Life is a runaway train...

This is the song that keeps running through my head, courtesy of Sugarland..."Life is a runaway train you can't wait to jump on." I feel like my life has been exactly like a runaway train these last few weeks! Let's see, three weeks ago I was in Venice, on the beach, wondering how much longer I'd be staying...

Well, I didn't end up staying in Venice after all...I tried like crazy to get the rehab director at VRMC to keep me around longer, but in the end they really needed a PT, no way around it. I was sad to leave, I really liked Venice and mostly just really almost enjoyed my job there, which is something I haven't really experienced before while working in physical therapy (sadly). So...while still in Venice I landed another assignment, this one in Jacksonville, FL. Not my ideal location, but there are FAR worse places to be, as I've experienced firsthand. I had over a week's notice this time, which meant I had extra time to prepare for the move, find housing, get settled, etc. Riiiiight...

Housing...ugh. I spent so very many hours looking for housing...searching, searching, searching. Affordable corporate housing is not easy to find in Jacksonville. (I'm also greedy, and didn't want to use all of my generous housing stipend, because of course that's less money in my pocket.) I finished my assignment in Venice on the 24th of September and headed to Gainesville the following day for another weekend with my parents...after a mini-reunion in Tampa with a lovely lady from camp. I still had not found housing yet, after several false alarms, so my plan was to just stay in Gainesville for the weekend, then head to Jacksonville Sunday evening and stay in a hotel for a day or two until I found something more permanent. Riiiiight...

Sunday came around, and knocked me on my knees. I got really sick, had the worst flare of my ulcerative colitis that I can ever remember having, didn't even know how I was going to drive to Jacksonville, much less start my job on Monday. I stayed in Gainesville Sunday night, with plans to hopefully feel better in the morning and drive to Jacksonville very early. The morning came around and I didn't feel any better, but had no choice but to get going anyway. And get going I did...right up to the point where I got a $400 speeding ticket halfway to Jax...and I wasn't even speeding! Well, technically I was...I was going the speed limit, but apparently missed the reality that I was in an active school zone, which meant I was going 20 miles over the speed limit. (More on the legitimacy of that claim later.) So this was officially one of the worst Mondays I've had in a while. I finally make it to work, only 15 minutes late, even after all that, and it didn't matter anyway. I was the first one there, apparently my recruiter didn't get the memo or forgot to tell me that nobody would be there until 8:30...so I was actually still 15 minutes early. Anyway, I eventually met the rehab team, which was basically only two people, both of whom are very nice. I made it through my first day of work, but barely, still feeling very ill. I checked into my hotel and went straight to sleep...

Tuesday I was still as sick as I'd been, and I finally had to tell my boss that on my second day of work I needed time off to go to the doctor. He was VERY understanding and supportive, thank goodness. Since I had to make an appointment with a brand new doctor on such short notice, I didn't exactly get to pick which doctor I'd like to see, I just had to take whomever was available. I ended up with a doctor that prefers his patients to be seen, not heard. I'm so over doctors that are not open to discussion, other opinions, etc. It's like they're offended if you actually want to make a decision on your own; they'd rather "lead the blind." He did eventually give me some medicine that I could actually agree to take, and I started feeling a teeny bit better within a couple days.

I still hadn't found housing at this point, and after looking at countless places, I was even more discouraged. I felt like I'd be staying in a hotel forever. I must have looked at four or five places last week, including one that was outrageously priced and didn't even have a kitchen! Obviously not something I could do without...For every place I went to see, I'd called at least three or four possible options without success, and eventually just resigned myself to the fact that securing housing just wasn't going to happen this week. Riiiiight....

