The Beach

Last weekend Robin and I headed southeast to Charleston, SC for a late-season beach trip. It was fabulous! We didn't actually go swimming due to some windy conditions and slightly cooler temps, but sure did enjoy beach lounging! The trip was brief, we got there Sunday evening and left early Tuesday morning, but managed to feel like we were on vacation. We stayed at a hostel near downtown and walked down through the main drag to the water Monday morning. That afternoon we drove out to Foley beach and stopped at a Goodwill on the way back and shopped our second hand hearts out. We had dinner at this restaurant on the water called Fleet's Landing (on recommend of a friend from work) and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

It was also neat to drive out of the mountains on our way down and definitely be able to tell that we were driving back into them on the way home. Although different from the mountains at home, it is nice to come home to mountains. (Although, I will say that I for one quite enjoyed the flat, bike friendly terrain of Charleston. Sometimes all the little hills here in Asheville are exhausting!).

Back here in Asheville, I am enjoying one of the most beautiful fall seasons in my memory. The leaves are still not all turned (there are so many!) and peak leaf week won't be here until the end of October, but the weather is cool and crisp in the evenings and mornings and is warming up to the 70s during the day. The air has cleared up compared to the summer and the weather just makes me want to be outside when at all possible.

The restaurant is treating both Robin and I well, although I do have moments where I tire of the job. All in all though, I like the people I work with and continue to make good money there, which is a security I am grateful for immensely! And, speaking of work...it is time for me to go get ready for my Saturday night shift.

Lomi Lomi into fall

Well, it is official. They have closed the pool at the condo complex. Summer must be over. The weather actually shifted (quite appropriately I must add) the day or so right after the equinox and it is decidedly fall. It's beautiful. Leaves are still mostly green, but starting to go. I have read that the show this year will be less impressive than other years though because of the unusually warm weather that we had through September. I'm sure it will still be beautiful.

Last weekend I took my first continuing education course for massage out at the Center for Massage where I went to school. The course was Lomi Lomi massage which is a traditional Hawaiian massage modality with a strong emphasis on the flowing, poetic nature a massage can have. It treats massage as a dance and is much less finger/wrist/hand intensive than other modalities (but can still work quite deeply and powerfully). It was a wonderful course to take and was nice (but a bit surreal) to hop back into the student role for a few days. It feels like both yesterday and light years ago that I was driving out to the Center three days a week and attending class and it was interesting for me to reflect on how much has changed since then, but how fluid the whole experience feels. Everything in tiny increments it seems.

Tuesday night of this week, Suzanne and I (who I share my massage space with and went to school with) had the opportunity to work a chair massage event in town. We were hired for two hours to do chair massage at a restaurant's staff appreciation party. It was really fun. I haven't done chair massage since we were in school but it is such a different way to share the power of touch. I am so grateful that the opportunity sort of just fell into our laps!

All else continues to hum along as always. Robin and I will be taking a quick get-away this Sunday/Monday to go to the beach in Charleston, SC for a couple of nights. We are both excited. It will be the first time I have driven very south or east of Asheville since arriving so will be a new adventure, plus, we're going to the beach in October. How great is that?!

Changes

Well, a lot has been going here over the last several  months of not writing. However, it feels like the time for me to pick up the fallen pieces and start posting again. The summer has been highlighted by changes of all sorts.

To begin with, the past several months have been very challenging for Noah and I and we are currently separated. He moved out the first part of August but is still here in Asheville. In short, we still love and care about one another deeply but are taking some time and space to gain perspective on our marriage and the ways that we both, as individuals, fit into it.

A second major change is that my sister has moved out to Asheville and has taken up residence as my new roommate! She has been here since the first of September and it is impossible to explain with words how wonderful it is to have here. I flew home the end of August for a four day visit and then she and I drove out here to together in an uneventful (yet somehow epic) journey through the heartland. She also brought her cat, Pickle, with her and we have already spent much time laughing at the uniquely cat-ish antics of Buddy and Pickle as the learn how to share the house.

I'm not sure if this counts as a change, but it feels like one: So, summer is over--fall officially starts on Thursday I believe--but...it's not winter yet! Rather, we are on the verge of "leaf season" here which officially counts as a second tourist season. There is a leaf watching hotline, websites with fall foliage updates, vacation packages and more. I am SO excited on a variety of fronts for October's leaf season these days.

