Operation: Peace Out

Oooooo we are getting close! I booked my flight for Washington DC to start "Staging" before I head to The Unknown. I have a flight out of O'Hare on Monday May 18th at 9am. We can just call that "Peace Out Day".

I got an email from Peace Corps HQ saying that there is a facebook group for B-25 (my group, short for the 25th Peace Corps group to go to Bulgaria). There are 68 of us total that will be going into 3 different projects. TEFL, COD and YD (it's the US Gov, they love acronyms). The groups are basically, teaching english, community development and youth development. I am in youth development - which I couldn't be more excited about! So this facebook group is funny to me. It's a helpful forum for questions and expectations, but c'mon! isnt the best part about this the excitement of diving head first into the fire?? I dunno, maybe that's just the way I like to do things. It also cracks me up that a Federal Goverment Organization is sending us emails telling us to join a facebook group.

Life without work is BORING. I know I should cherish each moment I have watching TV in English and flushing soft toilet paper and eating Mexican food and getting into conversations that I understand every word said and can actively participate in because I know the language... but these are my everyday norms right now. I can't fully appreciate the little things until I have been without them for a while, say 27 months... The nice thing about being able to take time off and sit on my bum doing nothing is that I have time to recognize that being without work for more than a week sucks. So know I know that. Look, I'm learning already.

So this is it my friends. 25 days until I board the big steel bird to fly me away to Never, Never Land where I will never look at life the same again.

Here is what I have planned before Operation Peace Out is executed:
April 24-26 - Nolan Family says Goodbye to Barrington
April 26 - I tag along to Six Flags for CDWs Coworker Appreciation Day. (they still love me)
May 2 - Paintball with CDW friends! No better way to represent Peace than by playing War.
May 3-10 -Might head back on the road. Rubi and I have dates in Florida and Memphis.
May 14 - Dinner with Jon Harris and Kim
May 15 - Cousins in Chicago area are going to get rowdy.
May 18 - Peace Out Day
May 20 - Land in Bulgaria, Ask myself "Why?"

If you find gaps in there and want to fill them - please please please contact me. I am bored and would love to hang out with you.

Oh, And I REALLY want to go Off Road ASAP. But just not alone. So if you are interested, lets go. Take a day off work next week. It would be best on a weekday.

Here, I will leave you with a neat quote that I saw in a book today. I wont tell you what book because it will discredit everything. If you guess and get it right, I'll give you 5 dollars. (If you live with me you can't participate... Mom and Dad...)

Here it is:
"Someday it will be... saving people. Returning them to happiness. Or something better than happiness: peace."

Peace Out, God Bless and as they say in Bulgarian - Do'vizhdane!

Now you think of something to say.

Once again, I am back in Illinois. I just returned from an incredible trip to San Francisco to visit my grandmother, Dearie. For those that don't know, we celebrated her 90th birthday in January with a large family gathering in Chicago. Not only did she share her love with us then, but also a warm and fuzzy stomach flu that infected nearly every single person at the party, including the photographers and caterers... :) It was a grand time.

Only a few weeks after that party, she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

I was planning on taking a trip in late April to visit her before I left for Bulgaria, but had to bump that up a few weeks due to the aggressiveness of the cancer. My dad and I flew out to see her this last weekend. We were prepared for the worst as we had heard that she lost her voice, slept a lot and was starting morphine treatments. But we were pleasantly surprised with what we saw when we got there.

First let me say that the lessons, real life lessons, she taught me this weekend will stay with me forever. The time I spent with her provided me with memories that will last a life time. I will struggle to find the words to accurately describe what I learned this weekend.

Dearie looked much better than we had anticipated. We arrived and she was sitting in her chair. I went to go give her a kiss and she waved me away because I was "covered in germs" - She had heard that I was fighting a sickness ealier in the week and she didn't want me to infect her. Rightfully so. Dearie was able to speak, but only a whisper, and we had to fight the urge to whisper back.

I don't even know how to write this all down.

Dearie is 90 years old, she was diagnosed with lung cancer around 7-8 weeks ago and is not undergoing any treatments, she lives in a retirement community, my aunt Jane lives nearby and spends as much time with her as possible, she gets around via wheelchair and has someone with her 24/7 to make sure she is comfortable.

Any of us would feel somewhat defeated by these challenges. If not defeated, at least a little scared about our future. Not Dearie.

Dearie has an impressive outlook that I only wish I can have when it comes my time to go. She still laughs, makes jokes, teaches us, enjoys her independence, watches and follows politics, and feeds the birds on her walks.

Let me tell you a story that is so typical of Dearie and a story that has us in tears laughing. Dearie has two different women that stay the night with her different days of the week. I only met one of them and her name was Helena. Helena is a Polish woman in her early to mid 40s. She speaks with a strong Polish accent and is a little difficult to understand. She is also a wonderful caretaker that just wants to make everyone's life as easy as possible. She is a care giver that puts the focus 100% on the person she is helping. If you know Dearie, you would know that this doesn't fly with her. She likes her independence and she likes someone that is strong, independant and does their own thing. This is not Helena. So when Dearie first lost her voice, she started writing things down for people because it was too hard for her to speak. Well, my aunt Jane found a piece of paper with a series of notes that Dearie had written to Helena. One of the last things on the piece of paper was "Now you think of something to say."