On Friday, I was supposed to leave for Kansas for my cousin's wedding, but Thursday had made a last ditch effort to contact one last person about their apartment for rent. She had agreed to let me see the place on Friday morning, so I rushed there before leaving for the airport, saw the place and it seemed to be what I was looking for, but the owner had some stipulations that I just couldn't agree to. So with a sigh, I raced to the airport and made it to the gate just as my plane was boarding, already dreading returning on Sunday only to stay in yet another hotel. I decided to put aside all the anxiety about finding a place to live and just enjoy the weekend in Kansas...which I did. The wedding was lovely, and it was just so great to see my cousins and extended family that we stayed up late every night, I barely slept all weekend. (On a side note, while in Kansas my mom tells me that she got a $400 ticket while on her way to the airport in Jacksonville...in the exact same place that I got mine last week, and for the exact same thing! I was completely resigned to paying the ticket, and shaming myself for speeding in a school zone...until I heard this! The fact that the tickets were in Waldo, which is a known speed trap town, according to Triple A, and that we both got one in the same place tells me there may just be something fishy about all this. I mean, how could we both have missed a flashing yellow school zone warning light? I fully intend to look into this further as soon as I have a moment to breathe.) When I got back to Jacksonville, I had a message on my voicemail from the apartment owner that I had met Friday morning...she decided to rent the apartment to me at the price I wanted, and without all the stipulations...I was jubilant!! I checked into a hotel Sunday night for the last time, and Monday moved into my new home!

It's a cute little townhouse on the river in downtown Jax, and less than two miles from my job. Did I mention that I'm going to be in Jacksonville until Christmas?! That's right, almost three months in one place, I'm so glad I can finally unpack my suitcase and actually live like a normal person again! Riiiight....

I still have to go back to Gainesville to get all my clothes and other random things that have been in storage since I left Eustis at the end of July. So technically I'll still be living out of a suitcase until Sunday when I get back from Gainesville, but after 70 straight days of living out of a suitcase, what's a couple more, right?

So now you see why I feel like the last few weeks have been quite a ride...on a runaway train! I almost feel bored after the excitement and craziness of it all...almost. I'm starting to wonder what it will be like having an entire weekend to myself with nothing planned...but of course that won't happen until the weekend after this one, since I have to go to Gainesville this weekend. By then, I'll probably have something else going on anyway. But that's just my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Riiiight....

Venice, FL

If you read my last post, I talked at the end about a potential work assignment that I was hoping to get. That assignment was located in Venice, FL...which is where I am right now!! I obviously got the assignment, and even though it was another short one (three weeks), it's in a place that I knew I'd at least not mind being...which is an understatement. I had no idea that I'd like Venice as much as I do! I'm staying on the beach, my job at Venice Regional Medical Center is less than a mile from where I'm staying, and I actually almost like it! I've never worked in acute care before, but it's a lot different than the other travel jobs I've had. I don't know if that's because it's acute care, or if it's because this is a small hospital (only four floors), or if it's because the people I work with/for are of higher character than some I've come across in the past. I'm not really sure, and I really don't care. I just know that I don't mind going to work right now, even though it's hard work. I just finished working seven days in a row, and I'm exhausted but not frustrated. Well, not about working that much anyway.

I'm supposed to be leaving a week from Saturday, and I knew up front that this was (yet another) short term assignment. (For the record, I have now been living out of a suitcase for 7 straight weeks.) When I accepted the assignment, the people I work for were very clear that they only needed me for three weeks, and my recruiter tried in vain to get them to extend it any longer than that. However, almost since I started, they have been dropping hints that they MIGHT need me longer. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I'm really hoping I'm not wrong. It's why I agreed to work seven days in a row, in the hope that they might find me indispensable and decide to keep me around. I'm supposed to find out today...it figures that on my first day off I'd be sitting around just thinking about work. But I do like it here and I want to stay. I've been putting off doing much exploring, sticking mostly to my cute little condo on the beach, the beach itself, and Publix (even though it does close at 9PM). (The pictures you see are of the trail I walk to the beach and of the beach itself, the very one that I sit on almost every night after work.) I know there's A LOT to explore, and Sarasota is just up the road, with even way more stuff to do. But since I don't know if I'm staying, I'm trying not to like this place even more, in case I have to leave next week. If I do end up staying longer, I'm definitely going to fill up my days off with things to do. Or do nothing...either way, I'd love it.

