It's the final countdown... to the finale.

Just keep packing, just keep packing...

Yup. That's the story as of this moment. Packing. About and hour ago we just got out of our last community meeting. And now we have the rest of the afternoon to pack before the big room inspections. 1 day. ONE DAY! Wow, have 10 months of my life gone by already? Whelp, the answer is yes. Yes, 10 months have gone by. The quickest, yet slowest 10 months have gone.

Yup. Tomorrow is the day. Graduation from AmeriCorps NCCC. SO ready!

I'm so ready to get out of here. Don't get me wrong, I really like it here in Colorado. It's a beautiful state but I'm ready to be done with this Ameri-life. Don't get me wrong again, all 'n all I'm glad I did a program like this before settling into the 'real world'. Give me a bit of time after the program is over and I'll probably want to be a part of it again but right now I have many other exciting things to look forward to such as...

1. a ROAD TRIP!
2. a friend's wedding!
3. the beach!
4. grad school.
5. just being back in NY for some time.

Again, all 'n all it was a good experience. Some things about it I would've liked to be different but hey, you can't always get what you want, and such is life!

Coming to you next time from New York!

five. seven. twenty.

Five (5) work days left.

Seven (7) days left in the godforsaken town.

Twenty (20) days left in AmeriCorps NCCC.

The end is near! and I've never been more ready.

In other news, I went to Austin again this past weekend, which was a reminder of how much I really do like that city. We left Saturday morning, stopped for a few hours in San Antonio, then spend the next two night in Austin. This time spending more time up and down Congress St. as opposed to spending most of the time on 6th St. Again, it was wonderful getting away. And also, I came to a realization visiting Austin the second time around. That being when I'm there, it doesn't feel like I'm in Texas anymore!

The end.

Hello Houston

Hello again blog world. I feel like it's been a while since I've updated you last. Mainly because there hasn't been an abundance of blog-worthy material going on.

Since we left off way back post-Memorial day weekend nothing has happened that's worth ranting about (well, with sporadic events that happened the past 2 weeks being the only exceptions). This project isn't much to talk about except that it's horrible. I don't enjoy it at all. We live where we work (as previously mentioned) which holds a big toll on [my] mental health. An old building with cockroaches, and those rollie pollies (which we finally got to roach bomb the place just this weekend), cracks in the ceiling which lead to leaking on you while you're sleeping when it rains (and causing flooding in the front of the building). The feeling of not being productive and/or needed (I've experienced this feeling throughout the project... a lot.) Basically we're babysitters throughout the day with kids ages 5-high school, most of which don't give you a shit of respect. It's sad. I generally love working with kids. Oh well. There are a slim few I'll miss and enjoy seeing everyday but by no means am I going to miss this place and/or project. Oh, and Summer of Service. Thanks to that component for making this project a bit tolerable.

End rant.

In happier news: 12 more days then it's on the road again back to Denver! and 25 more days left of AmeriCorps!

Additional happier news: The club was closed yesterday due to weather (thank you Hurricane Alex for bringing a shit ton of rain and storms to the Freeport area), today I'm taking my last personal day (coming to you from a local bookstore/coffee shop!), making this a 5 day weekend (happy 4th everyone!). A few days this weekend will be spent in Austin again (with a pit stop in San Antonio) to escape for a bit.

Last week I took the other personal day I still had. Spent the day in Houston with a fellow teammate. We visited 3 museums, it was day well spent, that's for sure!

Museum #1 of the day

outside museum #1

This past weekend was spent in Houston yet again but this time on AmeriCorps' bucks. My team leader knows how much we are miserable with this project so he set up an ISP in Houston allowing us (who wanted to) to get away, and enjoy Houston, all while getting a few extra hours in. Got to visit 2 more museums!

Houston's Pride parade was conveniently happening while we were there so a few of us went in addition to the other things that were done. It was a weekend well spent. (The story of this round: yearning for productive days/days well spent!).