Trek

7-27-22

Had my yearly review today and, all things considered, it went great. I got a $1/hr raise (not too shabby), and the compliments I got felt meaningful.

Mainly, my boss said I took a lot of ownership over the position and that really meant a lot. I might not technically love the job, nor working in general, but I like to think I’m a hard worker. If someone gives me a job I want to be the person who can do the job—who can say, with confidence, I put my best foot forward and, no matter the outcome, I’ll stand behind it.

When I was younger that wasn’t always the case, but I’m glad to have grown. Beyond that the working day went fine. My review ran a bit late so got off a bit late myself, but oh well. My dad came with me to get Marie from work. After that we went and got Thai food for takeout. My dad ended up getting sick, and my mom didn’t like this Thai place as much as her own, so we now have a lot of leftovers. Yum!

My favorite part of the day was the drive with Marie and my dad. We got talking about the two week backpacking trip my dad and I did together when I was 13. There were others because it was through the scouts. I know Boy Scouts has a terrible rap, but that trip was life changing for me. It was at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. The trek itself was 1 day in camp, 10 days in the wilderness, 1 day back at camp. It was crazy to see how much I remember with my dad.

The two funniest/best/most succinct stories to tell (that I can remember) were this: at the beginning of the trek I snidely said “someone’s going to cry on this trip,” and lo and behold I was that someone. Finally, I went the entire 10 days of hiking (close to 120 miles total over the days) without showering or washing my shirt. Needless to say that I had to hold my breath to get dressed each morning.

My parents leave in a couple days, but that’s ok. I’m loving the time I get with them already.

-E.B.