BUSted

It is officially my last night of my "vacation".  Not going to work for the past week has been wonderful.  I've gone to sleep late, woke up well after restaurants stopped serving breakfast, and despite the massive transitions happening in my life at the time, I enjoyed the freedom with which I could enjoy my days.  But tomorrow, it's back to the grindstone.  Back to business.  Back to routine.  There is a part of me that is very relieved to get back to a schedule, and that I'll be spending the day amongst adults rather than unpacked boxes.  There is one part that terrifies me though.  I will most certainly lose sleep over it.

Tomorrow I will have to ride a new bus.


I had never been on a city bus before living in my last apartment.  So when I finally starting riding the bus, I knew one bus.  One route.  One schedule.  Now, instead of walking to my bus stop 2 houses away, I walk 2 very long blocks away.  Plus, it's an "Express" bus.  Do I swipe my card when I get on?  Or off?  Or not at all?  Where will it drop me off?  Will it be a chronically late bus like the good ol' 25 line?  I don't know!  I can't even remember what number it is!  And, as I wondered aloud to my roommates Claire and Andrew, what if I got on the bus going the OPPOSITE direction?  What if I miss it?  What if people on the bus try and talk to me even though I'm busy watching episodes of Happy Endings on my iPod?  So many questions!  So many new things to figure out!

It was very appropriate tonight, then, to go Back to School shopping with my sister Padrin and her two kids.  I feel like I myself am heading back to school, what with the new bus stuff to learn.  I wanted to stock up like the kids on matching folders and notebooks, #2 pencils, and highlighters, but instead I checked out new Bus Bags (a bag, in addition to my enormous purse, to carry my lunch, shoes, umbrella, etc. in so I'm prepared for anything).  I came up with nothing, which made me even more nervous about tomorrow.  How will I carry all my non-essentials?!

As I was leaving my parents house after shopping, my mom made a hilarious suggestion.  So, Claire and I grew up next door to each other, and have photographic evidence of the two of us together for about 8 years for the First Bus Ride of the Year at our corner bus stop.  My mom suggested Claire and I take a photo together tomorrow morning.  I offered this once in a lifetime opportunity to Claire, and though she laughed hysterically, she was certainly not going to humor me.

But, I've set out my clothes for tomorrow, packed up my iPod after loading it with new podcasts and TV shows, and studied the bus route map for longer than I care to admit.  I'm hoping that I don't end up in St. Paul instead of Minneapolis, or that I don't fall asleep or something and miss my stop altogether.  But as one of my friends helpfully pointed out "Uh, Pharon?  It's a bus.  Not a spaceship."  Hmm.  Good point.  Maybe I should be a little bit more concerned with actually not falling asleep or having a nervous breakdown at WORK.  That's a tad more important...

Alright, good luck out there this week everyone!