The only thing I have planned besides work is going to dinner tonight...with my Camp Oasis co-counselor Stacey! She lives not too far from here, about 20 minutes I think, and I'm super excited to spend a little time with her for the first time since camp. She was such a sweet lady and I can't wait to find out what's been going on with her since camp, and share all my new experiences with her as well. It'll be fun (and relaxing) to spend time with her in a non-camp related way, without seven teenagers around. Not that I don't love all my campers, but it can be stressful at times. Anyway, we're going to dinner at Sharky's on the Pier, a famous Venice landmark, and definitely my kind of place. I know this because I've seen it during my beach runs, since the pier is less than an mile and a half from my little strip of beach. (By the way, barefoot beach running is HARD! My calves have never been this sore before.) Should be fun to get out for a little while, then it's back to work tomorrow. I'll let everyone know whether or not I'll be staying in Venice, just as soon as I know for sure. Another reason I want to stay here is because there are still very few jobs out there right now for traveling therapists, and I really don't want to be unemployed again. Here I go getting my hopes up again...

August and suitcases

I've felt a blog post coming on for awhile now, and just couldn't avoid it any longer. (Just realized it's been over a month since I wrote anything!) The last month has been absolutely insane, in good ways and other ways, but mostly great ways.

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!

Goodbye, Leesburg and Eustis...

It was a lovely Saturday, in fact it still is...I haven't done one single thing I didn't feel like doing, haven't expended much energy at all today. So much different then the past few Saturdays...Not that I mind being busy, having way too much to do or having way too much fun to be had, it's just nice to have an entire day with nothing to do but indulge yourself once in a while. Not that I could really afford an entire day like that, but I did it anyway. I really should have started packing, since I'm moving next week, but I have tomorrow for that. A friend once told me, "If you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute." I try to live by that motto...but, as lovely as that motto is, and as much as I could expand on it, that's not what I wanted to write about tonight.

I've just been having these thoughts and feelings lately, actually over the last couple months, about just how great my life is...sometimes I feel overwhelmed with gratitude at where my life has taken me, and what I have to look forward to. Doesn't mean my life is perfect and wonderful and that I don't have obstacles...in fact, it's rather curious and odd that I should be thinking about how awesome everything is, considering I've been through quite a lot these last few months...But I'm learning to appreciate and see all the wonderful things about my life, and that has made all the difference. I have so much to look forward to that I can't help but celebrate.

The first thing I'm excited about is leaving Leesburg/Eustis, FL. Yes, the time has finally come, my job contract has ended and I can finally move on to a place where (hopefully) Publix does not close at 9PM. My last day of work will be this Thursday, and it can't come soon enough. I am not at all sentimental about leaving, there's not much here to leave behind. It's no secret that I did not enjoy much about this contract, especially the place I worked...the only things I'll miss are the friends I've made, but we'll keep in touch and they can always visit wherever I end up for my next contract...the location of which at this point is still unknown. Feels a little like deja vu, coming down to the wire like last time...although I'm taking the week after next off, so there's still some time. Which brings me to the next thing I am looking forward to...

I'm taking the next week off because I'm going to Camp Oasis!!! This is something I wait for all year, every year, I love going there, it's always so very much fun, refreshing and renewing and there's nowhere else I'd rather be every summer. I can't wait to see all my old friends, make new ones, get crazy, and live in the woods with a bunch of kids for a week with very little communication with the outside world (except for limited cell phone service). I seriously can hardly wait for July 31st!

I'm also just excited in general for what the next several months have in store...a new contract means a new locale, a new place to explore, new friends I have yet to meet, new challenges...I also can't wait for my cousin Megan's wedding in October, for several reasons...the first being that I'm just so happy for her, can't wait to see her walk down the aisle and marry the man she loves...I love happy endings. I also am just excited about going to Kansas for her wedding, since I've never been that far west before...and I'm excited about seeing my extended family again so soon, after just spending time with them last month at our family reunion! We have so much fun together! Then soon after that, there's the holidays to look forward to, hopefully a trip of some sort between now and then if I can squeeze it in...and then there's more new contracts and new locations, hopefully in other states besides Florida. It's just one good thing after another, falling right into my life and into my lap. I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

The countdown continues...

Just found out today that I'll be staying in Leesburg/ working in Eustis for an extra five weeks. Wasn't exactly what I had planned for the next month, but it was the best way to ensure that I got the time off that I need for Camp Oasis in August. But it's not all bad, things haven't been as rough here recently...

I've been having good times the past few weeks...My mom came to visit two weekends ago and we had plenty of fun exploring the quaint little town of Mt. Dora. It's this little hidden gem that is so cute, with all the little antique shops and cafes and old buildings. When I'm there, I feel like I'm on a movie set, it's just so different than all the surrounding areas. Here's a couple pictures that don't do it justice, but at least give you an idea of what it's like.

