Seaside Gypsy Life

Although it's been about a month since I started this blog campaign, this is only my second post.  I'm sure I'll get the hang of this eventually. :)  No worries, while I'm already overseas in my mind, the physical voyage won't commence until next week, so stay tuned!

So much has happened, and much more is yet to come!  In January I made the move out of my cozy room in "The Llama House" in Prunedale to a 5x5 storage unit.  ...but they wouldn't let me sleep in the unit, ;) so I took up residence in a friend's house in Seaside, CA for most of February.  House-/cat-sitting has been a wonderful adventure in itself!  While I've been super-busy organizing every last personal possession, packing for my epic journey, and working tons of hours, I still get to come home to a comfortable home complete with lovable cats and tricked-out kitchen!

It's been crazy trying to work full-time these past weeks (to squeeze in one last big paycheck!) and I've gained a new respect for all my friends who have been doing it for years now!  I never really appreciated the phrase "working for the weekend" until now, since weekends don't really exist when one is in grad school.
THIS weekend is special, though, because it's my LAST weekend in the USA until May!!  Sunday afternoon we're hitting the beach/park in Monterey for some fun in the sun!!  If you're reading this and are in the area, be sure to come down to Del Monte Beach/Park!  I know, it's been raining aaall week, but the weather forecast PROMISES sun on Sunday!

Then back to work for one last paid day on Monday (did I mention how earnest I am about getting one more paycheck? lol), then Tuesday off I go to spend a couple magical hours in the San Francisco Airport before being whisked away to Melbourne!

This week has been particularly anxious because I was awaiting the arrival of my NEW CAMERA!!!  Which isn't necessarily a super-great thing, considering that I HAD a perfectly good camera up until a few weeks ago.  Above is one of the last photos I took with my "old" 2008 Panasonic Lumix--ancient for Panasonic standards, apparently.  Erin had finally gotten me out of the house to go tidepooling in Pacific Grove one lovely afternoon.  And NO, I did not drop it into the water.  It just decided that it would function no more.  So I had it replaced with a newer, shiny, pretty-much-the-same model!  It arrived yesterday, so today I've just been cruisin', waiting for the moment that I can tuck it safely into my pack and hit the road...er, air.