Have you ever had a flight attendant on a plane spill tomato juice on you? I have, and believe you me its not a pleasant experience. They apologize profusely and move you to a new seat, asking you fifty million times if you’re sure you don’t need anything (so that you don’t become an irate airline passenger I’m sure) and looking oh so innocent in their freshly starched navy blue uniforms. I haven’t flown any other airline but Jet Blue in years, and I remember why now. I’m on Delta and I’m at least somewhat relieved that my flight is only to Atlanta, just a short hour and a half. They herd you into these planes like cattle (although I’m sure any cow would enjoy having tomato juice spilled on them) and then expect you to sit next to some stranger who probably didn’t even take a proper shower this morning. Can you imagine the germs on these things? I can and I think I just vomited a little inside my mouth thinking about it.

The population of Naples is definitely growing at a very rapid pace no doubt, but it is still considered a fairly small city. Our traffic sucks yes, but its traffic that makes sense. Our roads are built on a grid system, and if you aren’t from here you can get around after a fairly quick lesson on our major artery roads. That being said, I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking renting a car in Atlanta. I drove in NYC once and evidently that makes me an expert on big city driving. Please allow me to take that claim and shove it out the window of the Dodge Nitro I just rented. I DO NOT KNOW SHIT ABOUT DRIVING IN A BIG CITY. I want my Naples traffic back. I want my grid system back. And for fucks sake I want 4 way intersections to make some god damn sense. I don’t want to slightly merge left, or possibly go straight..How about a right and left turn lane and a straight-ahead lane. Hey! Atlanta! It makes sense. You should try it sometime. Had I not rented a navigation system with the NITRO I’m fairly sure that I’d be writing this from my spot in line waiting to see if I can cross through to the pearly gates. I’m even more sure that once I made it to the entrance to heaven, that I’d be asked to write a 500 word essay on why we don’t call people names. BUT! I did survive and evidently that’s what counts in life.

I had a really productive 3 days. I’m not going to go into details here, because I am not a commercial for the course I took, but I do hope that several months from now I’ll be able to share the changes that I’ve made a commitment to. I’m going to have some breakdowns along the way and that’s okay. I’m going to take the tools that I developed on my trip and trot along in my effort to clean up some parts of my life and find some completion. That sounds really deep, and its really not. I’m not on a quest to find inner peace, nor am I looking for any answers. I’m just going to stay in a conversation of commitment to my health and well being. My health and well being is something that I’ve ignored for a very long time, and I’ve used it as a protection from some things that I haven’t wanted to deal with. Its time to deal with them, and move on. I have to create space for my imperfections and for others imperfections. What it is, is what it is. And that’s all there is to it. There’s no reason to over dramatize it, no reason to be so upset over it and certainly no reason to ignore it. I’m not a little girl, and I’m not a woman who needs to be so dependent on someone else to feel whole. I can’t contribute to a productive and healthy relationship if I don’t consider myself whole. I have to be okay with the consequences of that and I have to be prepared to re-vitalize my inner independent woman. (Cue Kelly Clarkson)!

I had a fantastic time with my cousin too. He’s so smart and so lucky that he’s getting to experience all of this at such a young age. I’m looking forward to spending more time with him, as long as he doesn’t say masturbate again.