charlobo-a-go-go

Got a haircut. Check. I feel freshly fresh. I hate it when haircuts outgrow themselves, and yes I’m hugely self-conscious. I could easily see my former hair stylist in SF who is rather talented but sucky at customer service (I paid you 50 bucks for 20 minutes of your time? What about playful banter? Observations of the world around us? Bah.), but I have a chick I’ve been seeing in Sactown who is SF style without the SF price. And customer service is ON. I want to be her friend she’s so awesome.

Anyways, my biggest gripe about coming out this way is that it’s not my town, and more often than not, I’m stuck doing NOTHING. My twitter feed goes up, my blog reading goes up, blah. I do get some work done because my mother in law does a great job of hoarding baby time, but this weekend I didn’t have anything on my plate. I am left pretty much to my wits. My second gripe is that my diet is so wack (as in my food preferences, not diet diet) that I have a hard time getting my food on here. So I wind up eating chips, crap, and more crap that I have no business noshing on because there’s nothing I want to eat here.

I talked to my new BFF/hairstylist about where I can score some food, and she pointed me in the direction of the natural food co-op and I headed out. Freshly shorn, I have an attitude. I look good (fly, really), and I am out to get mine. Thankfully the co-op had everything I was looking for and more. I picked up enough food for myself, Bambina, and I wound up feeding the three boys who were playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 (great game, btw). Picked up some essential oils (lavender and eucalyptus). In essence, I’m a happy chick. I have food. Bambina has food. I’m shorn. I have downtime.

Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when though you wish they were. - Unattributed

Lessons? There are a couple:

When life hands you lemons, fuck the lemons. Normally I’m here because I have to be here. I have to be the good wife and let Husbandido do his thing, see the in laws and spend quality time with the peeps. I normally resist this time, but I have found ways to make it work for me. Need a babysitter? Check. Need to get work done? Check. Sure I hate the food, but I found a way to get around that. I found a market and I’m set. Oh and the haircut? Escape. BLAOW! Quit complaining and make that shit work for you. there’s no way it should be the other way around.

Fear is a bitch. Okay so I’ve travelled to many a city/state/country by myself. The only way I’m able to do that is to not be afraid. The best feeling is when you step off the plane and everything you know and everything you are used to is GONE. You are stripped of your identity, your language (at times), and your sureness. This is when I feel most alive. So rather than just keep my sphere of influence confined to the neighborhood (called “the Hood” in my 4sq.com feed), I have zero problem hopping into a car and driving to find a spot to call my own. If it sucks, move the hell away. Again, see point #1. Get out while you can. Because you can and you should. Husbandido is always surprised to see some of the stuff that I’ve shown him ABOUT HIS OWN TOWN. Geebus.

Surprises work best if you know what you’re doing. Funny thing about Husbandido is that he wanted to surprise his mom that we were coming up. So she didn’t know we were coming. Guess what, she had plans. Way to go! So she wanted to spend time with her grandchild only to find out that she had to work today. Nice.

There are plenty more as I think of it, but I’ll leave it at this. For what it’s worth…we all have shit we have to do that we are neither thrilled about or looking forward to. If you just handle your business, you’ll find that it’s not so bad at all. But you will need to do something about it instead of becoming the victim of your own circumstances.

Peace,

Char