It's Final...

Well the decision is made, the contract signed, and plans made. I am officially going to work for the Krassel Helitack Crew out of McCall, ID. Actually McCall is the closest "town" (Yellow Pine, 25 miles away, has a store and a pay phone I'm told) at around 45 miles away from the rappel base. I am very excited! I am going to be one of fires elite resources this summer. I am also going to dangle on a 250 foot rope from a hovering helicopter. Luckily, that mostly sounds exciting and only a little bit scary.
Contact-wise this summer, you can get me on my cell phone until May 22nd at 530.513.2896. After that time, you can still leave me messages on my cell but I will not have service and will have to drive to McCall to return calls so don't be insulted if it is a week or two until I get back to you. You all should be used to my dissappearance during fire season by now :). I don't have an address yet so if you need to send me something you can send it to my parent's house until further notice... Hope all is peachy-keen out there in your worlds... Tess

Joys of Suburbia...

It is finally true. I live in suburbia- cul-de-sac, stucco house and all! Although I am fine with the living situation (as it is not permentant and my roomates are great) it is rather humerous to watch the life style

The big thing on my street, now that it is spring, is the unspoken my-lawn-is-better-than-your-lawn contest. See what happens is the first person to mow, edge, weed eat, and hand trim their lawn for the week is the sneering winner who peeps out their front window all week admiring their handiwork and initiative and disparaging the neighbors. People really do that. Our neighbors stop by and tell harrowing lawn mowing tales while hinting about the state of our lawn...

"Dude, you'll never guess what happened when I was mowing this week. Check this out... So, I'm mowing along and suddenly I hear a ping and then I hear a bang. You'll never guess what it was... Naw, man, because it was still dark outside that morning I ran over the sprinkler head. It broke last week and I forgot to fix it. So then, water's spurting everywhere my wife is yelling at me cuz I woke her up... It was a freaking disaster! So anyway, did your mower break?"

Regardless of the silliness of this contest, it is the big thing. Needless to say, we won this week... :)

Final Answer...

So here it is, the final answer. No more mind changing, wishy washing, or stressing about it. I was accepted into the JET programme last monday and friday was my personal decision deadline. I chose to stay here in the states and rappel in Idaho. There were many factors in this decision, of course, some of which were: I won't be able to rappel once I am older and maybe have a career, many of my friends are getting married in the next 15 months and those weddings are something that will not be repeated (hopefully!) and things I don't want to miss, my relationship with Eric- I want to see that through and see where it goes, and rappelling just sounds "wicked cool." Regardless, I can always go to Japan, with or without the JET programme, and at a more opportune time...

LOST IN A FOREST OF OPTIONS

Hi- Because I don't really give this blog address out to anyone, the chances of someone actually reading this are slim to none. That is a good thing as I am about to whine about having too many choices in life (I feel slightly guilty about this however as many people wish they had more choices I am sure).
Being a 20-something adult has to be one of the toughest things around these days. I am sure I will probably continue believing this until I am a thirty-something adult. I mean granted we don't have to be married, pregnant, or locked into any sort of relationship, education is relatively easy to come by, we still have all our teeth, we are vaccinated against every possible illness, we aren't stagnant or locked into a particular path or direction... but therin lies my problem.
Many of you who know me well know that I like to "do it all." If someone tells me about something cool, I will probably pursue it. PROBLEM: this leaves me perpetually broke, searching for something newer and cooler, and afraid to actually settle down, heaven forbid commit to anything for a long period of time!
So now, in my search for the cooooooolest, neatest, funnest, next bestest thing, I have to make a very hard decision.
Tomorrow, I find out whether I have been accepted into the JET programme which is a year long teaching job in Japan. It sounds like an awesome experience, a totally new language, culture, and country, and will be good for my future pursuits in the educational field.
On the other hand, on Friday, I was offered a position on a rappel crew out of McCall, ID. I would get to train for a few weeks and then rappel out of helicopters for 6 months to fight wildland fire. I have always wanted to rappel. So, that kicks ass too!
So, when presented with a difficult decision, like this one, I did what all responsible adults do- I called my mom. She gave me her patented "make a pros and cons list" answer. I did. I still don't know what to do. So I am seeking advice from the void beyond... please share your wisdom else I am stuck with eni-menie-miney-mo.

~Tess