Outta my comfort zone

I decided that I need to participate in some group activities. And by group activities, I mean organized sports. I've felt like I've been a bit of a lonely leech lately (kind of an oxymoron). Since Tasha and Rob left for Germany, it's just been me hanging with the rest of the dudes, which is all good and fine, as I love their company. But when half of them have girlfriends and there isn't another chick in our normal crew, sometimes I feel like maybe I need to branch out and meet new people so I don't feel like I'm always bugging them to schedule time around their GF to hang out with me.



So here's the plan... And I hope I have the guts to go through with it, as I usually do things with a friend... I'm going to sign up for a co-ed soccer league in Arlington. I absolutely LOVE soccer. Problem is, I haven't really played since I was 12. I did play indoor soccer a couple of times when I lived in St. Louis, but that's it. So I'm sure my skills are lacking. In fact, I'm probably no better than my 12-year-old self, and most likely not even that good. But hopefully I don't make a complete fool of myself, can reconnect with a lost love of mine, and can meet some cool people. I believe it all starts up in March. This means I get to make a trip to the sporting goods store real soon so I can purchase some cleats, shinguards and soccer socks. Love the excuse to shop. :)



Another thing that I'm considering is participating in the Dragon Boat Festival in DC. This seems like fun, a good work out, and another way to meet new people. I believe registration is in March, then training sessions start in April. The Festival itself is the weekend of May 16-17, so hopefully it doesn't get rained out or post-poned. 'Cause then the rescheduled date for the festival will be the weekend of the 30-31 and I will barely be back from................

PANAMA!

That's right, folks. It's official. I'm heading to Panama over Memorial Day weekend. I am so pumped for this!! I have already started to prepare myself for this awesome adventure. I signed up for 6 months worth of personal training sessions at my gym, and after the first session last week, I KNOW I will be looking better than I do now. Plus, if I'm playing soccer regularly and training with the Dragon Boat rowers, I expect to see some results. I will continue going to the gym when I don't have other activities in the evenings, and hopefully the weekends start to warm up so I can go out on some long bike rides. I am determined to trim down my body and start feeling good about it. And hopefully the added bonus will be some new cool people to hang out with. (Well, you know. Besides my personal trainer who will become my new boyfriend by the time 6 months goes by -- uh, yeah. HOT.) ;)

Scatter-brained

I have a lot of things swimming around in my head and I work best if I can just write them all down. Instead of worrying about forgetting these thoughts, which is keeping them constantly floating around my head, I can just go back to my list and see the organized bulleted items and think, "That's right! That one important thing, I still want/need to do/make happen!" Writing things down also helps to express the thoughts that have been festering... in complying with my New Years resolution, I am doing everything I can to let things go that I can't control.


Thus my list of things that I have been thinking about lately...

• Healthcare. I got my second notice in 4 months that my rates are going to increase. I have barely had the insurance for a year, and I've had 2 increases. Besides the fact that I pay per month for this coverage, it really isn't that great of coverage. I still have high deductibles, co-pays, prescription costs, etc. Yes, it is better than having no coverage. But why are we so limited? How did these insurance companies get the power to decide whether or not we get to be healthy or whether we live or die? Because sometimes it really comes down to that. Insurance companies deny care ALL the time. And if it is denied, chances are you cannot afford it. (It's even tough to afford the things that are covered!) If my doctor is concerned about my health and wants me to come in for a test, let's say.... the insurance company can deny that test with a snap of their fingers. 'Experimental', they might claim. OK. Well, how about I welcome 'experimental', if nothing else is working!! Luckily I don't have any life-threatening illnesses, but I have people who are very close to me and mean the world to me who DO have these illnesses. It really makes me sick to think that this greed in the insurance world has overpowered their human ability to CARE. I watched Michael Moore's Sicko this weekend. I thought it would be interesting to watch, given my recent qualms with my health insurance. I had my mouth open in shock and dismay the entire time. All sorts of emotions washed over me; anger, sadness, amazement, grief, confusion, and above all, betrayal. I have great pride in my country. I know that as a whole, this nation cares about people. But how can this nation also lead such a huge hypocritical program? I am just overcome with helplessness.