The first one is the entrance to one of the antique shops and the second is a telescopic view of a brick walkway with all the story windows of the different shops on either side of the walkway. It's a lovely place that's only about twenty minutes from where I'm staying...I'm sure I'll be visiting again before I leave this area. The one thing I still want to do in Mt. Dora is try out some of the restaurants. There's a couple right on the lake that look promising.

Last weekend my friend Meredith came to visit, and we hit up the city of Orlando for way too much shopping and some really bad food. We went to one of the outlet malls for some designer jeans, then headed to the Mall of Millenia for the remainder of the shopping extravaganza. Our original plan was to finish shopping in time to head to Mt. Dora for a nice dinner, but anyone that knows Meredith and I knows things NEVER go as planned. We ended up spending a lot more time shopping than we had originally planned (who would have thought that could happen) and found ourselves still in Orlando at 9pm, so we had to make do with what was in our immediate vicinity...which happened to be a terrible steak and seafood restaurant called McCormick and Schmick's, but probably should be called McCormick and Schmuck's. Poor service, and positively awful food...but we still had a good time, as only we can.

Anyway, the last few weeks have been pretty packed, and I'm having more fun than I thought I could here in Leesburg. I'm also exploring some local backwoods, riverside, and roadside eateries with my friend Dana from work, who's up for anything. We even went to this place called Sinbad's yesterday for dinner, they actually had old pieces of carpet on the table as coasters!

Also, the "blind mosquitoes" that I talked about in my last post had left...and now they're back again and worse than ever! How many "seasons" can these creatures have! I actually have to try to get in and out of the door as quickly as possible and not to open it very wide or very often, and even still, I get tons of these things in my apartment every day. That is one thing about living here that I will definitely not miss.

The next few weekends look to be just as busy as the last few...this weekend I'm heading back to Orlando to exchange some of the items I bought last week...and for some shenanigans with Dana as well. I'm also working six days this week, as well as the week after next, to make up for the time off I'm taking next weekend to go to my family reunion in Indiana! I'm so excited for it, can't wait to see all my family and especially my awesome cousins, can't wait to sleep in a tent for four days, stay up all night and sleep all day, and eat home cooked food on picnic tables for every meal. Pictures to come...

59 days and counting...

That's how many days I have left in Leesburg, FL. Can't wait to move on to the next adventure! Especially since Leesburg has turned out to be everything I thought it would be, which is really not much of anything. Not much has changed since my last blog post...

I'm still enjoying the lake, although from a distance now, since the warmer weather has brought on what they call here in Leesburg "blind mosquitoes". I don't know why they're called that, but all I know is they're EVERYWHERE! I almost want to wear a mask when I exit my front door so that I don't breathe any in. Who knew there was a downside to living on a lake. They tell me that the season for these blind mosquitoes should be over in a week or two, though. I did, however, get some pictures of Silver Lake just before the mosquito swarm took over completely...I decided to go for a quick run around the lake since it's about a three mile circumference...I haven't run at all since my race in February, and I wanted to see what kind of shape I was (or wasn't) in, so I laced up my shoes and took my camera with me to take pictures (also so I'd have an excuse to stop running, so that I could still delude myself into thinking that I was in decent shape). Enjoy the pictures.

I'm still not enjoying my job, but I'm learning to not hate it. Things have gotten somewhat easier since my first week, I'm learning the ropes, and starting to figure things out a bit. Well, at least I think I am. Some days, like today, I feel like the world's worst PTA. That's what happens when one of your patients ends up on the floor. But everything was okay, not the end of the world. I'm really trying not to let work get to me as much as it used to. I knew going into travel therapy that the assignments I would get would not be the easy jobs. They're paying me the big bucks to work here for three months because that's their only option, since they can't seem to keep permanent staff around (two therapists have already quit since I started there four weeks ago). Since I already expected this sort of assignment, I'm just trying to leave work stuff at work and not worry about it when I get home. I'm not doing travel therapy for the great jobs, I'm doing it for the experience and the travel, so that's what I plan to focus on.

