a new home...

After 1,443 miles of highways and local roads we pulled into The Woodlands, a master plan community in Montgomery County, Texas that will be my new home base while I finish with whatever comes next. It's nice. All of the houses are settled together and look the same, and you don't have to drive far in the hot Texas sun to find something to do indoors for the brave or outdoors for those who fear the heat. It's strange considering someplace home when I get turned around and go into a bathroom looking for my parents room.

I was never welcomed to Texas by a "Welcome to Texas, enjoy your stay" sign on the highway, like in most states. One minute we were in Arkansas and the next we were in Texas, as shown by the size jump in vehicles and Texas shapes on the road signs. The drive from Texarkana to The Woodlands was an interesting one. I saw parts of Texas that I swear I only saw in movies and read about in books. Towns where, from what I could tell by a bathroom break, the local Exxon station is a hang out and to wrap it all up a town called Cut-n-Shoot, only 15 minutes drive from my town. Texas jumps from tiny towns with local mom and pop restaurants to industrial and built up, and apparently Houston is one of the top three largest cities in the United States. Everything truly is bigger here, and I feel much safer in my mother's SUV than I do in my little two door Cobalt. Gas is cheaper though, and people around here seem friendly, if borderline haughty. Everyone describes The Woodlands as a bubble, and I certainly believe it. Even my parent's lifestyle has changed slightly...people around here are apparently quite into keeping up with the Joneses.

I'll give it a chance though. When I feel brave enough, I may head into Houston to be a tourist and see NASA, and mom and I want to go to Austin, which is apparently the only city in this state where I have a chance of fitting in. The shops look fun, and if nothing else, I'm sure I'll be able to spend a lot of money and sweat a lot here. I suppose being almost alone with the exception of my parents will really give me a chance to sit down and think about *insert dramatic interlude here* the future.

Someday, I think I may write a book.

I think the hardest part about this is the harsh reality of life going on. Not knowing a good time to call up anyone (partly because of a time difference) because they may have guests over, or be having fun frustrates me. I really do feel like a different world that I should be a part of is happening while I'm here sort of in Limbo waiting for something, anything to happen. I'm quite far away from everything I've ever known and, as Carrie said when we got on the plane to leave San Francisco, "I hate knowing that a place like this exists (relating to San Francisco) and living with that knowledge someplace else."

Adventures are in store, however. As soon as I stop wallowing, I fully intend to make the best of it.

Stay Tuned.