As I drove to work today, I kept getting the feeling that I'm stuck in a rut. It feels like I do the same thing every day. Wake up, shower, dress, fill my travel mug with coffee (half regular Colombian, half flavored... today's flavor was Butter Rum), drive to work, teach, drive home, eat dinner, and then do any combination of the following: read, watch TV, email, check myspace, scrapbook. Then I go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again.
So I was in the car this morning, listening to Preston and Steve (as per usual), sipping my coffee (as per usual) and ignoring my rumbling stomach. I had my oatmeal in my tote bag, ready to be cooked when I got to work. But the thought of eating yet another bowl of oatmeal was suddenly unbearable. I drove past a diner and had the most intense urge for a thick stack of French toast with a side of crispy bacon... and fresh squeezed OJ... and a bottomless pot of hot coffee. The thought was pure bliss. And the fact that I couldn't just pull over and indulge my fantasy made the remainder of my drive even more depressing.
So then I had the idea that I should just play hooky. Wake up early one day and call out sick. Drive to a diner when everyone else is at work and eat my dream breakfast. I could bring a book and read until I was finished my meal... or kidnap a friend and have one of those amazing rambling conversations that you only seem to have over a pot of coffee in the back booth of a diner.
Then I carried my daydream further... what if I spent the rest of the day doing something adventurous? I thought back to college... the good old days, when I didn't feel guilty about cutting class. Rick and I used to hang out all the time back then, and he would call me randomly and say, "Wanna go to lunch in Long Island tomorrow?" And we would. We took many random day trips while I was at La Salle. West Virginia, Baltimore, Pottsville (and the Yuengling Brewery), Long Island, Atlantic City. We went to Richie Ashburn's viewing at Memorial Hall and spent the rest of the day touring Philadelphia. But not the historic tour of the city. We went to the Plateau, the Water Works, drove around old neighborhoods... nothing planned or specific. And one day I came home from class and he was waiting on the front step of my apartment because he wanted me to go with him to the car show. So we went. Just like that.
It seems like it's such a hassle to do anything adventurous these days. Take today, for example. I had the urge to just skip work and hit the diner, but I couldn't. Calling out requires too much planning. In order to call out of work, I have to make sure my classroom isn't a complete mess, I have to leave lesson plans for a sub (or email them to my principal), and I have to wake up early enough to call out. Unless it's something I know about in advance, and then I can request off ahead of time. But where's the spontaneity in that?
I really want to be spontaneously adventurous again, but since it's not as easy as it used to be, I'll settle for being just adventurous. Sometime soon... perhaps in the spring... I'm going to call out of work, go to a diner for a huge breakfast, and then take a day trip somewhere. With some kickass music in the car. Nothing too far or expensive, just something different and fun. And I want a partner in crime. Any takers? I'm totally serious about this. I need to carpe my diem again. It's been far too long. ¡Vámonos!
*Bonus points if you can name that tune.
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