One more month…. of work.
It’s official now. I spoke to my boss’s boss yesterday and my last day of work, a job I’ve held since March of 1999, will be over. I couldn’t be more excited and anxious at the same time. Excited that this new chapter in my life is actually going to be starting. Even more exciting to know that now I’ll have the time to be able to do things and go places that once seemed like a scheduling nightmare.
For one, what a great way to start, hiking the Appalachian Trail. Wow. The more I think about the 30 hours spent on the trail in the Smoky Mountains, the more excited I get. Sure, conditions were practically ideal considering that the weather was extremely nice and the terrain was not too overwhelming. And now that we’re at the end of January and we’ve barely gotten any snow, I think we could be in for a long, dry hike this year.
In other news, I’m not 100% certain that a decision I’ve recently made was right/logical. Recently, I bought a seasonings company that I will be returning to post trail. The company isn’t too big at the moment, so it’s not difficult to leave, nor do I need to worry about being swamped when I return. The concern comes from what I will want to do when I get off.. who knows what my mindset is going to be when I leave. On a positive note, it’ll help keep a little coin in my pocket, so that’s good.
Talking to my friend Tara last night (sharing the good news with her), amongst a thousand other things going on in the next seven weeks, I’ve got to put together the meals for the hike. Fortunately I’ve been dehydrating over the summer months and have some stock to pull from but I am still short in some areas, which means researching companies to help fill in the blanks. Also, throughout the past year or so, I’ve accumulated a number of backpacking cookbooks that I look forward to utilizing in the development of my meals. I’ll keep you posted on how that process goes.
Matt
TrailJournals Link: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=165946
