Finally! I have been so behind with the blog the past couple of weeks – I am very sorry! I have no valid excuses, other than I’ve been somewhat preoccupied. As you might have deduced from the photo, oh, and the title…. I’ve been out of the state…..the state of being thin, fit, and rich, and also out of the state of Oklahoma.
Have I told you that I really hate snow? Well I do, and I’ve visited Colorado perhaps five times in all the years that I have lived in the USA – and every time I did, it was bloody cold. But no one told me how much I would like visiting Colorado in the Spring…….
Gump and I drove out there to see the grandkids who now live there (oh, and their parents) and also to celebrate my oldest child’s 40th – yeah I said 40th – birthday. We had a great drive, I took the first half, Gump the second (he had to take several naps) – we made it to Denver Airport (without one argument) and picked up my younger son so that we could surprise his brother by showing up for his special birthday – and he was surprised! It was a great visit, Gump and my younger son flew back, and I stayed on a couple of extra days.
I abhor flying….I mean DETEST flying….and I know my kids think I’m mad to opt for the drive to Colorado instead, and I reflected upon this as I drove the ten hour trip back to Oklahoma. I didn’t buy Starbucks at the airport, fight security check-points and squish into a tiny seat with a seat belt that might save me from falling out of my seat should I get drunk, but not give me a hope in hell if the engines on the plane went out….. Nope…..instead I saw the sunrise in Colorado as I drove away from the lights of Denver, I watched crop-dusters flying low over vast rich fields, I saw massive windmills towering into the sky, spread out over miles and miles of rolling plains, but the best part of it all was this….I sang my way through Kansas………………
You see over the years I have become an Audible book person, and for every trip I have taken (mostly with Gump) I have listened to a great story to help pass the time. This trip was no different, in that I started out doing exactly that when I began the drive for the first couple of hours. But then I remembered that I had a playlist on my iPod that I’d forgotten all about. So I switched to the tunes…..and that was all she wrote…..
I sang at the top of my lungs for many hours, and it would have been a laugh if I could have captured it all on a dash-cam. I started with Billy Idol and White Wedding, went on to Chet Baker, Earth Wind & Fire and ended with the Dixie Chicks and Dusty Springfield, covering everything in between. I couldn’t believe how much fun it was! Most of the songs brought with them a memory or two – my first slow dance at 14, my kids singing in the back seat of the car on the way to soccer games, and in some cases even tears…..But it was marvelous, an epic musical journey of my life, my family and my experiences. It was a memory every mile – and I highly recommend you all try it the next time you travel far, alone. Oh, and it’s good for your lungs as well!
I’m still enthralled at being unemployed, although I did go for an interview a week ago. I cannot begin to tell you how devastated I was to get a call from a potential employer……I think I am becoming extremely happy with my status quo, you really could call me Susie (as in homemaker). I love being here at Debtwood, working on my writing, doing all the chores, cooking, cleaning, running errands etc. although I’ll never be able to make curtains or dress-make or get into home renovation.
That morning, as I prepared to go for the interview, I realized that in 3 short months I had already forgotten how to conduct myself as a business-type person. I had to really think about what to wear, and dragged out the make-up too. It felt like Halloween, like I was putting on a costume for a part I was getting ready to play. Wow…..how bizarre! It certainly brought it home that for the first time in many years, even decades, I am allowing myself to actually be me……
I drove downtown in the little red convertible because it was a glorious day, my hair tied up so that I wouldn’t look like a bush-woman when I got there. I felt VERY Audrey Hepburn, although I looked like two of her stuck together.
I went into the building and shared an elevator with about twenty suited guys….the most company I’d had around me in weeks. It felt weird, and I felt like I had stepped onto another planet. How quickly things change in your brain. Obviously this was a sign that I am no longer supposed to be in Corporate America.
I had lunch with the vastly wealthy businessman, and I also had a glass of Pinot Noir (a first on an interview for me) – while we chatted, I chuckled inside as I sat in this elaborate restaurant with the spectacular bird’s eye view of Tulsa. I almost had an out-of-body experience, watching myself as I actually conducted the interview…..to an observer I looked like I was probably in the wrong place…..my nose pierced, my hair a mess (despite my efforts) my legs bare (except for the stubble I hadn’t shaved) and my laid-back cavalier attitude. I conversed with this chap like I would someone sitting next to me at my dining table at home, and I think we both had a good time….it was terribly unprofessional, but at least it was fun…..who knows if I’ll get a call? Frankly I don’t really care! Wow….what a revelation…it’s only taken my brain fifty-six years to arrive at this destination.
Sing on!
Jude