some days are just too good to capture. up early, driving l'il bro to the airport. getting lost on the way back. running errands (buying grease for l'il dude (aka, the bike), vince's for lunch, post office, notarize, hardware store (hmmm...hardware store...i could live there) and then coming home to clean my bike. hours and hours of fun: removing rust (i neglected to take care of the bike while in portland), degreasing, regreasing, getting rid of dirt, trying to tune it up without ruining it [i'm so excited to learn more about bike maintenance.] and now i get to do nitty gritty organizing. all the little things i've collected in the past 5+ months are now going to be sorted into ziploc bags (wahooo!). stuff i don't need to keep: pins, flags, maps, directions, pens galore, notes, bolts, stuff...and some stuff i need to keep: bills, insurance papers, doctor's bills, keep-in-touch information.

but what this really all boils down to is that tomorrow is my last day here. here [pasadena, the homeland, the comfort zone] is like a little nest i can just fall into entirely each time i come here, and now it's time to leave. leaving isn't hard, it's just that i don't exactly know where i am headed next. ok, so that's a bit overdramatic and untrue...i know i am headed to new haven for the vanessa jean holiday rush (which is more of a trickle right now), then to charlotte for the holidays...then...well, that's where i don't know what comes next.

i have the amazing opportunity to settle where ever i want, or not settle for that matter. but after 162 days on the road i'm finally starting to feel an inkling to settle somewhere. to set up a studio, to have a home, a bed to curl up in every night. space that is mine, private, personal. but the question is where? what will i be doing? and i have to make some decisions about how to balance my 2 main desires to create and to organize. i'm deciding if i can balance to two, or if it's time to make a sacrifice in favor of one or the other. hmmm, i guess i have a lot of things to think about, good thing i'll have some time in the car.

the hardware store visit made me long for creating things. tools, ladders, tile spacers, turning the every day into something new and neat. it's a funny place for inspiration, but i could stay there all day. ok, time to get back to putting things where they belong...enough daydreaming for now.