Misty--the escapee

Yes, that's right. I'm the one that got away--out of a bad situation, out of a bad job, out of South Carolina and up to Charlotte. I've also taken on a bit of the role of big sister to some of the girls on this blog, or at least the ones who came to the paper after I did. That's probably because I had done what they were doing--moved to a small town where I knew nobody to start out on my adventure in journalism, where I just knew I would change the world.

Well, I didn't change the world, and journalism didn't offer me quite what I expected. I still believe it can be a very noble career choice, or a very ignoble one, depending on the person practicing it. But even though I didn't change the world, I can hope that my work did change a few minds, or at least touched a few hearts.

So now I am doing public relations for a museum, which I really enjoy. I really don't want to go into my full background here, though. If you want to know more about me, check out my individual blog (see links on the right). What I really want to do here is talk about how much the other girls on this blog mean to me.

My birthday was last weekend. I had to work and the day itself, honestly, was terrible. But the next day I got a special delivery from one of my "sisters"--a scrapbook, put together by all of my other sisters. That scrapbook along with a nice little tribute my roomie did on her blog to our friendship have been the only redeeming things about my birthday this year. Some friends up in this area and I were supposed to go out to dinner last night, and I'll spare you the details, but let's just say the night went badly and I ended up getting dinner handed to me through a window, in a paper bag.

But this morning I took a look at the scrapbook, and if the thought and work that went into it weren't enough to remind me of how good of friends I have, the memories captured there reminded me as well. One page in particular caught my eye. It was a page of photos from the night out the girls planned for Amanda and I last year for our birthdays, which are very close together. It was a simple night--we all got dressed up and went to a nice restaurant--but it was very thoughtful and so much fun. So maybe I had a rotten birthday this year, but I had a great one last year, and I still have friends who care enough about me to go the extra mile.

The point of all this is to say that, while I felt a lot of thorns during my time in South Carolina, it's ok. I walked away with the roses.