Started the month off with Camp Oasis, which pretty much rocks my life every year, and this year was no exception. Started off a little different, being in a new location this year, but we all quickly got into the swing of things and started rocking out almost immediately. Loved that I finally talked my friend Chase into coming back to camp after five years away! How in the world he stayed away that
long, I'll never know, but it was great to have him there, especially when I unexpectedly needed some moral support and a hug one (or two) day(s). But mostly camp was amazing and wonderful and life-changing, as it always is...I'm still feeling that after-camp high that makes you feel like you can pretty much accomplish anything. On a side note, I had worn a temporary tattoo all throughout the week of camp (check out the picture) that symbolized the camp theme this year. Earlier this week, I looked down at my foot and realized that I had gotten a tan line from the tattoo, which for some reason made me super-excited...I couldn't stop smiling. After camp, I headed back to Florida for a short weekend with my parents in Gainesville before driving to Orlando for my next work assignment. This was a short assignment, only one week long, but all that was available at the moment, so I took it. Spent the week at a hotel, met some great people on the job, which was such a relief because at my last assignment some of the people I worked for/with were just ridiculously awful. The week went by quickly, and I headed back to Gainesville for another weekend with my parents.
Left again the next week for a two-week assignment in the grand town of Perry, FL (population 6,669). I actually really enjoyed myself there, in spite of being in ANOTHER hotel, and living out of a suitcase for the what was now the fourth straight
week. Met some more great people at work, the job was really laid back, and ate at a couple local restaurants that were really good and quite the experience. (This is one of my favorite things about traveling for work, finding awesome restaurants with great food.) First place was this down home BBQ restaurant called Goodman's. The picture of the cow tipping team sign was taken at this restaurant, pretty much sums up my entire Perry experience. In case you can't read the small print, it says, "Go for the rear when pushin' a steer, Wait 'til they're asleep & tip the beef." The other place I went was the place my co-workers took me out to lunch for my last day, a real dive of a seafood 
place called Roy Deal's. Great food, including some decent oysters. (I wasn't brave enough to try the swamp cabbage, which I found out was actually part of a palm tree.) The best part about this place was that at random intervals some lively music would start playing on the loudspeaker and this lady would come out with something she called a "pogo stick" but was actually some kind of instrument that looked like a cross between snare drums and bongos, but on a stick. (Tough to imagine, I know, so I've provided a picture.) She was actually really good at playing it and she'd dance around all the tables to wild applause, then go back to manning the cash register until the next interval. Good times...I'm now back in Gainesville, on my fifth straight week of living out of my suitcase and waiting for my next assignment, which I can only hope is long enough that I have a chance to actually stay somewhere that's more like a home than a hotel, somewhere that I can settle in for a few months this time. There's a couple prospects out there that I'm trying to work on, it's getting really hard to be patient when it seems like the companies that I work with are trying to take advantage of me at every turn. I really just have such a difficult time dealing with people that don't give you the whole story, that beat around the bush, or paint a pretty picture where there isn't really one. I hate small talk, idle talk and I really despise when people try to blow sunshine up my you-know-what. Sooo...dealing with recruiters is pretty much my least favorite thing right now.
On the sunny side, I've had a lot of down time the past several days (being temporarily unemployed allows for that sort of luxury), which has given me time for things like running, reading, crocheting, a whole lot of (probably too much) thinking, and plenty of naps. The running thing has been mostly great, I'm trying to get in gear for an eventual half-marathon rerun next February, but mostly just running because it helps to relieve stress, clear my mind. It's such a no-frills sport, just put on some shoes, turn on the i-Pod and hit the road, I love that! The reading has been mostly The Chronicles of Narnia, which I'm thoroughly enjoying, having never read most of the stories when I was younger. The crocheting (yes, you read that right) is something I've always enjoyed, but rarely had time for in the past. I know it sounds old and grandma-ish but there's something very therapeutic about creating something beautiful with yarn, repetition and patience. The thinking has been mostly about my future in my career and whether or not I want to take a giant leap into something completely different and unknown by going back to school. If you're any good at reading between the lines, you probably already know that not only do I not find my job fulfilling or thrilling, I find it frustrating and maddening at times...and I definitely believe that life is way too short to spend so much of it doing something that doesn't make me blissfully satisfied to be doing it. I've known for a while now that I need to go back to school, but I'm not looking forward to it, having never enjoyed school much either. I need to take action, though, and the long talks with myself are definitely paying off. We'll see what happens in the next year or two...
In the meantime, I'm going to keep traveling for work, as long as there's jobs to be had. I'll keep everyone posted on my next location just as soon as I know where it will be. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about a potential assignment that I heard about, but it sounds nice, and like I told a friend this morning, hope is hard to kill. Fingers crossed!
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