Hot and cold

Ah, Valentine's Day. Love is the air. This was made apparent to me after I had to leave two places because there were no parking spaces. Apparently, Target and Trader Joe's are real hotspots. Last night, my friend and I sat in a sea of starry eyed couples. She's held up her hand (which contained a lovely wedding ring) and said: "See this? I have this on my finger, and this is still a Valentine's Day nightmare to me." If nothing else, it proved to be a gold mine for people watching.

The day has actually been good. It started early, after a mere five hours of sleep. Someone got into the laundry room and took up the washers before opening hours. I was pretty annoyed. Don't make people mad at 7 a.m. on a Saturday. They will retaliate. Just saying, my clothes were washed and dried by 8:00, their stuff was not...

Yoga was nice. It was a slower pace and a nice way to ease into things. I had coffee with a good friend afterward. We had a really good talk about things that I usually don't get to talk about with my other friends. This girl is awesome because she is healthy, balanced, level-headed, and works hard, but she definitely knows how to rock out and have a good time. We used to work together and slowly became good friends. I know her family, help out with her dog, sympathize with her work stories (what a nightmare - so glad I got out of there),and cheer on the Crew beside her despite the wind/rain/snow/cold. She falls into the category of a new friend that feels like an old one. She is always encouraging me to take advantage of my age and freedom, and I might listen this time.

I had tea with another friend and enjoyed another good, long conversation (and a new robin's egg blue tea kettle!). A single friend joined me for the evening and we watched two movies and ate ice cream (cliche, wonderful). There were couple in the ice cream shop, huddled in a whispering. We walked out every so proudly, ice cream in hand, proud to be a part of balancing the social universe. So, for a Valentine's Day that could have been spent in dripping cynicism, I feel like today was actually a really good day shared with close friends. I am about to crash for about six hours and start another busy day. Steph, let's discuss that vacation and forget about waiting until I get that other job...

*Side note: The lightbulb came on in the middle of the morning after seeing The Wrestler. I won't give any details, but I think it is a brilliant movie. Part of its brilliance is that the people who would gain the most from catching on to what it's about, never will.