I am dreading this weekend. My parents and my aunt is coming up for a visit. I love my family and while I do look forward to seeing them, thankfully they will be here only for the weekend. They drive me crazy and there is a lot about this weekend I’m not looking forward to. They’ve been driving up to bring me the rest of my belongings, but they have been pushing it to get up here. They drove late into the night Wednesday, and all day and evening yesterday, and last I talked to them, they are about six hours away. I tried to get them to take it easy on the way up, mainly because I didn’t want them cranky and in a bad mood when they get here because they haven’t rested enough. They will do the opposite of what I suggest they do anyway, and they are taking what looks like to me to be the most aggravating route, so I can’t imagine them being in a great mood when they get here. Hopefully, I can just keep them busy all weekend and they won’t drive me too crazy.

  
At some point yesterday, I remember having a brilliant idea for a post. Ok, to be honest, it probably wasn’t that brilliant. Rarely, if ever, do I have truly brilliant ideas. I may have great inspirations, but that’s as far as it usually goes. When I finally sat down to wrote this post, I couldn’t remember what my idea had been. So, I’m just going to wrote what’s on my mind.

I did do some exploring of the area yesterday. My family will be up here Friday, so I wanted some things to do with them. I drove out to Waterbury in order to find the Ben and Jerry’s Factory, because a tour there would be really cool (no pun intended). Then I drove up to Stowe, which from what I can tell is mostly a ski town, but I may be wrong about that. I did check out the Cabot Creamery Annex Store, which had a multitude of cheese samples. In the same little complex is a Champlain Chocolate Factory Store, yummy but expensive and a Smuggler’s Notch Distillery tasting room. That is definitely a place we will go to on Saturday. I want to find a brewery or a place that makes cider for my dad. He loves beer and there seems to be plenty of places in Vermont for beer. I also drove to Williston, which is where most of the shopping is, at least the big named stores that most people would be aware of.

I will talk to the people I work with this week for some more suggestions for what they need to see. They will definitely get to see my museum on Saturday. I want to keep them busy so that they don’t drive me insane while they are here. They will be leaving on Monday, but it will be nice to have them here.

  
Actually, it’s just one question (two,if you feel generous in your commenting). About a year ago, Dave over at Wicked Gay Blog asked “What is your favorite part of a man’s body?” I’m going to modify that question a little, though you are more than welcome to tell me what is your favorite part of man’s body is (though like Dave said in his post, we need to exclude the penis, because we all obviously love penis). What I want to know is this:

What is the first thing you notice about a guy?

For me it’s one of two things. If I see him from behind, well the first thing I notice is his, well, his behind. If I see him from the front, I am most often drawn to his eyes. Then my eyes will travel to various other parts. There are so many things that can make a guy attractive (and I am only speaking superficially here, because I tend to rank personality and intelligence at the top of my list). It could be his nose or his ears. It could be his bulge or if he’s freeballing in athletic shorts, his VPL (visible penis line, for,those who might not know). It’s also according to how he is attired. If he’s been working out and only has on shorts, then I’m going to check out his chest and stomach, and if he turns around his back and shoulders.

If I had to pick a favorite part of a man’s body, I’d have to say that I love a nice bubble butt. I love having something to grab onto. That gets me every time. However, if I see a guy without a shirt, I am drawn to his chest. He doesn’t have to have perfectly chiseled pecs either, but if there is some definition and he has nice nipples that really does drive me wild, mainly because I want to nibble on them.

You now know mine and why, so what about you? What is the first thing you notice about a guy? And, as a bonus, what is your favorite part of a man’s body?

  
It has been an incredibly busy week getting settle into my new place, and while I’m not completely settled yet, I don’t have any appointments tomorrow. I can just sleep in and enjoy my new and very comfortable mattress that was delivered yesterday. The only thing that I do need to do is walk over to the post office and pick up my keys to my p.o. box. When I paid for it, the keys that I was given didn’t work, so they had to rekey it. I seriously doubt I’ll have any mail, but you never know.

Every time I have ever moved into a new place, I forget how much there is to do. There is even more when you pack light and do it all yourself. I never realize how many unexpected expenses there are when moving to a new place. It didn’t help that I had a mishap on the way up and was delayed a day, which actually added the expense of two extra nights because even though I cancelled my reservation at the hotel I’d planned to stay at the first night, it was after the 24 hour deadline for cancellations. I’ll get reimbursed for most of my expenses, but I’m not sure when I will get that reimbursement.

Moving is also very stressful. I’m in a new place far away from anything that is familiar to me. Thank goodness for Apple Maps. It’s told me where grocery stores and mattress stores and various other stores I needed were. It’s nic for anything that makes this process easier.

  
First off, since neither FedEx or UPS would bring my deliveries up to my apartment, I had to carry them all up the stairs. That really pissed me off. Anyway, I got it all up to my apartment and then began the task of assembling everything. With a few short breaks here and there I got all but one piece put together. My hands are so sore though that I can barely type, in fact it hurts quite a bit. It really was a busy day. I can’t wait for my new mattress to arrive today. I’ll probably just make up the bed, strip naked, and snuggle in for a nap.

  
I had a busy day yesterday and night last night. It was the first business day since I’d arrived so there was lots to do. Today should be busy too. I’m having cable and Internet installed. Plus, most of my furniture is scheduled to arrive, so I’ll be busy setting it up.

