Fandom

Actual conversations that happened at my going away happy hour. For context, I had stated my intention that despite moving to Texas, I would root* for the Phillies in honor of all my Philly friends. For reference, both of these guys have long-term girlfriends.


G (Phillies fan): I wish we were dating so I could propose to you RIGHT NOW.

(5 minutes later)

M (Mets fan): I wish we were dating so I could break up with you right now, on principle.
F (Phillies fan): Yeah, we actually hate the Mets.
Me: Okay, duly noted. I have so much to learn!


*And of course, by root, I mean that I will hope they win if I notice a game is on or something...I'm not going to start memorizing stats or you know, paying attention or anything :).

Goodbye, blog drought

Hello motivation to post? I wouldn't get your hopes up, but I will give it a shot.

So, what has happened in the six months? A lot. Also not so much. Not yet, anyway.

By a lot, I meant that plenty has in fact happened: dear friends had deliciously chubby babies, moved to cool places, and did fun things. I have done many of the fun things with them. And then by not so much, I mean that my life hasn't changed all that much - same job, same town, etc. However, all of that is about to change. After years of talking about how I would eventually end up back in Texas, I have taken the plunge (in the form of a new job in Dallas) and am actually moving back in a week. It's still totally surreal, but it has been official for over a month now, and it is really happening.

At this point I am in mostly disbelief that it's actually happening. I mean, I know that I'm changing my addresses and packing boxes to mail to my parents' place and those sorts of things, but the full impact definitely hasn't hit me, and I don't think it really will hit me until I'm driving out of Arlington for the last time. I'm super sad to leave this place - my friends are great, but honestly I'm not mourning them just yet, because I have no doubt I'll see all of them again. And as often as possible. Right now, I'm mourning my favorite haunts and dives...tiny restaurants where I don't have to look at the menu, yellow leaves in the fall, the crab deck in Kent Narrows, skyline drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains...it's a very long list. Because I can come back and do those things, but it won't be the same, because I won't be HERE anymore - it won't ever be a quick jaunt in the middle of a normal week, it will now be a special thing I'm doing in the middle of an unusual trip. Even good changes are crappy ones in some ways, and I'm so feeling it right now.

Also, you should stay tuned for the "I'm so sad why on earth did I move away from so many people that I love" post which will probably happen around October 1, when I have gotten into full swing of missing people. I'm not looking forward to that at all, although I have no doubt it's coming. The catch-22 is that the longer I stay, the harder it will be to go. And I need to go.

So here we go - maybe the revitalization of the blog is just the thing for the next chapter in Texas, where I will still be an ex-pat, just from my Virginia life. I have a feeling that my plane ticket expenditures aren't going to be decreasing any time soon...

Why I love Dinner Party Download

Brendan : “Yes, I hate cupcakes. I make no secret about it. I think our desire for them is this return to being children, but more than ever we really need to act like adults in this country. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the mortgage bubble paralleled the cupcake bubble.”
Rico: “You know, I thought they were just tiny cakes with frosting.”
Brendan: “Tiny frosted evil, Rico.”

Don't agree on the cupcake sentiment, but the wit is killer.

Link here.

Disney, a photo recap

I came home with:

-half a handle of rum ("but why is all the rum gone?!")

-Mickey ears...

...with my name on the back

-a Peter Pan mug that I love

-Harry Potter postcards, stamped with "Hogsmeade"

-a Mickey t-shirt

-an overpriced poncho

-Lots of good memories

Dear Rachel

What a great idea!

Dear 20-year old Rachel,

So hey, yeah, college is awesome, right? And London? That was a great decision. Way to not stress about everything that was swarming around you back in Texas, and good job on going to all those theater shows with your grocery money. It was totally worth it.

Maybe try to pay a little more attention to things in general though. I mean, you're crazy smart and good at school, but...how do I say this nicely...you're really lazy about it sometimes. Your college is full of amazing people and events and guest speakers, and you should really, really take more advantage of that. Also, it's not such a bad thing to get passionate about a cause, or take sides on things. I know conflict makes you a bit uncomfortable, but some things are definitely worth having an opinion on, even if it makes you and some other people a bit uneasy. You are a procratinator by nature, but you will save yourself SO MUCH STRESS if you would just start on those papers (and especially that senior thesis project) just a little sooner than you'd like to.

And those girls you're hanging out with? For the most part, they are some of the best friends you will ever have. You should thank your lucky stars that 18-year old you got assigned to that particular freshman hall. The sorority thing is probably not all it seems cracked up to be, alas. I mean, those girls are awesome too, but let's be honest - your heart really isn't into it, is it? I'm not saying you should drop out or anything, but think about what else you could be doing with that $75 a month.

Speaking of money, way to not have a credit card yet, that is a good move. Although, seriously: you have no concept of managing money in any kind of real way. That's going to suck in a few years when you do get a credit card, and aren't as good as you should be about paying off the balance. I know stuff happens and you DO really like shopping a lot (and you don't get expensive stuff), but you're going to be paying on those student loans and things for a really long time, and if you go ahead and skip all the credit card debt, you're going to be a much happier person for it.

Also, maybe you should think about taking some ballet classes again. I know you thought you were done with that after high school, but if you really think about it, you don't like working out at all besides dancing. So while you're in great shape now (seriously, even your stomach), it will be really good for your muscles and such in the long-term to just go ahead and keep up with that.

Your twenties are pretty much going to be great, so don't forget to enjoy them. 30-year old you would definitely do it all over again, which is certainly not something you would agree to now if you were asked to relive 10-20 or so. Mostly just the junior high and high school part though, right? Anywho, you're going to get to see and do a lot of amazing stuff, and while you will occasionally wonder if things would have turned out differently if you had made different decisions, I think we both can agree everything is going to go (went) exactly as it should have.

Best,

30-year old Rachel

Where's MY super helpful report?

All these articles, one after another, talking about how good chocolate is for you. Blah blah blah. Where's the story that justifies MY junk food habits huh? I'm not even into chocolate. Where's the study about all things cheese flavored actually being good for your pancreas or similar?*

*Although all of the pro-coffee and wine ones have been a good start. Thanks for that.

Side Effects

We've been sitting around and doing very little since last Friday afternoon, with small spurts of activity here and there.* While you might think this is quite a nice way to spend your time, there are unintended consequences, I've discovered. For instance, any activity whatsoever is really taxing, like "I could use a nap now" taxing. I just matched together three days worth of clothing to wear on our upcoming weekend getaway to New York, and am now utterly exhausted. And the two hours of snow shoveling earlier certainly didn't help either. I wonder if we're going to have to work our way to full days of doing every day things without totally wearing ourselves out.


*For posterity's sake: we had about 3 feet of snow dumped on us over the last 6 days. It was great, and then it was not so great.