November 7th, 2011
freedom and friends
“5-6-7-8 chomp!”
—Lauren, Katie, me, Bri?, 1998
“I wanted to love you like my mother’s mother’s mother did / civilian…”
—Wye Oak, Civilian
“…she was fully aware, from second to second to second, that it wasn’t a drug or a dream but just life happening to her, a life with only a present and no past…”
“You are an interesting species. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone. Only you’re not. You see, in all our searching, the only thing we found that makes the loneliness bearable is each other.”
—Contact
time PM feeling hungry and peaceful and glad wearing cool blue shirt from Stephie, black pants reading nothing now! music WYE OAK and hopefully soon Florence + the Machine ready for snack next work
I walked back into the bedroom this morning crying my eyes out. I think I kind of scared Jeff. He was so nice though. I had gotten up early, since I kept waking up anyway (thanks Daylight Savings!), brewed some coffee and sat curled up on the couch finishing the last 20 pages of my book, Freedom. And I pretty much sobbed solidly through the last five or so pages.
I’m not sure if I’m turning into Jane Elizabeth Theissen already or what (except… I am crying at books—FICTIONAL CHARACTERS, mind you—not graduations of ACTUAL PEOPLE…I am pathetic), but I just couldn’t help myself. I tried to explain it, through tears, to Jeff—that I was crying about not just the characters, but life and loneliness and how all anyone has “is each other”—but I just can’t do it justice. An intense and incredible feeling and a most wonderful way to start the week.
Whew! So that was that. I suggest you read this book as soon as you can. It (clearly) blew me away. (Although the reviews on Amazon suggest that it, as I expected, is very polarizing, so…you may NOT like it. Anyway.)
In the meantime I have been on a crazy roll of SOCIALIZING. THE SOCIAL LIFE. I don’t anticipate this ending until after Diana’s bday party the 19th. Well, after that, actually. Here is a summary of the past few SOCIAL OUTINGS:
-last TUESDAY dinner with Jeff for our anniversary!! LOVE
-last WEDNESDAY coaching with Diana followed by meeting my mentee/seeing good ol’ fellow UMN alums/admin workers at the mentorship kickoff event. This was very fun although it is just crazy getting around the U/East Bank right now. So freakin’ convoluted. Dear dear construction…
-last THURSDAY meeting some of Kristin’s work friends at Town Hall Tap for a happy hour…they were great! (yes this is super random)
-FRIDAY met up with Angela for a happy hour, again at Town Hall Tap (yep), with mini Tiny I/Tiny II sized beers and all…then I came home and made Jeff and I a BBQ chicken pizza while drinking wine. Fun night!
-SATURDAY we went out to Eden Prairie to see Erik and go to the famed “JJs!!!” coffee/wine bar…we had wine and pretzels with ranch and a cheese plate, admired Erik’s middle-school drawings, and joked. A live band was even playing.
-SUNDAY (ok this is just becoming EOTW, sorry), amongst chores/cookingfest/etc., and an amazing swimmmmmmmm (between the phone calls), I talked to Christie (phone) about 2-year-olds-iPad-viewers, iPad mysteries, and anniversary celebrations, Jenny (phone) about Michigan visits/Friendmas in MN, getting hair and makeup done, and wedding-vs-reception times, and Daniel (over coffee) about trick-or-treating 2-year-olds, HS heartache, and divorcing ex-babysitters. SOCIAL LIFE!
Then I came home and had chili with Jeff and watched Walking Dead. YAY.
ALSO this weekend we went on an superfast, superfun bike ride in the sunny sun sun…possibly last?, HUNG OUT a lot reading/playing videogames (me/Jeff), and did a lot of yardwork. Getting ready for winter! I also engaged in massive COOKING/food prep Sunday which I kind of adore…good food for the week, people. I baked too…yummmmmmm.
Coming up in the SOCIAL LIFE/regular life:
-tonight, yoga with Jeff!!!
-today, I had lunch with Tiffany…LOVE seeing her! We need to do that more often.
-tomorrow, hang out with Jeff!
-Weds, coaching and lasagna with Diana!
-Thurs, nothing, hang out with Jeff!
-Friday, 11-11-11 Most Epic Wish Ever!!!
-Saturday….nothing. Probably put up the tree and drink fancy sugary coffee 🙂
-Sunday…nothing. Chores and laundry.
-Monday…nothing. MNF? Ha. OR help Cassie coach??
-Tuesday…college friends at Finnish Bistro (aka my new favorite hangout spot!)
-Wednesday, last gym class of this session/2011!
-Thurs, dentist
-Fri, nothing
-Sat, Diana’s bday party!
-Sun, baking party?
-Mon, Kelly!
THEN it is Thanksgiving. Um wow. That is a lot of stuff. Rest assured…I also have lots of downtime. I am just pre-making-up-for what I expect will be months of winter solitude/antisocialness.
Also. Five years ago around this time (yesterday on the date/today on the day, actually), I started at HITF. Where I met so many wonderful people. As I remarked to Angela on Friday, ‘that place just wasn’t real!’ Anyway. It is only fitting that I had a HH with Angela Friday and lunch with Tiffany today. Yesssssssss.
OUT!