Time to Get Personal...

I know I have been posting a lot about reality television, but the reality is I do it because I haven't had many exciting things to talk about in my life lately...until this past weekend.  I never meant for this blog to get to a personal level, but I feel like I need to share some things.  Prepare yourself, you're about to learn a lot about me in a few minutes...some things I have never even told my family.

After sitting in traffic that extended my travel time to McClellanville by 2.5 hours, I finally arrived at my dad's house.  I was exhausted, but also very excited to see him.  The next morning, we went fishing in the creek and had some wonderful conversations.  We haven't had daddy-daughter time in a long time - we needed to catch up...and we did.  It's funny how conversations change with your parents as you get older.  I remember talking to him about my goals in life after college (ha) and what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Now I'm talking to him about my career and how much I miss seeing him more often than once a month.  He always jokes about how he wants me to move back home..."just pack up and move" he says.  I wish it was that easy...

We caught fish, drank beers, talked and shared a lot of laughs!  All in all, it was a great day!  I miss daddy-daughter time.

Time for some background...

For anyone who doesn't know me that well, my parents have been divorced for a long time now.  The effects of the divorce have changed so much thru the years.  Before you get all "poor girl from a broken home" on me, let me explain.  My parent's divorce was not a "nasty" one.  I was in 4th grade - I remember that because I had a purple cast from shoulder to wrist the majority of that year from a gymnastics injury.  I remember them sitting me down to tell me that Daddy was going to live with his cousin in McClellanville for a while.  I remember staring at that cast...reading all the signatures, realizing that my friends that had signed it were all waiting on me to come over for a sleep over.  I didn’t really understand it at the time.

When I was younger, meaning not old enough to drive myself, the fact that my dad was now living in McClellanville was AWESOME!  He'd come pick me up on Friday afternoons (meeting my mother half way) every other week.  The best part about going to McClellanville was that I got to hang out with April and Michael, my first cousins.  Again, if you don't know me that well, I'm an only child...so April and Michael are the closest things I have had to a brother and sister.  We always had fun together!  And when I wasn't hanging out with them, Dad was taking me fishing and hunting - ok, I only went deer hunting once...apparently I asked too many questions and couldn't shut up.  Go figure.  Either way, as a teenager having these two separate homes was like having a vacation every other weekend.

As I got older, it got harder to split the time between the two of them.  I lived with my mom in Mt. Pleasant and all my friends were there.  Once I could drive, I chose to drive to my friend's houses in Mt. Pleasant instead of driving to McClellanville on the weekends.  I know this hurt my dad...he never said it, but I know it did.  Every other week visits soon turned into bi-monthly visits, and those turned into once a month visits.  It was hard on him…I know that now.

Once I left for college, it once again got harder.  When I would come home on the weekends to visit I would have to split my time up between the two houses.  I think I did pretty good at it, but honestly I can't really remember.

After college, I stayed in Charlotte...3 hours from "home".  Without the long summer and winter breaks I had in college, my weekends were the only times I could go home...2 days at most.  That meant one day at mom's, and one day at dad's.  The worst part?  Christmas.  We have it down to a science now though...at least until I have a family of my own.  Christmas Eve is Mom's...Christmas Day is Dad's.  It's been that way for nearly 18 years now...and like I said it "works".  Now, do I love spending the holiday on the road back and forth from house to house?  No.  But I love my family and want to spend the time with them, so I suck it up, load up the car and fill up the tank (2 and 3 times).

Present day trips home consist of still splitting the time up equally.  I cannot think of a time I went home and didn't see both my parents.  I'm good at it...I'm an equal opportunity daughter.

Ok, so now that you have the background...let's get back to the weekend that may or may not have changed my life.

Saturday afternoon I packed my new car up and drove the 45 minutes to my mom's house.  We chatted about mine and Daddy's day in the boat and then realized we both needed a drink and some food!  Mom, Gerry and I went to their favorite restaurant, Crave, near their house.  Think "Cheers"...where everybody knows your name...but way more upscale!  Any who, we sat, ate, drank and laughed for a couple of hours.  I left the bar and went to meet up with a friend.  This is not just any friend...he's someone who I have always had a chemistry with...no matter how long it had been since we had seen each other.

Ok, so for the sake of not making this blog be completely transparent, we're going to call the mystery man "Dude".  I can't tell you all my secrets!

Dude and I have been friends for about 11 years now.  For a long time, we were practically inseparable!  Dude had surgery and was on bed rest for a long time at one point and I remember going and sitting with him for hours and just talking about anything and everything.  Sometimes, while I was in college, we would go months without even talking - but all it took was a phone call when I was in town and we always picked up where we left off.  We joked that we had a schedule of not talking for long periods and how when one of us broke and called the other we were overdue for a meeting.  Every time we saw each other it was like we never were apart...we just picked up where we left off and both of us were okay with that.  Dude is one of very few friends who came to visit me while I was in college...and that means more now than I thought it did back then.

I know I’m giving you a lot of information here, but I’m on a roll…call me butter.

Sunday was my mom and stepdad's 12th wedding anniversary and I was so happy to be able to celebrate with them.  We went to the beach and relaxed for most of the day.  It's funny, I remember being a kid and BEGGING my mom to come get in the ocean with me...and now she's the one wanting to play!  We sat in a gully and had mother-daughter time.  We talked about one thing and one thing only...how much she wishes I still lived in Charleston.  Ok, so far this weekend I've been told by 4 people that they wished I lived in Charleston...and I agree with every single one of them.  

We even went as far as talking about me buying Gerry’s mother’s condo on James Island.  The more we talked about it, the more I got excited about it, and the more I got excited about it – the more I realized that this is a HUGE decision.  Not only do I need to figure out if I can work from “home” – which I know I can (technically speaking), but I have to find a place to live.  Career change and a first home purchase all in one package?  I don’t know if I can handle something like this!   If I knew for a fact that I could keep my job, work from a home office and find a decent home that I can afford, I’d be packing tomorrow.

I miss my family.  I miss the ocean.  I miss everything about Charleston…I have ever since the day I left.  I have been talking myself into making Charlotte/Rock Hill home for about 5 years now.  This is not home.  This is where I live.  When people ask “how’s Charlotte/Rock Hill?”  I usually reply “It’s not Charleston".

Don’t get me wrong.  I love my friends in Charlotte/Rock Hill.  Most of them are college friends that (also) never left the area.  We have a great time, and I know they’d be there for me in an instant if I needed them…and vice versa.  I also know that said friends would also love to have a place to visit in Charleston.  Wink Wink.  I don’t have any doubt that the friends that I have here wouldn’t remain just as close to me if I were not living in Rock Hill.  So far, my job is the only thing that holds me back in Charlotte.  That and my apartment lease (until April).

SO, I’m almost 28 years old.  Not married.  No kids.  No pets.  Not a homeowner.  I’m like a blank canvas.  I need to start a masterpiece…and the background to this piece of artwork is a Charleston skyline.

Stay tuned for more in the Lindsey Saga.  It’s going to be a slow process, but the ultimate ending would be a TRULY happy Lindsey surrounded by her family in the Holy City.