Enough

This word is fantastic because it can foster both peace and security. I can only speak for my experience, but I have found that when I let it permeate my being, I am at ease. I am enough. In a place where I am sensitive to demanding expectations, this word lets me rest gently. Enough doesn't mean perfection, enough isn't controlling, enough doesn't let you off easy, it simply grounds. That's all that's necessary.

Enough also allows me to draw a line around my space, around me. Enough let's me voice displeasure over, for lack of a better word, bullshit, and then move on. Enough creates a semi-permeable membrane around my being that allows me the power to welcome what is good and necessary while rejecting what is harmful, damaging, and counterproductive.

I am enough, just by being. You are enough, just by being. We are enough, just by being.

This is enough for me.
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Now, various updates. I have been living in Alexandria, a few miles from DC for the past month with two lovely roommates. The job situation got a little too exciting, but I start a full-time position tomorrow with a company where I will, among other things, get to drive a truck. Childhood dream, check. Other than that, life moves quickly, and I'm just trying to keep up. I look forward to living somewhere with a slower pace and am missing the mountains something fierce.

If nothing else, I'm realizing how much data I've gathered from wandering the better part of the past year. I look forward to creating/finding/having external stability to match my internal stability, and to not physically wandering the corners of this country. I have, however, loved the cross-country driving, as well as the people I've met and things I've seen. That's another blog post. I manage about one a month. Oh goody.

Stay tuned!

The Capitol Building from the Mall during dusk

The best time to see the memorials is at night. I loved the FDR and Dr. King memorials;

this quote is from the latter.

Spring has sprung in my neighborhood!

 Flowers across the street from an interesting job I was working...

Let's just say it's worth its own post. So funny and so frustrating.

I worked at the US Science and Engineering Festival this past weekend and have learned why the agents in The Matrix were so pissy. Those ear pieces are annoying!

Take a ride on the Magic School Bus! 

Although I'm not part of the STEM crowd, it was interesting to see the breadth and variety of groups represented at the festival, as well as to meet people who were unapologetically excited about what they were doing and what was happening.

I didn't have a chance to really go through and explore the exhibits since I was working, but it was a really unique experience, and I'm glad to have been able to work at it. Among other things I saw 3-D printers in action, learned that Humboldt squids change their coloring to communicate with each other (Squids4Kids at Sanford), and ate copious amounts of brownies in the staff office.

I also accidentally told a woman at the International Women in Mathematics Society booth that I "stopped dealing with math in elementary school." This is a wee bit of a lie because I enjoyed statistics in college, but I am glad I got to be the stereotype they're working to counteract. You're welcome, IWMS.

Gallivanting, Pt. 1

As suggested to me by several people, I'm going to attempt to document some of the tales from my cross-country drives (2 and counting!). This first one was my move to Walla Walla, and the trip was with my mom.

Part 1: Florida to Arkansas

In typical fashion, my plan for driving cross-country was, and I quote, "Well, I'll be in Tallahassee and then we'll just drive this way *diagonal motion* to get to Boise. And I like Denver, so we'll stop there too." My Dad sat me down and helped me plan a route, apparently "we'll just go like this" isn't a satisfactory plan of action.

The first stop after Orlando was Tallahassee to see my lovely sister-from-the-same-mister. During this particular time, I-10 was under construction and a lane was closed. This business of having only one lane open was a theme for the trip, and I think we found one in every state we had the pleasure of driving through.

Next stop, somewhere in Arkansas. With the time frame we'd given ourselves, the goal was to drive as far as possible, preferably near Little Rock. We sauntered through the mountainous Florida Panhandle and I entered new territory: Alabama. It's an interesting state, a combination of Southern hospitality and "GTFO." Highlights include:

The confusion regarding a certain road we took from Birmingham to Memphis. Said road was marked on all maps as state road 70-whatever, but the signage in Alabama proclaimed Interstate 22. Not being sure of what this was, we did some sleuthing to discover that the road  is not currently an interstate but will be once it meets certain guidelines (Wikipedia). This doesn't matter in Alabama where you are on I-22, dammit. In Mississippi, signs along the road lamented, "Future home of the I-22 Corridor," but didn't seem to challenge the federal government.

Did I mention the I-22 signs in Alabama were also massive?

The towns of Guin, Gu-Win, Twin, Glen Allen, and Brilliant. In case you were wondering, Guin and Gu-Win are right next to each other and pronounced the same way.

We stopped at Corky's BBQ in Memphis for dry rub Memphis BBQ. It. Was. Amazing. Seriously, those ribs are one of the best things I've eaten, period. We got them to-go, parked at a gas station, rolled down the windows, and began to chow down.

Suddenly, cicada. This beast came flying in, caused a ruckus, and then ended up near the bottom of my door. I opened the door to shoo it out and, satisfied once I couldn't hear anything, shut the door and rolled up the windows, ready to enjoy my ribs in peace. My mom said she thought it was still in the car, but we couldn't hear anything and the topic was left at that.

The following morning we walked out to the car to see a large cicada dying in my seat. Not only was my mom right (as she often is), but I was worried I had suffocated the cicada by sitting on it. The cicada episode is one of the highlights of the trip, but I promise it only goes uphill from here.

Dinner is served.

The cicada that spent its final days near an Arkansas parking lot. RIP