I'm...

missing. I am in missing. Out of it. Been out of commission here for the last few days. It is a true reflection of me, my life, my place in it right now. Moved here going on three weeks now. Went to the shore this week for a few days to get some more crap and see some people - it was good, familiar, odd, validating and just well it was. I love the shore, the water and that is truly the piece i miss in my new location down further south. Yet I have to say, to write, that as I was tooling along the highway to meet up with some cool kids for some even colder brews it hit me...I do so love this place and in that love I am happy I am not a resident here no more...for now. It did its job and so now must I. I savored that feeling, that revelation for the rest of my ride. It does not happen often I fear, suspect to me or to anyone much I am willing to bet; the grounding knowledge that a place you have been was good...so good that it is great you are now gone from it. It has let you go and so to it you release it as well. I am missing. I am missing that water, some people for sure. I am missing in action and that is just where I want, need to be.

sunday revelation #9

i laid in bed till 10:30am today - missed my show - ack! so i came up with quite a few revelations. alas this one is the one worth telling, ahem, or ah me remembering....
why does one make their bed? you are just going to get back into it in about 12 hours. or maybe one makes their bed cause they think they will get lucky and not be back in their own bed till say 24 hours? me? today? aint making it. i'll be back there this eve...

get a wha?

i got a job today! mommy gets to eat this eve. what a super day i've experienced so far and all cause i am employed. people i am pretty sure are nicer to you if they suspect that you have a job. here are a few examples to prove my point: the surly a tad bit overweight just out of the closet dude at the "we think we are in NYC but wait a minute we are not" coffee shop even smiled at me and gave me my coffee WITHOUT me asking twice for it. but maybe he was hungover or there was a cute stud boy with no shirt on standing behind me and i grabbed that gesture as if it were for moi sort of thing. i've discovered as of late that one truly does have to snatch what is out there and claim it for their own or nothing is what ya get. sort of reminds me of the old west where people raced on horses and stuck sticks in the ground and claimed the land for theirs - this was sorta like that, i think...or was that the rerun of Bonanza i just watched on TV LAND last eve? Which by the way was such a predictable show that my pop use to tell me he was one of the writers on it and to which my grade school i did ah carry such information to and share with classmates! Much to my dismay did not get me a seat at the popular peeps table but alas a piece of asphalt next to the "we smoke, wear black and we dont even like ya" kids...but alas as usual i have drifted way off of course of my story...so back i go! Then later in the day at the grocery story the little cute high school boy that bagged my fruit, TP, the mint 3 muskateers bar, and wine into one compact plastic bulging bag (the esssentials i likes to call em!) smiled at me sweetly and cooed, "oh miss (ahem) would you like me to carry this out to the car for you?" I declined for fear of akward conversation potential as we walked to the car in the early afternoon sun and then the "ah well shucks i cant seem to reach my purse for a tip" shuffle that i knew would take place. then again maybe he feared of my age that i was too frail to carry such a full bag? wait a minute no i am pretty sure that he was impressed that someone, I, who not yet showered for the day could look so stunning and exude such confidence! his thoughts i am sure ran there and then ended on, "yeah girl you got that job!" at least this is the story i am stickin with...that be my story morning glory. afterall attitude IS half the battle and i actually believe more than not over half the battle, maybe even 3/4ths but i am not ready to quite commit to it. till then i'll be here sitting in the sun, sipping on a cool Sierra Nevada, reading a good memoir (research indeed!) and figuring out how to buy some new clothes for my new job that starts in a week....stay tuned....

so what have i been up to?

way down here in north carolina in the last few days? thanks for asking. drinking some carolina brewery cold brew, searching for sublets for the summer, crying over the loss of a family friend and then drinking a crap load of cheap red wine in her honor till 5am...looking for work and finding it, meeting new friends and reuniting with old ones, tooling around a town i recognize under all the new and fangled shops, bars and restuarants, checking out the hoola hoopers at weaver street, catering a party where at the end i drank mucho yummy pink champagne, hanging out with my little bro and loving my move to the big NC.
The flowers are blooming, the birds are a chirping, sun peaking out more and more warming the bricks, green grass and rich orange mud along side the winding roads. Spring has sprung! Enjoy it, soak it up, relish it and love it! that is what i been doing you best get on doing something too.

i am here!

what a way to go out; work the beer truck and get gas money for my trip! thanks cape chuck. it was a blast. got up way too early on saturday morning and headed south. got to my catering gig on time, worked it up, drank it up...hence the car still not unpacked. unfortunately a dear dear family friend is very ill so been chillin with that family...i am super duper beyond sad and numb. glad i am here though. my pop is here too so it is like i am gone from the shore but sort of not. i shall see ya round some corner soon when you least expect kids! Till then keep on keepin on.

peace!

Till later....

i am out. as i get settled over the next few days in NC the blog enteries may be scarce...they may not be...the point? i dunno what they will be!
my parting words to the shore?

you know how some people leave their hearts in San Francisco?
I am pretty sure I am leaving my liver in Cape Charles!

ok that is my time. You have been a lovely audience. Don't forget to tip the bartender and see ya round!

say goodbye, gracie, i mean michelle

a few things i shall truly miss from the eastern shore (my home for the last 19 months, truly a home)

1. blue herons, my neighbors, flying past me as i have morning coffee. i shall even miss them arguing into the late afternoon...so angry!

2. people waving at me i don't know

3. kellys gingernut pub

4. first wednesday show in Cape Charles

5. The ESO in Belle Haven

6. Cape Charles Coffee House in Cape Charles (the best damn office i have ever worked in!)

7. Harbor Parties (oh wait i won't miss those cause I am not going to MISS those!)

8. The Turkey Pen Pickers and The Chair Place concerts in Craddockville

9. The Bear and Cub Coffee Shoppe in Pungoteague

10. sunsets from my bedroom window

11. The Sterling House, my home away from home

12. Cold brews on the beach

13. Tess

14. Mariahs

15. the water, the water and the water

16. Angus dog...he is the best man i know!

17. The Yellow Duck in Exmore

18. Kristen and Jamie's delicious, yummy coffee

i am sure there are items, places, things i am leavin off the list...

a big warm hug of thanks to all i met here on the eastern shore.

as i drive over the bay bridge tomorrow, just as i get to the top of that first leg of the bridge i predict i shall whisper ever so softly, "eastern shore, eastern shore" (not ringing any bells? google Prince of Tides)

Good night kids! It has been a wonderful ride and for all i've met, partied with, hung out with, gotten to know and love, i thank you from the heart of my cute little ole bottom!

thanks eastern shore!

pics from my send off tuesday night....

i have been lame i know!

not written in a few days...been too busy dancing it up at the Renovator's Ball, slurping down Sierra Nevadas, sipping on Coastal Roasting coffee, spending my unemployment dough, and laughing it up with my pals here on the Eastern Shore. Only 4 more days and i am out...heading down south. A good friend of mine asked me the other day, "well now that you are moving to North Carolina won't you have to change your blog name?" My first response? Who the BLEEP are you, the blog police? ha ha! Which of course I just said to try to be funny. I say try cause he did not laugh and therefore since my only audience, it was not a funny! My second and honest response? ah i had not thought on it and so don't rightly know? Maybe i can change it from maclayontheshore to maclayofftheshore? feedback needed peeps? let me know, tell me what to do!

if you are out and about anywhere near Kelly's Pub this eve anytime after 7 in the PM, come on BY to say BYE to moi! smooches kids, smooches indeed!

m