Vacation Post #3

Okay so I've actually been back from vacation for a week now...but I'm a little behind. I think the last thing I wrote about was how grammy and I practically had to wash dishes at the casino where we lost all our money. :) But....you know....it was fun. The next day I hit the road back east. I stopped at the most disgusting place ever. I wish I could remember the name of the town in Wyoming....population was like five hundred something. I thought "this is it...this is going to be the time...that I, Sabrina Frehse, pees my pants in the car!" I finally see the exit in the middle of nowhere during heavy construction. I finally desperately weave my way through a ripped up exit to a gas station...get out...and it's freaking closed. I turned around and luckily across the street there was another gas station (the ONLY 2 buildings in sight!!!!!!) I go back over to the other place, I get out and I think "is this a cop car?" No. It was 3 S.W.A.T. vehicles. Any other time - I would have left...but my bladder wasn't allowing that. So I go in and it was freaky because there was no one in the store but the 2 cashiers who looked totally freaked out when I came in. I looked around and didn't see any police....didn't see anyone at all! So I get to the bathroom and there are 2 stalls. One of them was open and one was closed but I heard 2 people talking. So I run to the open one and there is this woman going to the bathroom - while gagging and dry heaving toward the floor...with the door wide open!!!!!! Then she says to the person next to her "I swear I'm pregnant...everything makes me gag". So they come out - and at this point....I don't like public bathrooms much anyone and this almost made me sick myself! They come out and the gagger looks like scarred face methhead tramp - seriously. I mean like short jean shorts with SUSPENDERS....really???? And this pink tube top and it looked like she hadn't showered in 2 weeks. Long story short....there's not too much exciting - no idea where the S.W.A.T. people were - but it was just gross and that was a desperate pit stop.

Oh let's see....what else...I'll tell you what needs to be done. The information signs that tell you which exit to get off for gas.....ummm....they need to have a sun on them if they are only open during the day or a moon on them to let people know they are open at night. Anyway I stopped in Grand Island, NE that night - and it was a very interesting evening. Was very tired, hotels were booked all over so I was stuck paying double (labor day weekend) for a nice room, credit card company blocked my card for suspicious activity (which was all cleared the next morning), and the light was shining in the window such a way that it was keeping me awake. The good thing about that night was a nice long telephone conversation that put me at ease.

The next morning in a total of 50 minutes, I packed up, checked out, fixed my credit card issue, got gas, stopped at a Sonic and was back on the road. On the way to Julia's!!!!

On my way out West, I reflected on a lot to do with my work, and was completely relieved by the time I got...well....whereever I was going. This time...I thought about location. I realized that I really am happy where I am. Some of you may remember last winter...when I was thinking about just packing up and moving. I wasn't sure how to do it....hard to do with a career and a house. But...I was just running. I remember writing a poem one time years ago and in it I wrote "it's easy to blame a city". But we need to look at ourselves. My confidence was hurting a lot last winter...and felt like I needed a fresh start where no one knew me. But now...I realize - nothing was that bad. I let a couple bumps in the road turn into craters because I wanted everything to happen RIGHT NOW. I really do think that mid life crisises are happening earlier and earlier these days. So...my drive back eastward, made me appreciate the scenery, made me think about patience can bring good things your way, and how sometimes we just need to be taken out of our routine for a while....in order to appreciate it. That was huge. Does that mean I was ready to come back and go right back to work and laundry and mowing the lawn....no....but I knew that it would be "home".

So I got to Julia's that night around 7! Made excellent time and didn't even speed! I had a great time seeing her and Dave and Hailey. They always make me feel like I'm at home there and Dave is a hell of a cook. We spent one day at the lake and it was a beautiful day out. I tell ya - every day was just perfect - during my whole vacation. Couldn't have asked for better weather. And couldn't have asked for a better way to end my travels than with with my BFF!!!!! If I can take another trip next year....it may just be out east. :)

And then....a few days later...I returned. I will never leave my dog for that long again - that part did break my heart. But after a little while of disbelief that I was back, she followed me everywhere. And I have the greatest roommates ever for taking such good care of her while I was gone. Even more to be thankful for.

And now....a follow up....

Something I've learned since I got back. I need to take some time for myself every now and then. I learned a lot on my vacation, but....I didn't learn everything. There's always going to be stress. My vacation came at the completely wrong time in some respects. But I have no regret in taking it. Certain things have transpired since I got back...that didn't turn out in my favor. Unfortunately I have no control of this situation. Fortunately I can learn from it. Point is: hindsight is such a bitch. But it is something that we will never escape. It's always going to find us and say "I told you not to do that". My problem is that in a lot of situations I get stuck with the "then why did I?" response. And I think and I think and I think about it. Always looking for some deep meaning. When really I need to accept it....and starting thinking "where do I go now?" And I may not have an answer right away, and maybe that's just fine. Because if there is anything I learned.....and I already said it...."patience can bring good things". So....I'm learning from mistakes now - as I will for the rest of my life....but as long as I can take some time here and there for myself, and know what I want....I'll do okay. And I think that's what I needed - I needed to know that I'm still as strong as I always have been....and that I don't need to run away from things, I just need to learn how to take a little break now and again. Real breaks.

Vacation Post 2

Well....after my last post, I spent a wonderful evening in Denver with my aunt. We talked about a lot of things. We talked about family, death, dreams, a whole bunch of things. I wish I could have stayed in Denver for one more day. The next day - I think it was Tuesday when I left and made my way to Utah. I drove up through Cheyenne, WY and and took I-80 there. I am not a fan of driving through Wyoming. Lots of miles between stops and some freaky stops at that. However I did stop at the Lincoln Monument near Larmie. It was really cool to see. It's the highest point from east to west. I saw many signs with the Continental Divide Altitude...I can't remember the highest that I saw there though....7460 or something.

After quite a few annoying detours that day, I made it to Grammy's about an hour north of Salt Lake. I was pretty tired that evening. On Wednesday my grandma and I looked through a lot of old pictures and she kind of filled me on that side of the family (I really don't know anyone on that side of the family), it was nice. We stopped in Brigham City and had lunch a nice little Mexican place with grandma, and her sister Mary. On Thursday grandma and I went up through Idaho and made way to Nevada to do some gambling. It was the worst gambling I'm ever done. Don't ask me about it. :) Regardless it was fun. I got a good laugh out of my poor little grandma's worries. In about 4 hours - I had 1 drink and 2 beers. We got back to the hotel room and I said I was going to take a dip in the pool. She responded with "Oh honey you can't go swimming, you'll drown!" :) I went swimming. It was awesome. Didn't drown. It was a nice trip to and from Nevada with her. We got back on Friday. Friday afternoon, we spent looking through family history. This may not sound like vacation to some, but...considering I don't know much about that side...it was very nice to learn a lot of this stuff, and wouldn't mind learning some more.

Saturday morning I hit the road again, this time to come back the other direction toward Milwaukee. I made it pretty far that day - got to Grand Island, NE. And that's where I'll stop this post for now and will continue...when I return home. :)