I'm sitting on a rock in my front yard right now, stealing the internet from some unknowing neighbor, drinking coffee from a travel mug. This sort of situation has been my reality for the past week or so, as we pack up more and more of our belongings and get ready to leave this house. It's been trying both emotionally (last night we went out with all our friends to say goodbye and the only way I could handle it was to explain to them that we must, simply must, plan some weekend get togethers in the near future) and physically (this morning, upon waking with a slight hangover, but deciding I needed to get up, shower, and power through this day-before-the-move, I stepped out of bed directly into the dogs' full water bowl which is sitting at the foot of our bed because that's the only place it fits).

Oh, and my new favorite show is "The Hills" on MTV. I've been reading about the stars of this sort-of-reality show in Us Weekly for months now. Hating Heidi and Spencer and rooting for Lauren without even really knowing why, but I watched a few episodes the other day to take a break from packing and let me tell you something...Best Show Ever. I mean, if you need to relax, there's nothing like watching young, attractive Hollywood Hills types get all worked up over whether or not they should get back together with their ex. It's very good.

Anyway, regarding the practical state of affairs, J and I are taking off tomorrow. We'll be in New Haven for a few days and then at the Bay starting this weekend. We're getting internet out there sometime next week, but before that happens I doubt they'll be many posts. You never know though. I mean, we're driving a Prius, a U-Haul, twelve trillion boxes of books, a very tiny dog and a very big dog up the east coast. Something might happen that I need to tell you about.

But first we've got to pack up, take one more look around wonderful Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and drive away.

When I was a graduating senior in high school we all got a half-page of the yearbook to post a picture, some quotes and private jokes and since it was a time of transition the first quote I chose to put on my page was by the great American author John Steinbeck, who wrote in a book called "Sweet Thursday" that, "When people change direction it is a rare one who does not spend the first half of his journey looking back over his shoulder."

Even though I've changed a lot since I was 18, obviously, I still find those words very true, and comforting.

Man, I used to read John Steinbeck all the time. I I know everybody has to read "The Red Pony" and "The Pearl" and all in school, but really, the rest of his work is even more amazing. f you ask me, I'll still say he's my favorite author, but, I mean, I used to stay up late into the night finishing his novels. For real, and I wasn't cocky about it or anything, but I knew it was pretty cool, you know, being a teenager and reading really good books. I knew my parents liked it that I was into great literature.

And now I watch "The Hills." Times change.

Ok. Here we go.