), and there are little tree buds blooming like crazy everywhere in green, pink, and white. Today I am enjoying this glorious weather during my last two days of vacation. I am errand-running at places like Ikea, Whole Foods, and the kitchen supply store in downtown Decatur. And I am super excited about settling in and living in a(nother) new city for a bit. Weee!