Since May 2011 (a little over a year ago), I’ve had five different permanent residences.
And to add on, I’m traveling all the time and am only home for half of each month. It’s nice to be able to visit and explore new places, but sometimes I feel like I don’t really have a home anymore…
In the down times, it can get a little lonely. In the up times, it can be incredibly exciting.
I guess that currently makes me a nomad of sorts.
You know when a baby curiously stares at you for a while, so you give her a smile, and then she smiles back, so you wave back, and then she smiles an even larger smile and gives you a jumbly hand wave back? Those are the best.
This happened yesterday as I was waiting to pull out of a Target parking lot and saw a baby in the next car over.
Thank you, baby, for taking ten seconds to make my day.
You are wonderful, and you don’t even know it yet.
I was in Omaha, Nebraska for the front part of this week supporting a hospital go-live.
Some highlights:
- My hotel was right by the Old Market District, which had a bunch of great restaurants and shops. I loved the prevalence of red brick in all the buildings.
- Took a walk through Cancer Survivors Park
- Over the course of my stay, I consumed two bone-in-filets. There are only two of these cuts of meat per cow, so I basically ate a cow. Had to have Omaha steaks the right way.
- Walked across the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, the longest pedestrian bridge linking two states, to get to Iowa on the other side. That’s states #21 and #22 in the race!
While in Omaha earlier this week, I stopped by Cancer Survivors Park.
There are 24 such parks throughout the U.S. and Canada designed to encourage people to understand and fight cancer.
At the front of the park was a sculpture representing people in different stages of treatment, from concerned but strong faces near the back to happy survivors in the front.
Then there were a series of entryways with facts about cancer and inspirational words of wisdom. This eventually led to 14 stainless steel columns that represent a tower of light.
I spent a little while walking through the park and thinking about loved ones – we fight cancer together.
If you know me well, you know that I’ve got a personal connection to cancer and it meant a lot to me to just walk through and reflect on life. I know Camp Kesem Berkeley is coming up and this summer will be the first time in four years that I won’t be able to be there. Camp Kesem, the counselors, and the campers are a second family to me.
But I think it goes to show its impact when I can be away from camp yet still feel the bond. It’s magic. Something that’s hard for me to describe. I’m so grateful to have it though.
One thing in the Midwest that is strikingly different from the Bay Area is the accessibility of lakes.
There’s lakes everywhere here. I live right by three of them, with many more within driving distance.
Thus with gorgeous weather, I’ve been enjoying the lake life lately.
A trip on a whim, some friends and I drove overnight up to Burt Lake in Michigan this past weekend.
We did plenty of water sports, including jet skiing, kneeboarding, and tubing, and had a thoroughly great time cruising down Indian River and chilling at a sand bar.
Then on the way home, we made an impromptu stop at Lake Michigan.
Being on the water is a pretty awesome way to spend a weekend away from work.
Thanks for having us and sharing your cottage, Alison!