Here I am... in Boise?

Okay, I'm going to skip the apologies and the excuses for not updating in what seems like a quadrillion years. Just so you know, a lot has happened and things are going well. I've driven approximately 5000 miles in the past 2 1/2 months. I've seen so much in this time that it's kind of hard for me to even believe. There were many times when I would be sitting by the side of a beautiful lake, admiring the many shades of blue in the water and the sky, soaking up the sun on a Wednesday afternoon wishing for time to just stand still and be in awe of the fact that only a month ago I was spending Wednesday afternoon's inside my office, typing on a computer, wishing the hours away so I could just go home. I have been spoiled. And I love it.

So now that my time at Stanford Sierra Conference Center is over (more later on how my employment there terminated), I have decided to spend some time in Boise with my friend, Justis. However, my good friend Justis, who is generous with heart and home, is rarely here. She has a really fascinating job representing quality brands of liquor to the US that keeps her out of the grand city of Boise most days during the month. So while she is in Chicago, Las Vegas, St Louis and so on, I am here in her very nice apartment alone. All alone. No job. Nothing to do but watch crap TV and Season 1 of Lost on DVD (which is not crap at all, but intriguing and worth my time so lay off it). I feel as though I have found a hide out and I little bit of me likes it and little bit of me wishes I had someone around to talk to besides myself and the void that is supposedly occupied by god or ghosts or whatever. So what the hell am I staying here for, you may ask, since my friend is off traveling the country in the name of liquor sales while I'm unemployed and (for argument's sake) friendless in Boise?

Procrastination, my friends. Per usual.

I have a decision to make and I'm not sure how to make it. Let's consider my options, shall we:

Option 1 or "The-respectable-what-you-should-probably-do-because-you've-had-your-fun-and-now-you-need-to-suck-it-up-and-get-back-to-grown-up-world" option:

My former boss, who is a very nice, very persuasive man, wants me back. Apparently, they need someone to help train some new employees. The job could be temporary, especially if I put my foot down and put a time limit on it up front. It will no doubt pay decent money and give me a chance to pay off some bills. I would live at home with my mom once again. My life would look pretty much the same as it did before I left, except my mentality on the whole situation would hopefully be very different. I could relish in the memories of the people I've met and the places I've seen not so long ago. Remember the feel of the sun on my face on a Wednesday afternoon. Remember that day I drove to Napa Valley on a Tuesday. Remember the look of the sunset over Cathedral as I drove down Fallen Leaf Road at dusk. I would know that if things started to suffocate me again, I would have an open window through which I could escape a desperate situation. Of course, the fact that I recognize the possibility of suffocation in Option 1 is a big mark against it.

Option 2 or "The-seizing-the-moment-in-the-name-of-experience-and-carefree-youth-that-would-also-give-me-the-opportunity-to-be-around-snow-for-the-first-winter-in-25-years" option:

There is a small ski resort in Boise called Bogus Basin that is hiring for the winter season. As an employee you get free ski passes and lessons and discounts on ski/snowboard equipment. I would stay in Boise with my friend Justis and meet some more Boisians and make new friends on the mountain and take advantage of the discounts and learn how to snowboard finally at 24. However, Justis would be gone for the holidays and I would want to go home for Christmas and that could be hard to do if they want me to work through the holidays and if I stay here through the holidays I'd be spending it alone and that would just be the makings of a pretty severe pity/regretting my decision to stay in Boise party. My time in Boise would last as long as the ski season lasts or until Justis moves and my free place to stay goes with her. I guess then I would continue to roam, visiting friends in Colorado, Chicago, North Carolina, New York for a little while. I have a huge desire to drive the Hyundai across country. Gather some stories along the way. Perhaps I would move back to Tahoe in the summer and get another seasonal job, which I would love to do because Tahoe is gorgeous. But then what? I have a hard time planning more than a year in advance. In fact, I refuse to do that anymore. Not right now anyway. There will be plenty of time for making plans for the future in the future. So that's the end of option 2.

So those are pretty much my options as I see them. This is a difficult decision to make. Of course there are other big factors involved: the Travis factor, the tired factor, the wanting to be home factor, the wanting to be free factor to consider. A lot of things to be considered. But I'm feeling like I need to make this decision soon because my former boss keeps calling me and I need to start making an income one way or another.

And pragmatism seeps in once again.