Old Friends Bring New Attitudes

It's been a hectic week. In a good way, this time.

On Monday, a pair of old friends showed up from far, far away. We were really close when I lived here in 2005/2006, and it was the first time I'd seen either of them since. The breakup was glossed over in a sentence, and the discussion of my marathon went on for ages. Mostly because one of the people I was out with was also a runner. It felt like progress after the weekend I'd had, though. Less progress was when I missed the tube home, couldn't find the night bus, fell asleep on the night bus I finally DID find, and wound up getting in at 3 am. Oops. Well worth it.

Then, on Friday, another old friend arrived. This one from my time in Paris. Over beers, the following discussion took place:

Me: Yeah, so I might need a place to stay when I come for the marathon in April
Friend: Of course! I have a new pull-out couch.
Me: And I'll be choosing a charity to run for in the next couple weeks...
Friend: Ooh! let me know and I'll make a donation.

I'm always surprised by how willing people are to help. It shouldn't surprise me, since I'm always willing to help others, but it still does.

And all these old friends made me laugh, made me remember pieces of myself.

I had a good chat with my friend/sister Carrie last weekend, when I was down in the dumps about the move. She reminded me of Mudfest 2007 in Korea. The weekend was so amazing that, even though I'm pretty sure I broke my foot (crowd surfing + muddy body = bad idea) I still look back on it as one of the best weekends of my life. Mud, good friends, good music, and an insane bus ride home that ended with my buddies literally dangling half naked from the rafters while we sprayed beer everywhere. My abs hurt from laughing by the end of it all.

Carrie asked me "was the ex there?" I said no, the ex wasn't even on the scene yet. She reminded me that I had the best weekend and the best memories and I was so happy and surrounded by great friends, and the ex was nowhere to be seen.

I had to swap some pictures in picture frames, and there is now a Mudfest picture sitting proudly where my ex's picture once sat. Fitting. I'll make my own happy memories.

So, I'm on my way back up. I really, really want a permanent job, though. I'm getting itchy, I want to focus on all sorts of interesting things (running, writing, making a plan for my life, photography...the usual!), rather than spending half my life on charityjob.com. Yes, that's a real website. I've come so far, but this next step is, in my impatient mind, taking far too long.



My friends at Mudfest 2007