waiting for magic...

I know, I know! I’m a bad blogger, bad emailer, bad facebooker, bad myspacer, bad phone call returner (btw: I dropped ye old cell phone about two hours ago and its no longer working). I’ve been so delinquent on my personal responsibilities. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll respond eventually :)

It’s been a year since Kate and I moved into our (now) fabulous apartment. A lot has changed. Right now my favorite thing is our (real) Christmas tree (oh, yeah, and having furniture; they rate at about the same). It’s got red and white lights and dozens of ornaments given to me by family members over the years. I love getting ornaments for Christmas. I feel like my life started when I moved to Ames. So many things happened all at once and the extreme change made me feel more alive than I had in years.

I think I’m starting to turn into a recluse. I don’t like to go out that much anymore and I really like being in the apartment. It’s so safe in the apartment. Last night I got to the bars, had one beer, and just decided that pretending to be happy and make small talk around a bunch of strangers (and a few friends) wasn’t worth the effort. So, I waited for the bus home and called Peter. Lately I’ve been talking to Peter a lot on the phone. It’s nice to talk to him after such a long time of really not saying much. Strange that after 4 years, Peter and I are really at a place where we can be friends. He and his family drove through Des Moines last weekend; I went to go meet them for brunch, thinking I would be hanging out with him and his parents. Instead, it was me, his parents, Peter, his mom’s parents, and his uncle (seven of us squeezed into a booth at Perkins. Ahh, brunching adventures). I wonder if it will be 4 years before I feel that comfortable talking to Rob? I hope not.


To go along with my new recluse nature, Kate and I have started playing scrabble. I’m too competitive of a player though. I played with George (my cousin in-law) over break and (gasp!) actually won. It’s so gratifying to win to someone who’s a sore winner. But he’s a good player and now I’ve got to hone my craft.

Also on the recluse front: I spent more time on homework this weekend than I’ve ever spent on a weekend before. Today I literally did school work for 14 hours (with just short breaks for meals). Time flies when you’re designing the world’s most frustrating powerpoint presentation. I find some homework to be addicting; the more I get into it, the more I lose touch with reality (which, lets face it, I wasn’t that in touch with from the start).

It’s cold outside and warm in the apartment. My toes are chilly and Kate stops every once in a while to tickle them. There’s a scrabble board under the tree and an empty Tivo box (which I have yet to set up because I have yet to figure out why it doesn’t love me because I have yet to find the time). My hair smells like dye. Kate is making old woman noises. Life seems so normal, but all I can think is: it’s been a year.

Posted by Dana on Sunday, December 03, 2006 at 7:49 PM | Permalink