One week.

When you first arrive in a new city, nothing makes sense. Everything is unknown, virgin... After you've lived there, walked those streets, you'll know them inside out. You'll know those people. Once you've lived there, crossed that street 10, 20, 1000 times... it'll belong to you because you've lived there. This is about to happen to me. And I cannot wait.

Seven days until I move to Santa Cruz. Those seven days are going to speed past me. I'm in San Diego until Friday, when I'll fly back to the Bay and drive straight up to the house for the tour. This weekend will be full of stress and hard work, but it will pay off. And then, I have two days to get everything situated before I move in on Wednesday. I'm sure you all know by now how excited I am to go, but I can't help saying it again. I feel free. I feel liberated. It's a beautiful feeling, one I've never really experienced before. Of course it's going to be weird not being in the Bay - the place that I've spent the last 21 years of my life. I know the Bay Area like the back of my hand. But, my family is basically gone from there, and the friends I have there are too close to me to lose because of distance. So, really, I have nothing keeping me there. Nothing. Not work, not a love interest, not any sort of opportunities. Nothing. Why SHOULDN'T I be excited to leave? Why should I WANT to stay somewhere because it's convenient or familiar. I guess I'm just excited to be finally getting out. When my mom died, I beat myself up a lot because I felt like I had gotten nowhere for her to be proud of. Sure, I was a supervisor at Starbucks at 19 years old; sure, I was doing 15 units a semester, plus 32 hours at work, plus doing shows on the side. But, I had nothing to show for it really. I would run into people I went to high school with, and it was like, "Yup, I still live at home, I still work at Starbucks, I still go to Ohlone." And I guess that has more to do with me worrying about what other people think about me than anything else, but, growing up in a town like San Leandro, where it's "hard" to get out and succeed, I didn't want to be another statistic. So, doing this is my ticket out. I don't ever had to come back if I don't want to. The Bay Area is such a bubble. We think the rest of the world is like that, or should be like that, but it isn't, and no one says it has to be. And although I'm not going THAT far from the Bay, I cannot wait to learn a new place, and meet new people, and experience new things.

Preach.

I've got a right to be wrong
My mistakes will make me strong
I'm stepping out into the great unknown
I'm feeling wings though I've never flown
Got a mind of my own
I'm flesh and blood to the bone, no I'm not made of stone
Got a right to be wrong
So just leave me alone

Got a right to be wrong
I've been held down too long
I've got to break free
So I can finally breathe
Got a right to be wrong
Gotta sing my own song
I might be singing out of key
But it sure feels good to me
Got a right to be wrong
So just leave me alone

You're entitled to your opinion
But it's really my decision
I can't turn back, I'm on a mission
If you care don't you dare blur my vision
Let me be all that I can be
Don't smother me with negativity
What ever's out there waiting for me
I'm gonna face it willingly

I've got a right to be wrong
My mistakes will make me strong
I'm stepping out into the great unknown
I'm feeling wings though I've never flown
Got a mind of my own
I'm flesh and blood to the bone, no I'm not made of stone
Got a right to be wrong
So just leave me alone

Got a right to be wrong
I've been held down too long
I've got to break free
So I can finally breathe
Got a right to be wrong
Gotta sing my own song
I might be singing out of key
But it sure feels good to me
Got a right to be wrong
So just leave me alone