Many of the other changes I have briefly mentioned in other short blog posts before this one. But a short re-cap: I now live within the Asheville city limits in a great condo complex with a view and a swimming pool and quick and easy access to the interstate i.e. it is 10-15 minutes only to get most anywhere in Asheville. Obviously, I have opened up a private massage practice which is going well, albeit it slowly (primarily because I have been working so much elsewhere). I am on the verge of taking my North Carolina driver's test and switching my plates to North Carolina which will be the first time in the history of my life that my car will not have Idaho plates. (My mother firmly told me recently that I am NO LONGER allowed to vote in Teton County because I have "picked up and moved to North Carolina" (or something like that). Changing voting registration is also a new sign of permanence.)

All in all, things are going well. Some days life seems to be bordering on the chaotic and has been consistently ever-changing and unpredictable. However, patience has been a lesson of the summer and I would say I am growing more capable of dealing with and living life in the grey areas where everything isn't always black and white. I do hope there is some sort of slow-down to the pace of life in the relatively near future, but assume I will keep moving full speed ahead regardless.

To everyone who reads this blog

As my name is entering the public sphere as a massage therapist, I am working on ways to keep my private life separate from my public identity. I don't really want clients to be able to look my name up and find this blog (which is a fairly detailed accounting of my personal life for friends and family etc), read it and then end up knowing a lot about me that I have not personally chosen to share with them.

So...what that means is that I am going to be making this blog a "private" blog that will require those of you who read it to log in before being able to see everything. I create the list of authorized users, so I need you to let me know if you want to be added! Will you please either post a comment to this post with your info or send me an e-mail at marthakmart@gmail.com so I can get it plugged in correctly?

Making it Official!

Starting August 1st I will be working as a massage therapist in my own office space! A friend of mine from school, Suzanne, and I are renting a space in West Asheville together. The room is located on the second floor of an old house that has a community acupuncture clinic on the lower level. We are both very excited about it. I am in the process of business cards and a website and all of the logistics, which is a little overwhelming, but overall, the whole thing has sort of just fallen into place.

I am working five nights a week at Mela, serving most nights and am doing a couple days a week at the Cosmic Groove Massage. I will continue serving for awhile and will keep my shifts for at least another month or so at the Cosmic Groove, but am actually on the path to realizing the goal/reality of being a therapist!

Now An Officially Licensed Therapist!

I just checked online this morning for the umpteenth time and low and behold I am listed as a licensed therapist number 10157!!! I'm so thrilled I'm not sure what to do with myself at this moment but am now able to start doing what I set out to do 7 months ago!!

My New Home

It is wonderful being in Asheville. I love the place we have moved into. It is very central, but manages to feel a bit like we are still in the woods. We have an incredible view, which is hard to get around here, and, although you can hear the interstate when outside, you can see very few signs of the city around the corner from anywhere in the development.

I am enjoying the lightening bugs in the evenings that are all over the place, the swimming pool (which is busier than I thought it would be), the location, and even the air conditioning because it has been hotter than usual the last week or so. Our condo overlooks the swimming pool, so sitting out on the porch I can watch my own personal little soap opera as residents come and go. One of my favorite things to witness from the porch is the black cat from a few condos over taking his owner and dog friend for a walk just after 6 am every morning. It never ceases to bring a smile to my face when I see the dog and the owner out for the morning walk with the cat walking right along with them...

I still do not have my license yet and am playing the wait, wait, and wait some more game. I have started working at an Indian restaurant downtown called Mela Indian Restaurant as a host, food expo and soon to be night server. Additionally, I have started picking up desk hours at a local community based non-profit massage center called the Cosmic Groove Massage and will hopefully be able to work a few massage shifts there once I get my license.

Asheville is starting to feel more and more like home, especially since we are now living within the city limits. It surprises me sometime when I realize that, for the first time in perhaps my life, I am in a place that I don't want to leave and where I actually enjoy being nearly all of the time. I am comfortable putting down some sort of permanent roots here and staying. This is a new and wonderful feeling. The only thing I would change is how far away from home Asheville is...but, no place is perfect and, for now, I am more than happy to be here.