  
Moving would be a lot more fun if these guys had been there to help, but as it is I’m just taking it slow, bringing a few things in at a time. It’s a lot of work to move into a second floor apartment all by yourself. Most of my furniture should be delivered on Wednesday and Thursday. I’m not sure when the cable will be installed but hopefully soon (I might go crazy without TV and Internet). I have to call them back today, assuming they aren’t closed for Columbus Day. I hope that by this time next week, I’ll be settled in, since a week from today is my official start date at my new job.

Then

Now

I’ve had the “girls” nearly a year now. Tuesday will be a year since I adopted them. They’ve grown so much and Edith (black calico) is continuing to grow. Her particular breed (she’s a dessert lynx mix) usually doesn’t stop growing until they are two years old, while most domestic shorthair, like Lucy, usually stop after a year. I think that Lucy (gray calico) is as big as she will get. I’d originally planned to fly Edith back with me at Christmas. It would have been a shorter trip and easier on her. However, the apartment that I found does not allow pets. This apartment will do for at least six months, and then I can start looking for something that will allow pets. Regardless, Lucy will probably stay with my aunt who she likes more than me anyway. Lucy is a bit of a scaredy cat. She runs and hides from almost everyone. Edith on the other hand demands everyone’s attention, usually in hopes that they will give her food. She likes to sit on my shoulders (and sometimes my head) as I have my morning coffee.

If HRH was still alive, I wouldn’t have stopped until I found a place that allowed cats, but these girls have been around my aunt enough to be comfortable with her and quite honestly might just prefer her. I will miss them terribly, but for now, this is the choice I had to make. I know they have a good home and will be well taken care of. I will still miss them though, and they might miss me a little. Lucy is completely indifferent to me, and Edith only thinks about food and playing. So, it’s quite possible that they won’t miss me nearly as much as I will miss them.

  
Henry David Thoreau said, “All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.” It has been a while since I’ve written about my love of the transcendentalists, but I love the philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. One of the things I will definitely do once I move to Vermont is to take a trip down to Concord, Massachusetts, to visit Walden Pond. The transcendentalists had a way of thinking that too many people in America forget, and I personally think “Self-Reliance” by Emerson is one of the most important essays ever written. If you’ve never studies it or read it, I urge you to go back and read this post I wrote several years ago.

With that being said, I want to go back to Thoreau’s quote, “All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.” I think this is especially true in my life right now. I was completely devastated when I lost my job back in May, but like the Phoenix, I have risen from the ashes. I told one of my friends that I was going to dinner with some of the people I used to work with from the school. People I wanted to be able to say goodbye to and do miss. That friend told me yesterday: 

You have done everything you could possibly do to pull yourself out of the hole you were in last spring. I’m sure there will be some at the dinner who were envious of what you have achieved. Surely you weren’t the only one there who would like to be working somewhere else, but without the impetus of getting fired, it is so difficult to light a fire under one’s butt as you can testify to! You are the ultimate success story: a great new career, colleagues who already value working with you, a super cute place to live, a liberal state in which to now call home, and finally…able to be your true self. Remember early on when I told you looking for a job is one of the hardest things you will ever do? You are now living proof of that. But oh, the feeling of accomplishment when it is over. I hope you never go through it again. But I am so, so proud of you for having done it….You were judged, Joe, and not found wanting. That has to feel spectacular!!! 

It really does feel spectacular. I know I would have never changed careers, and I would have never even looked for this job, if I had not had the “misfortune” of being fired. While I was horrified that it happened, so embarrassed when it happened, and fell into a deep depression, I refused to give up, and I did turn something that I thought at the time was a great misfortune into something very fortunate. Most of my friends that I met last night for dinner are older than me. They have either retired or close to retirement. There were only two who were younger than me. Of those two, one is only a few years younger; the other was a student of mine (her mom is a good friend of mine).   

The student had been a very troubled teen. Her parents didn’t know what to do with her, but refused to give up, but they were at a loss of what to do. While most people treated her as an outcast, I treated her like the star student I knew she was. I encouraged her writing and poetry. Of all my students, from middle school to college, she was the most talented writer. In fact, she’s one of the most talented writers I’ve ever read. I wish she would do more with it, but after about a year of working with her, her mother came to me and said, “Thank you. My daughter thinks the world of you, and she has changed so much since you have been encouraging her.” It was moment like that, which had made me want to be a teacher. The problem was that most of my students weren’t like her. They were spoiled brats who had a sense of entitlement. While I wish here had been more like this student, and there were a few, I know that teaching was just slowly killing me because most students didn’t care about learning. Apathy is one of the greatest dangers to this country, which is why I admire the transcendentalists. 

So when I lost my teaching job, I reevaluated my priorities. Are their other more indirect ways to teach? The answer is yes. Working in a museum means that you are creating a teaching tool for those who want to learn. What a great feeling that is! People actually are interested in what you are doing. I also get a chance at a new life. Because of that, many of the people at dinner last night were envious. How many times do you actually get to start over? 

Basically, this move is a reboot of my life. It’s a fresh start. I am getting a new place to live in a new location. I am getting new furniture and taking with me as little as possible. (For now, my cats will stay here with my aunt, who will take great care of them.) I will still have the same clothes (though I’ll get some new winter clothing) and a few small appliances, but everything else I will be starting from scratch. For the first time, I feel like I have a real grown up job. Not to diminish school teachers, but it had always been meant to be a temporary job for me until I found a college teaching job. So with this new jobs, I’m not just in a temporary holding pattern. This is going to be my career, and I am happy. 

Not many of us get a second chance, and I will thank God for the rest of my life for this one. I took a misfortune in life and used it as a stepping stone to fortune. I’ve got a new start and I don’t want to screw this one up. I want to do my best, and I will do my best. This is a chance of a lifetime.