• Alright. Got that off my chest. On to item 2.. Fun things!! My friend Michelle will be visiting me from WA sometime in March. It's so fun when she comes. We can talk for HOURS on end, which sometimes isn't good if I have work the next morning. :) This time around, we are going to plan a trip to Niagara Falls! Yippee!! I've wanted to go there for the longest time. I had plans to go there last year for my birthday, but it never happened. So I am very excited to make it happen now! Another stamp on my passport, please.

• Another fun thing tentatively planned for March is the Sisters' Weekend. My sisters and I have gotten together the last few years for a weekend away with just us and fun things! Since we all live within 4 hours of eachother, we can plan this without too much disruption to our lives or advance planning. I know that we are lucky to have such ready access to eachother! I think this year we will be staying at my place (to save on hotel costs) and become DC tourists. I'm so excited for this! Since I live by myself now, we don't have to worry about encroaching on anybody else's space (roommates) and we can stay up however late we want, doing whatever we want. We will have access to whatever in the house we want, whenever we want it. And what a great excuse to do some things in the city! I am in the city every day for work, so I find it hard to make myself go BACK in to the city on the weekends, but I really LOVE the free museums, monuments and memorials. I am excited for this Sisters' Weekend. It will be the last in a long while (hopefully not the last forever!) since Tami is moving to Germany in April. Sad for us, but exciting for her and Jer!

• I almost dare not mention this, but I just can't resist exclaiming, 'PANAMA!' That's right. I may be going there for Memorial Day weekend. Still working out the details, but I am super pumped to make this happen. Another stamp on the passport - CHECK! In the mean time, I'm appropriately listening to Van Halen's Panama. On repeat. That Diamond Dave can really wail.

• Next up -- GERMANY! I am planning on visiting both households of Tasha & Rob and Tami & Jer this year in Germany. How wonderful for them to both move to Germany at the same time so I have places to stay! I want to of course tour all around Germany, but also hopefully visit France, Switzerland and Austria. What an awesome adventure. I am totally overly excited for this one. Europe has been #1 on my travel list. Another passport stamp!.

• Matthew will be heading out on a church mission sometime this year. I am so excited for him and sad for myself. Haha. I am selfish. I will miss him! He's got so much to give. I'm happy that I can truly call him one of my best friends. Him leaving on a mission means that I will make a trip home sometime in the next several months to attend his farewell. I love going home. I am always happy to breathe the clean air, drink the fresh water, see the green trees, Olympic mountains, Pacific ocean, and starry night skies. And I love my family. Any excuse to go home and see them all is welcome.

• All these vacations! It makes me realize how lucky I am. With the doom of taxes upon me (last year really screwed me!) and the negative feelings about our healthcare system, I still do realize what a lucky gal I am. I have commented and thought many times how lucky it was that my old company's demise was LAST year and not this year. I would definitely be in a different boat, and would be very scared and stressed about the future. I am so grateful for a good job and a great boss and the ability I have to be on my own, supporting myself and still being able to take advantage of the opportunity to travel.

• And one last thing... I've been thinking that I really need to make it a goal to purchase a home by the time I am 30. Have I mentioned this already? I don't remember. But now I'm putting it down in writing. This gives me a little less than 3 years to make it happen. I'm sort of feeling the pressure now, while the buying market is so great. Not a lot of potentials came up around Arlington -- too little for too much money. I tortured myself and started looking online in Charlotte, NC for homes that I could afford. A 2006 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2-story home -- with a yard and a porch -- could be mine for a monthly mortgage price of less than what I pay now in rent for my little 1-bedroom condo (stomp on my heart some more..). Which means that I will need to move out of this area in the next couple of years. I feel like I need to have something to show for myself by the time the ripe age of 30 rolls around, especially if I am still single (which will be likely, but I am OK with that) -- you know -- something to show other than a Corolla.

Stalker returns!

I don't think I've mentioned Stalker. (His name is Dave -- which I found out after many encounters --, but I'd rather call him Stalker because I know too many Dave/Davids already)..



