Meagan Adele Lopez' Blog

Being back in familiarity makes the mind numb. Makes my mind numb…or perhaps just comfortable. Every day flies by so quickly and leisurely for I know my surroundings so well that I don’t have to think. I know my family and friends inside and out so I can just be. It’s as if the brain cells have literally slowed in their transmissions.

Writing this entry should be so simple, I was up last night thinking about what I was to write and how and this thought-provoking idea came to mind – mainly that I have lost all thought-provoking ideas since my return to my “home of comfort.” Or maybe I’m just tired and needed this break.

Maybe I should trust that this is what I need at this moment. After all, very shortly I will be in Chicago in another new city, finding a new home and a new job. Instead of beating myself up for it, maybe I need to give into it.

I haven’t been back in Baltimore for longer than two or three months in ten years and yet, it is here that will always be home. I’d forgotten how easy it could be to be back home – I’ve lived in unfamiliar territory since my 18th birthday. I got used to that – it’s not an on edge feeling – but it’s more survival instincts perhaps…being on your best form because you don’t know what someone will throw at you, how, when or why.

It’s also when things are unfamiliar and new that the idiosyncrasies of life come alive and creativity flows out fast and with need.

I’m not complaining. This sense of comfort is relaxing, but it’s amazing how quickly coming back home becomes normal and like I never left.

Nearly a month and a half has passed since we left the UK for the United States (the United States because we’ve driven through 15 of them), and I have had so many adventures, but have only really written in detail about one of them.

A family reunion, my 28th birthday party, a wedding, Americana at its finest (there are so many eloquent ways to describe the Americana I’ve seen, but I can’t think of any), a beach in Delaware with my best friend and her family, a funeral this week, partying in downtown Chicago, sipping champagne at the top of the Hancock building, an outdoor movie downtown, Charlie and Eileen visiting, biking with my stepfather and his new wife on the NCR trail – the list goes on. I’m only now processing this.

My neurons are slow.

How am I supposed to find a job in this climate of slow mental emissions – SME they call it?

A comprehensive list of things to do to regain control of ambitions:

1. Google “Jobs in Chicago”

2. Google “Apartments in Chicago”

3. Send off letters to literary agents requesting that they grab my novel and sell it right away because I will make them a lot of money.

4. Google “Literary Agents”

5. Wake up before 10AM every morning.

6. Stop watching “Housewives of New Jersey” marathons, followed by “Intervention” programs and “Hoarders” (oh, it’s even better than they said it would be! Now I just have to try to catch “Teen Moms” and my life will be complete.).

7. Stop being distracted while making lists of “to do” items by children’s television programs.

Now, enjoy some more of these Natalie Dee comics that I just found.

In honor of babysitting my nephew this week:

In honor of random jokes that make me laugh a little too hard:

In honor of being back home:

Time zones have finally caught up to me. Four in a week probably isn’t the most wise decision and never have I truly felt like I could consider myself a traveler until now. Four time zones – we are crazy. And I got up at 4:30AM with no sign of respite or back to sleep. Nope, tossing and turning had to stop otherwise a very unhappy Jock would follow today, so I come into the next room and write this blog.

Flights to Chicago from Las Vegas were uneventful – oh, except for that incredible warm, gooey deliciousness called Cinnabon. Now, THAT was an event. Ever since that sickly cinnamony smell entered my nostrils last week at the airport, I’ve been a-craving them and I finally tickled my fancy yesterday. I didn’t feel guilty, ashamed – I just felt calm like the days when Aunt Frona and Aunt Sheila would boost me up in their arms to help me pick the bun of my choice – until the sugar rush kicked in and I was bouncing off the cabin walls.

But don’t worry – you won’t find me using one of those automatic wheelchairs anytime soon with an oxygen mask attached to my face. Nope, I made sure to work out twice as hard today. But it was so worth it.

The day flew by yesterday – a quick lunch at Panera Bread in Naperville turned into a three hour discussion with the 19 year old cashier, followed by another hour of speaking with his aunt and cousins who happened to stop by. I have a feeling this might be a recurring theme for Jock and I. We seem to be entering a phase of approachability – or is that just our returning naivety to American culture?

Regardless, the 19 year old cashier/skateboarder/graffiti artist was one of the most refreshing young men we have spoken to in a long time. He had that refreshing candor and joie de vivre that perhaps comes from experiencing his best friend’s death at a young age – he set up a memoriam where they skateboard on the anniversary of his death every year and apparently over 80 people show up each time. He was so curious about life in England and how it was different from America. “Don’t hold back, I want to know what we do wrong or differently in this country. I’ve never been anywhere else,” he said. But oh, does he want to travel. Jock and he exchanged emails and unlike the days when I was younger (probably his age) and would exchange emails with just about anyone and never keep in touch – I would love to find out what he gets up to. I have a feeling he’ll do well.

Today we go into the city of Chicago and do some site seeing.

A few photos from our trip thus far: