Friends, Friends, and Babies

So I just got off of the phone with one of my best friends, Jess, (well not JUST...but approximately one shower and one brief chat with Cheryl ago) and I was in the mood to post something so I thought I'd take just a minute in honor of my friends. (See how I'm still all interested in this "blog" thingy? Just give it another week or so and I'm sure the novelty will wear off...haha... and the only time I will blog will be when I post privately in order to vent my personal frustrations on "paper".)

My friends are pretty freakin' weird... but I'm pretty sure that they're all perfect for me at the same time. To narrow it down- I'm mostly talking about my college friends; or the "Sassy 7" as we call ourselves. Ha- that name definitely has some weird connotations, but I assure any of you who read this... not even one of us is particularly all that "Sassy"...we just liked the illiteration I think. :)

Anyway, my reason for thinking about this is just that I was talking to Jess, and she poked at me by saying that I tend to "read into things" too much. Which is probably true. But so does she...though admittedly she's gotten much better. It's just that I'm usually pretty perceptive when it comes to people. I've honestly viewed it as one of my only REAL strengths in a communal setting, because most of the other good things I bring to the table stem from that. I'm usually able to sense and understand other people's emotions and motivations, and because of this am generally able to relate, and because I can relate, people are usually pretty receptive. But anyway, that doesn't really have anything to do with what Jess was saying. I'm just super "self-reflective" whenever I blog, for some reason. It's probably because that's where my mind usually lies. I don't dwell in the realm of the political, or the scientific, or the historical, or the factual...haha. I mean- I'm not completely tuned out and stupid, don't get me wrong. But, in general, I'm focused on a more emotional level, I guess? Relationships are what I sort of intuitively dwell on. Kind of. I don't know. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm a "people person" and focused on emotions.

My friends... FINALLY getting back to the point here- sorry about that... are not necessarily that way. Actually, I'd say that it's about 50/50 with us. Half of us go with our gut, are driven primarily by a desire to connect or feel, and pay special attention to emotion. The other half are driven less by emotion and more by... I don't know...the head? It took me a long time, though to realize that that might be the perfect setup. Exactly what I need (or at least then).

And because I think I'm a pretty open book (about ALMOST anything)....

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Let it be known that I stopped this "post" mid-blog, and went to Target to pick up a baby gift for an old coworker and good friend of mine. Another old co-worker and I are going in on the gift together as he's laxidazical (his word, not mine...which accounts for my inability to spell it...haha) and British and unsure of proper baby shower gift etiquette, etc. Soooo I just got back and pulled together a pretty cute gift, if I do say so myself. I decided I wanted to try to keep the presents within a larger "theme", so I chose one of the bigger items left on the registry and used that to set the tone... a blue baby bath chair (to bathe babies in when they're too little to put in the tub and can't really sit up on their own). I got the baby body wash and lotions that she requested, a cute cushion thing for the chair, an inflatable duck tub protector for when he gets a bit bigger, a travel baby bath essentials kit, and a little half cow, half fish sponge that "moos"! I arranged it all neatly in the chair, and wrapped it in clear cellophane, with a giant green bow. Not too shabby... I'm impressed with it, though the cellophane's a bit more wrinkly than I'd like.

In the time that I've been at my computer, I've received TWO emails from H&R Block, reminding me that the countdown to the end of tax season is almost here. Yikes- I need to do my taxes. I should probably take a look at those this weekend, seeing as how I switched jobs mid-year, and I'm not sure how complicated it might be to account for that.

I used to work at Liberty Tax Services when I lived in GB. It's pretty ridiculous sounding, I know, but I was a "costumed waver". Ever see one of those people? Well, if not, please allow me to describe. A Liberty Tax costumed waver is an individual who dresses up in a costume (usually either as the statue of liberty or uncle sam...in my case, I basically OWNED that uncle sam!), and... you guessed it... waves. It's meant to be an attention grabber. You hold signs, you dance, you encourage people to come in and get their taxes done. And the big gimmick (at least in GB), was that you were nearly always tromping through a couple feet of snow. Come rain, come snow, come hail and below zero temps, we were out there- on the street corner- waving in 4-8 hour shifts. Hahah... nuts. Craziest thing you've ever heard? Here's the best part... the first year I waved was the first year for LT in GB. The owners held a competition and took a survey of local businesses etc. That year, I was voted the NUMBER ONE WAVER IN THE CITY! Woohoo! Now THERE'S something to tell the kids. ;)

Anyway, sorry this post has been the most random thing ever. I have a feeling that's how they're best going to work, as that's kind of how I work. If I don't write about what's on my mind, I won't want to write... and "stream of consciousness" writing seems to work best for me. :) (Quick side note: after reviewing this entry, I noticed I originally wrote "steam of cnsciousness" in the previous sentence..hahahaha)

I think I'm done. But I do want to sort of wrap up the thought process I started about my friends. I guess the point that I was eventually planning on getting at (though not in the most direct way...haha) is that they're all... we're all very different from each other... yet just enough the same. I think that's what makes it work. Some of us are very sensitive to people's feelings, some of us are of the "get over it" mentality. Some of us are givers and others are takers (actually... we're all a little of both I guess). What I'm trying to say is that the differences have proven to be challenges in the past... but always challenges that have caused me to grow- in ways that have made me a more rounded, more "mature" (and I use that word lightly) person. And, at our cores, we all share some sort of invisible commonality that makes us friends.

Basically... I think that's cool. :)