Sometime this past summer when my friend Michelle was visiting me, we were standing in the Pentagon metro station waiting for our morning train. Some dude came up to us, interrupting our absorbed conversation and said to me, "Sorry, but I just wanted to tell you that I really like your hair. It's very bold of you and not a lot of people can pull it off. I saw you on the bus and kinda followed you so I could tell you that." (This is when I had the blonde streak of hair in the front)




Of course I was a little taken aback; shocked and surprised, but also flattered. So I said thanks for the compliment. Not long after this first encounter, I ran into him again.... or I should say that he ran in to me. I was getting off the bus at the Pentagon maybe a week later and Stalker jogs up to me to chitty-chat.

--SIDEBAR--

Now, you must understand.. I have turned in to the typical East Coast snob, in the fact that I keep entirely to myself, don't want anybody to invade my bubble, and I don't make eye contact with nor talk to strangers. Especially when I am commuting. I say 'Good Morning' to the bus driver when I get on the bus and 'Thank you' when I get off. That is the extent of my stranger contact.

--BACK--

Stalker starts saying something, which I imagine is along the lines of 'hi, how are you', but I have my headphones in, so I can't hear him. I reluctantly pull them out to be polite and say hi back.

Stalker: It's Emily, right?

Me: Yeah, that's right. And what was your name?

Stalker: Dave. So I saw you on the bus again this morning.

Me: Oh Yeah?

Stalker: Yeah. Do you always sit in the front?

Me: Usually I do

Stalker: I don't usually get on the 8AM bus, but each time I do, I see you on there.

Me: Yup. That's the bus I get on every morning. Unless I'm running late. Then I have to wait for the 8:20 bus

~down in the pentagon metro station at this point~

Stalker: So what line do you take?

Me: Yellow

Stalker: Cool. I can take Yellow, too

Fantastic. So then I'm forced to chat with this guy on the entire metro ride.. Maybe if he were hot I'd be more inclined to get to know him? How shallow is that... It wasn't like he was ugly or anything, but just his presence was nerdy and a tad annoying.

I found myself dreading the morning bus ride even more than normal, hoping that Stalker wouldn't be on the bus. I would try to nonchalantly take a big glance around the bus to spot him before I sat down. Sometimes I would see him. It was these times that I would then rush off the bus and hurry down in to the metro station to try to lose him. I was annoyed that I had to be bothered with this intrusion on my personal space/time. I was unsuccessful many times in avoiding him and we had many a conversation about things that are not captivating in the least.

Several weeks went by Stalker-free. Then he made a surprise move.... Sometime in October, he was on my bus ride HOME. Tricksy! He sat right next to me on the bus this time, clearly pleased with himself. He noticed that my hair was growing out.

Stalker: Oh, I can see your brown roots growing out on the blonde streak.

Oh really? Cause I CERTAINLY haven't noticed myself. Idiot.

Me: Yeah, luckily I have a hair appointment on Friday.

Stalker: Getting it re-done?

Me: Going all dark this time.

Stalker: Like Goth?

Me: No. Like just dark.

Then sometime toward the end of November, he creeps up on me again on the bus ride home. He comments on my new dark hair color.

Apparently he likes it. Goody. I crave his approval. **sarcasm** He then rambles on and on about how he dressed up as an elf last year and participated in Santarchy and wants to do it again this year, which is mildly amusing. I was still glad when I was able to get off the bus and end the interaction, however.

I have not seen Stalker since November. I actually started to forget about him. Until this morning! I was waiting by my bus stop, trying my best to shield myself from the cold snowy wind with my umbrella, when the couple who always steps out for a morning smoke on the front steps of their apartment building (and ALWAYS throws their cigarrette butts in the grass! HUGE pet peave of mine) walked down the steps and over to the bus stop. They asked me some questions about the bus; when does it come, does it stop at Pentagon City, does it take the SmarTrip card? I of course was very polite and answered all of their questions with a smile. Apparently they wanted to take the bus instead of their car today since it was snowy.

About half-way through the bus ride, I was curious as to where the couple ended up sitting. I don't know why. So I finished the chapter I was reading and lifted my head to take a look around. I looked all the way to the back of the bus, and BAM! There was Stalker!!! It was like I was shocked with those heart-shocker things. I believe I gasped. CRAP. I quickly averted my gaze, hoping that he didn't see me looking at him. PLEASE don't find me and talk to me! I looked out the front window of the bus to see how close we were to our destination. And wouldn't you believe... there was that cigarrette couple. Only one seat away from me.