Well, after not updating the blog for a month I figure it's time I at least do a small update on my life.
I've settled right back into the land of chain-restaurants and strip-malls after my quick visit back to Vermont. While I've decided the suburbs of Houston are definitely not for me, it is nice to have everything right at your fingertips. One problem with this incredible ease is the ease to spend money. I feel like we're always going out to dinner or grabbing drinks. With the holidays approaching, I have buckled down to try and curb my spending, especially on things like food and drink. In another way of bettering my life, I have been actually going to the gym! Every day this week, as a matter of fact. I'm not doing anything crazy, but I do feel a difference in my activity level. I haven't regularly attended a gym since my senior year of high school, and I'd really like to get back in this kick. I think I didn't see the need at home because I was always hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, etc. It must be because I've missed these activities so much that I am craving more activity in my life. I even found a park up in Houston, where I was able to do a short run on a nice gravel path. The same day I was up in Houston I went and saw Beyonce's childhood home. I felt slightly stalkerish, and very awkward as I jumped out of my truck and took a selfie in front of the house.
A few weeks back my travel nurse buddies and I made our way to Austin for another venture, and to celebrate our friend Sydney's Birthday. It was one hell of a weekend - lots of fun, laughter, good food, and good beer. On the first night we ended up on some psychadelic party bus. I am fuzzy on how/where/why we got on the bus, but we rode around the city in it for an hour at least with a bunch of people who were hopping on and off. It was a blast!!
Last weekend I drove to San Antonio to spend a few days with Sarah. We had a lovely time trying new restaurants and enjoying some beverages. Sarah has a ukulele, and when I was in Vermont I grabbed my ukulele which my grandfather gave to me and brought it back to Texas with me. Sarah and I had fun playing a few songs together - she is much better than I am, however. It has been fun though, learning a new skill. I have never really taken the time to learn how to play my uke, but with some of the downtime I've had here in Houston I've been learning how to play. My skills are rather crude at this point, but practice makes perfect. While in San Antonio, Sarah and I rented some bikes for the day to ride the "Mission Reach." There are four or five christian missions from the 1700s that were used to help convert the Native Americans to christianity. Mostly they consisted of a church surrounded by a large square wall; inside the wall were many "apartments" where the Native Americans lived. There is a bike path that follows the river in San Antonio and goes from mission to mission. All together the loop is close to 16 miles. We could have followed the bike path all the way to the Alamo (which I saw last time I was in SA) and onto the River Walk. We had a blast biking around, exploring the missions, and seeing some ancient churches. Things did get a little sketchy at the end. The bike system we rented from was $10/day with unlimited free rides up to 30min. So all you had to do in order to not be charged more per ride was secure the bike back into one of the bike racks along the path within 30 minutes. This strategy was going great until I couldn't get my bike back from one of the racks. At this point, the sun had long set, and we were maybe 7 miles from the car. After chatting on the phone with the bike company for nearly 20 minutes, they finally got me a bike and Sarah and I sped off into the... darkness. Luckily, there was a small light on the front of the bike which was powered by pedaling, so that provided some light as we rode in near darkness. We finally made it back to the car without any issues. I think the realization that it was nighttime, we weren't in a heavily populated area, and were in an unfamiliar area helped us to pedal a little faster than we might have done normally. The weekend was a blast, and I was so happy to spend some quality time with Sarah - as well as go on a bikeride! Who knew I would crave so much activity!
Our time here is starting to wind down, which is so bizarre to me. I have a few more shifts this weekend and then I will be flying to Florida on Christmas Eve and will be there for four days. After that, I just have 15 shifts left at the hospital, with my contract ending on 1/18. I'll hang around Houston for that week and then fly to Puerto Rico for a week-long Caribbean cruise. I cannot wait. Jobs are looking a little sparse for my next contract, so please cross your fingers that I can land a contract in Colorado!