That might not be funny to anyone that doesn't know Dearie, but it had us laughing pretty hard.

If I had to summarize my visit this weekend, I would steal a quote from my aunt Jane. She said "Dearie never stops teaching us. Now she is teaching us how to die."

She has no fear, no regrets, no remorse. She has a concern for the future, she watches politics and wants to make sure her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren live in a country we can be proud of. She wants to make sure that her loved ones know they are loved. She laughs when something is funny and she still makes jokes. She corrected my dad with his grammar a few times... She has a wonderful sense of humor that has been passed down to us all. It is still alive and well.

I am so glad I was able to say goodbye this weekend and spend time with her. Thanks Dearie.      

Sunshine and San Fran

Well I'm back in action. That flu, or whatever it was, was brootal. I finally got over it fully on Thursday, so it lasted almost a full week... whoopie. Have you ever driven 15 hours alone when you can't swallow and all you want to do is sleep? It was fun, trust me. I was pulling over every couple hours to sleep at the rest stops along I-80. But I made it. I'm convinced that Rubi drove herself the whole way and let me rest. She's good to me that way. That's why she has cruise control.

Speaking of Rubi... the sun came out yesterday and the thermometer hit that magical number. I grabbed a handful of tools and worked Rubi out of her hard top and dressed her up in the soft top. She looks better this way. Naturally I went for a cruise and soon remembered that what seems like warmth when standing still, is not warm at all when going 50 mph. I actually went and picked my dad up at the Audi service garage to drive him home. He was in corporate jacket-and-tie dress sitting on his hands for warmth riding shotgun in the monster I call Rubi. It was the first time he'd been in the Jeep since she had all her cosmetic surgeries. I wish I'd had my camera with me...

I am headed to San Fran this weekend to see my Grandmother. Word is that she is not doing well at all and the cancer is moving very fast. She has lost a lot of her ability to speak, but hasn't lost her good humor and strong personality. I look forward to seeing her with my pops before she leaves us.

Oh yea, being unemployed is really boring. These days are LOOOOONG. Thank God for Xbox, OnDemand, and decent books.

My beard is getting awesome.

Till next time!

The end of the road trip... for now.

So if you were one of the many who thought I was crazy for taking on this road trip because it was "too much" or whatever, you win. I have successfully worn myself out and become good and sick. I spent all day yesterday hunkered down at TJ's folks sleeping and taking medicine. It feels like my tonsils are touching each other. 

So yes, the trip is being cut in half. Not just becuase I physically wore myself out, but also because my dad and I are flying to San Fran to see my grandmother who is very sick on Saturday. So I have to be back in Chicago to make the flight. 

My visit to the Ridge was a great time though! until I got sick... but it was really great to see everyone and to spend time with them. I just feel bad now that I am sick and not able to see everyone before I go. Sorry.

Boston, Cape Cod, and The Ridge

I have had quite the journey since I last posted, but I guess that is going to be the trend until say... 2012? yikes. I'm gonna have to get used to this. At least I can comfortably say that my life isn't boring. 

I swung by Boston on Saturday afternoon and met up with my cousin Jon. I quickly realized that Jon is not just from Boston, he owns it. Every group of people that weren't in town for the sweet 16 games knew him. I felt like I was walking with the Mayor of Boston. Jon is a super friendly guy that can become buddies with anyone instantly, so it's not too surprising. 

Jon and I did some quick touring and I saw Paul Revere's house and part of the path he took during his famous midnight ride that saved us all from those Red Coats.

After an hour or so of being a tourist and snapping a ton of pictures, I moved on to the Cape. I got in at dinner time and was welcomed with an enormous meal and great family. 

Molly and I took a hike early in the morning along the beach to put some shells on the wishing tree. I got a couple shells on there and made some righteous wishes. I'll let you know if they come true. 

Next we hopped in the car and headed to Provincetown, the first settlement of the Mayflower or something like that. What a day of sightseeing and experiencing a place with such history! 

Sorry to bore with just the snippits of my doings, but I guess this is a personal "journal" so to speak so in a few years I can look back on this myself and remember what I was up to. I'm just glad you all are taking the time to follow along. 

So now I made it to Ridgefield. The town I still call "home" - unfortunately there aren't too many of my old friends back here as most have moved on to do bigger and better things. I can't blame them, Ridgefield doesn't have a lot to offer for the young adult. 

I met with the boys and girls club which I used to work at and has had a large impact on my life and especially the path I am about to walk. Terry introduced me to a hundred or so kids that attend the club and told them my story and that they were going to be following me while I am in Bulgaria! I am honored that they would take the time to do that and to follow this blog. Many promised they would write and I told them if they did, I would write back. How fun to have a fan club while overseas!

I'm in the Ridge for a week or so, we are having a "Peace Out Party" on Friday to see me off to Bulgaria... Then I guess I head to NYC for the next leg.

It's pretty nice being a free bird right now and just cruisin the US. I wish everyone would be able to do something like this at one point in their life. It's good times. 

Till next post - be good and thanks for reading!