“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” - G. K. Chesterson

I've never thought of my hometown as a very exciting place, but I've got to work with what's at hand right now so I've been looking for the adventure wherever I can find it. And rather than use words, I'll rely on the pictures I've taken to share the stories. First up is visiting Mom's second grade class complete with Cranberry Centers and a Thanksgiving feast with the kindergardeners.

Describing cranberries like a scientist.

My partner for Cranberry Centers and I at the taste testing.
What's your favorite cranberry treat: juice, bread, or sauce?

Cranberries: sink or swim?

The feast! Turkey sandwiches, popcorn, grapes (from the cornucopia), and milk (...from the cows?).
You know, just like the pilgrims.

Uh, yum!

I'm pretty sure that my daughter will be JUST like this little girl. She's gonna be an astronaut. 

Then was catching up with one of my best and oldest friends Shane who was in town for the weekend. We went bowling and Christmas shopping...which gave us the excuse to "Kinect." I had such a great time, but that should never be much of a surprise when you're rolling with this guy.

He's as silly as the day I met him. Just geriatric now. 

He's a master in the lanes, but he can't beat his mom on the Wii.

Look at that form! And with the slight curve at the end, that's what a spare looks like, people.

If I had an extra $149 lying around, I would have bought this in a second. So fun! 

And to close on the recent adventures, Mom and I had some great bonding time decorating our gingerbread house. It took 2 HOURS to do that tiny thing, but balancing our different visions and compulsions equaled a pretty awesome house.

And doesn't it look yummy enough to eat?!?

So maybe these are a different breed of marvels and mishaps than those you would find galvanting around Italy but I'm certainly enjoying myself. I guess that just goes to show you: "Adventure is out there!"

They say when it rains, it pours...

If that's the case, I'm in the middle of a quarter-life monsoon. Things are adding up and, in contrast with my last post, it's getting difficult to just be and to stay positive about everything. Yes, I'm unemployed, which is a doozy, but then there's more.

The most recent tragedy issue of my life that caused me to have a break down I'm trying to deal with responsibly is a car wreck. My poor Sonny! It seems that it just won't be worth the investment to repair him which feels like I'm mourning the loss of a friend. And as a result, I've been car shopping (which is just a big pain) and generally trying to decide what the best move is to make. There are plenty of questions to mull over: What if I get a job and move to a city where there's no need for a car? What if I get the Fulbright and am back in Italy in a few months? Super inconvenient timing to be dealing with this stuff, but I'm told that's what you find under the definition of "life" in the Dictionary of Hard Knocks.

And then there's other issues of my luck: I found a great 2008 car with good gas economy, low mileage, and awesome crash ratings at a decent price. It even had satellite radio, auxiliary for your iPod, and some thing so you could sync up your phone contacts...but it didn't have cruise control! Sorry, Mr. Sleazy Salesman, but I won't be going backwards in time.

And as if I didn't have enough inquiry and uncertainty, there are all kinds of personal questions floating around: What can I do to make my situation better? How can I behave to be sure that I stand by my ideals? Am I even growing up? I feel a bit out of control here which occasionally leads to spouts of hopelessness. People are growing and doing things and I feel stuck in the mud. I know this state is temporary, but this transition from where I was to where I'm going is far from easy. Like I said, I never expected it all to fall into place, but...something?...anything?!?

With my luck, it'll all come too quickly and I won't know what to do. Typical. But for now I've adopted a new - hopefully temporary - perspective which I like to call "positive pessimism." And the meaning? Expect everything to go wrong (because it will)...and then just stay positive anyway. It's my umbrella in these stormy conditions. To clear skies and better news - CHEERS!

Why I LOVE being unemployed.

It was only a matter of time before this post came out of me. Now you know I'm not much of a "do nothing-er." My family might argue with me, but besides the occasional long weekend vacation, I was never much a fan of not having something to do. I mean, how many kids hated summer vacation because it meant no structure? I can count at least one and that's me. And while the list isn't very long, I have come to find some benefits of not having a job. So, in no particular order, here goes nothing:

1. I have time to read. I love reading all kinds of things. Books, magazines, short stories, articles. I spend hours online moving from one website to another looking at the news or reading up on the latest research. One of the greatest gifts my parents ever bought me was a Kindle which I get a heck a lot of use out of, especially with all the free books they offer. I'm well on my way through the Harry Potter series...again, am rereading Dante's Inferno because it's just genius, and have great plans to go through the works of Mark Twain soon. My grandma used to ask me how I could be reading so many different things at once, but it's like changing the channel on the television for me. I just find it much more enriching.

2. I exercise at least an hour a day. I never really put my health as a priority in my life, but over the last year have learned some great reasons why I should. And to tell you the truth, it's been pretty interesting. Surely, that's not easy, but the challenge is part of the fun. Let's be real. There's not much else egging me on, is there? And besides, it's autumn in North Carolina. Why wouldn't you want to be outside if you had nothing else to do?!? After my usual run (I'm up to two miles now!), I returned to my route with Daddy and the puppies just to take these pictures. Don't you wish you were unemployed, too?
  

It's blurry, but the trees know something of color gradation. ROY G. is just missing a little BIV.

3. I'm practicing in the kitchen. This is both scary and ridiculously entertaining knowing how little experience I had or ever wanted cooking, but I have to say, it's starting to grow on me. Especially after starting this healthy lifestyle kick, I've been working on "my housewife skills." Ha. Hahahahaha. Veeeeeeeeeeery funny.

4. I can schedule my time as I wish. There are no problems if I want to pick up and go visit friends or do something with my family. Earlier this week I wasn't feeling great so I moved from the bed to the couch and took a nice long nap. One of my biggest flaws is time management, but I'm definitely getting a better sense of how long it takes me to do things and how all those things pass the hours of the day. So what if I didn't get everything done as I planned? I'll just do it tomorrow. :)

Of course there are disappointments that come along with the benefits of unemployment. I wish I had something to do during the day that was productive to society and myself. And then there are days where it feels like things are never going to change. Today while applying for education loan deferment (on the grounds of unemployment, of course) I signed up for a new online job search agency. I uploaded my resume and then read this great message...

with no recommendations. It was good for a laugh, but I can't say I don't get discouraged. It's not the time to be a job snob, but for now I've just got to keep applying, waiting, and being thankful for the time I have to be unemployed.

"Love is the only gold." --Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The writer Rob Heinlein said, "Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own," and that was exactly what I witnessed this weekend. My maternal grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on November 5th and the family went down to visit.

And by family, I mean alllllllll the family. And friends. From 50 years. There was a big party with good food and drinks with fun music and great company...and everyone had a ball! And I was able to show my anniversary gift to my grandparents and the guests.

Making this video was so much fun for me! I absolutely loved looking through pictures and hearing stories while recording the video. There's nothing quite like learning about and loving your family!

But the most wonderful thing about this weekend was really seeing the love between my grandparents. These two have been through a lot, as you could imagine, living their lives together. I've been thinking recently about loyalty, respect, and love and to witness two people celebrate sharing those qualities for their 50th year together with a community of people who have supported, loved and been touched by them along the way makes me certain that those characteristics are just as important as they ever have been