With that in mind, I'm excited about exploring a new area of town that my co-workers have been telling me about. It sounds like the gem of this area...antique stores, boutiques, fine dining restaurants, casual restaurants on the lake, etc. I'm going to explore it soon, maybe this weekend. I have to scout it out before my mom and my friend Meredith come to visit. I've got to have something exciting to show them! Hopefully it will be a positive experience that will brighten the next 8 1/2 weeks here. Well, that's a little unfair. My first 4 1/2 weeks haven't been that bad...I've been enjoying a lot of quiet weekends, getting in some good reading and some great cooking. It's been very restful.

I'm off to Gainesville next weekend for Mother's Day...It's going to be weird going "home" to visit, but I'm looking forward to seeing my parents and grandparents, brother, and friends...

Eustis/Leesburg, Florida

"The eagle has landed." I finally made it, and what an undertaking it was to get here. I finally left Gainesville on Sunday afternoon, after an abundance of help from my mom, who was invaluable in helping me pack and get out of my apartment. With all of my possessions in storage, except for what I could fit in my vehicle and take with me, I arrived in Leesburg, FL. (Even though my job is in Eustis, I'm staying in Leesburg, which is about 9 miles away. I guess it's the only place they could find for me to stay on such short notice.) My apartment was not ready to be moved into yet, so the company I work for put me up in a hotel for the night.

On Monday I checked out of the hotel and headed to my first day on the job. What a first day it was. I walked in, introduced myself to my new boss, who never even bothered to get off of her cell phone while introducing herself. When she was done with her phone call, during which I had been awkwardly standing there, she showed me where on the computer to find the documentation program and how to sign in, all while whispering conspiratorially to her co-workers about, I can only assume, me. She then proceeded to take me on a "tour of the facility", which involved walking out into the hallway and pointing to the left, "That's Wing One," and then to the right, "That's Wing Two," in between chatting with EVERYONE who walked by, without introducing anyone to me. After that, she pointed to the map in the hallway that listed the location of all the (130) rooms, then handed me a list of patients I was to see that day, and walked off.

So began my case of the "Mondays". No orientation, no introduction to co-workers, no pointing me in the direction of a desk or space I could use to put my things...nothing. Keep in mind I haven't ever even worked in a 'skilled nursing facility' before, which she was well aware of. I eventually figure out where the charts are, locate some of the patients' charts that I am supposed to see that day, and then go off to try to find them after looking on the hallway map at where their rooms are supposed to be. I spend most of the morning wandering around lost, trying to find patients that aren't in their rooms, and when I do find them, trying to figure out what the heck I'm supposed to do with them. Mostly I just took them on "walks" around the hallways for exercise. Suddenly, I hear someone I've never met before yelling at me from down the hall..."What are you doing with Mrs. B, don't you know she's supposed to back in her room by 11:30??" Well, no I didn't know that, because nobody thought to mention that at any point until now. So I take Mrs. B back to her room, and head back to the rehab department to get my purse and head somewhere for lunch...but turns out, they also forgot to tell me that there was a two-hour meeting that day during the lunch period and that I was supposed to bring my lunch. The rest of the day was pretty much just more of the same thing...trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to be doing.

The rest of the week wasn't much different, except that it got a little easier once I figured out where everything was, and watched other people to see what they did with the patients. There were a couple episodes of pure confusion and embarrassment, including the point at which one patient's PEG tubing got caught on the wheelchair, pulling the coupling apart and spilling her stomach contents all over the floor and on my shoe, right in front of the people that I had eventually figured out where my co-therapists.

Oh well, what did I expect? If this were such a wonderful place to work, they wouldn't be paying out some serious cash to entice traveling therapists into working there for a few months. (I later found out that there are several other traveling therapists working there.) On the plus side, I only saw my boss a couple other times that week, one of which was to yell at me for staying late on Wednesday to finish seeing all the patients that were assigned to me...But it meant that I got off early on Friday, so that actually worked out well...

Everything else about Eustis and Leesburg has been fine. The apartment that I'm staying in for the next few months is decent, and there's a lake less than a mile away. (There's so many lakes in this area, that you could probably find one less than a mile from anywhere you happen to be.) I drove by another lake that looks like it has kayak rentals, so I'm going to check that out tomorrow...and there's a gym a few miles away that I'm probably going to check out on Monday...assuming I make it through another Monday.