Two more weeks …

Knowing that I will be broke and unemployed in two weeks has made me the happiest woman alive. I am not sure why I did not do this sooner.

What is the best way to celebrate unemployment?

As I sat on the beach Saturday … wind slapping me in the face … sand ripping at my flesh … I made a decision.  

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After returning from Virginia on March 9, I was immediately rushed off to California on a business trip. This is the first chance to share pictures and stories of my trip to Virginia to visit my cuz.

As always, I had an awesome time with my cuz. He is a great host and even let me eat all his food. We did not hike as much as planned, but we still had a good time.

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People painted across a vast landscape of stores, restaurants and planes …

The airport may not be the most picturesque place to watch people, but the fluorescent lights definitely illuminate the many lives that walk past the numbering system that we all have grown to associate with flying.

The Atlanta Airport is the melting pot of civilization. Every state and nearly every country is represented.

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After wandering aimlessly through the parking lot for more than an hour yesterday, I realized that I am in serious need of a vacation. I passed the Girl Scouts selling cookies at least six times. They gave their spiel forgetting that I had already turned them down five times. One little girl recognized me and asked me, “Are you lost?”

Did you say “vacation”?

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“If there is anything the non-conformist hates worse than a conformist, it’s another non-conformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standard of non-conformity.” 
- Bill Vaughn 

Traveling to different places and countries only makes us realize how little we know and understand about people, communication and relationships. While many things are very similar, we can safely conclude that we in the States are the non-conformists. Every other country seems to have similar political and social standards, but we make up our own.

Why is it so important to us over here to be an individual? Sometimes it is not bad to blend in to keep world peace.

“Why do you have to be a non-conformist like everybody else?” 
- James Thurber

Americans are the definition of “conformity.” We are all after the same goal. Each of us seeks “individuality” and by doing so we find ourselves falling into cliques that share our same beliefs and outlooks on life.

To become similar in form, nature or character = conformity. 

“Non-conformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a non-conformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a non-conformist clique who does not conform with non-conformity.”  
- Eric Hoffer quotes

I am temporarily distracted as I drive down the highway of life. I crash through a road block. I fail to notice the many signs with “Wrong Way” written in big, bold letters.

Do you ever wonder if you made a wrong turn in life?

Maybe you went left when you were supposed to go right. It may be a simple change in your route, but what if it completely alters the rest of your drive? Instead of driving the easy and breezy scenic route, you are now on the fast track to arrive at your destination before you were meant to be there. What if the new route leads you to a completely different destination?

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In a world that continues to evolve, I often long for a moment I can control. This moment is mine each time I get behind the wheel of my car.

The smell of cheap plastic …

More than a decade ago, the ticket to freedom was handed to me by a clerk in the driver’s license bureau in Huntsville. I did not realize it at the time, but this woman was equipping me with a beautiful gift. Instead, I saw it as a right of passage. I did not want to drive.

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