Day 154

The end.

I can't believe our 2 week whirlwind tour de American force is over. Can't believe it happened to begin with.

155 days ago, I was sitting in an office, hovering over a mess of post-it notes, splitting my PTO across the 8 weddings I had to go home for. Feeling all cheated and bitter. I would spend a good 365 minus 18 days working my robot ass off and my only reward would be 8 overpriced flights back to the state shaped like a mitten that I barely escaped to begin with. Then I got laid off.

So while this trip didn't change my life (I didn't climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (like Irene!) or meditate with Buddhist monks or volunteer in Africa) it was more than a roadtrip. This was two weeks of living, that I would have spent dying a little on the inside as I wrote brochure copy for laser assisted lipolysis.

Pietro's dream roadtrip turned out to be like staring in one of the very daydreams I would have while staring out my office window. He got to see the Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building and the Pacific Ocean. I got to wake up each day in a new city, end each one with a taco and never missed a single sun set in between. I appreciated each and every moment (even the ones in LA) because the entire two weeks were like...I don't know...being somewhere I wasn't supposed to be. They were extra. And I needed that.

Once again, I have the recession to thank. It has redefined the meaning of PTO. I didn't get paid in cashmoney but I got paid baby. I feel rich.

[signore e signorini, REcalculating, headcake, whhobody, mama mia, puppies, ski, what the f*** are you doing?, princess, eyeball alarm clock, where the 'ell hare we?, gummy worms, red vines, i wanna coffee, water water water, you can't even imagine what i said but it was about your sister, i don't know if i'm hot or i'm cold only my middle feels good, apple bottom jeans, candy, don't look me, the boss, walk of life, yesssssss, homer simpson, creedence clearwater revival, 9/11, italian bad word time, no talking after..., skoot up, what keep left mean?, che pale, che stronza, fonculo, i'm in jail, white jeans, the moon, stephanie and pietro's bridge, you always have to be first, stop, picture picture picture, mambo italiano, singing in the rain, starbucks]