The Ultimate Cure

So the end of last week brought with it the emotional conclusion to a chapter in my life that should really have ended long ago. It's hard to really describe why it went on as long as it did but there is no doubt that a huge weight has suddenly been lifted off my shoulders. I didn't truly realize how much it was holding me back until I forced my way past it.

I don't really want or need to get into the details of it all on here, those that know, will know what I am talking about and those that don't, don't need to know. What I want to talk about is the ultimate cure to such an emotional couple of days. Girlfriends!

I have so many wonderful girlfriends and while not all of them knew what had happened they all knew just what to do to help me get over the hurt and see the wonder of what's to come. One showed up with wine and ice cream with only the vaguest knowledge of what had gone on, but with a COMPLETE understanding of what it meant to me. Some (having no clue about what had happened) met for an early weekend happy hour and offered unlimited Sangria, bad for you food and laughter. Still others arranged for a day by the pool complete with margaritas, wine, dinner on the roof overlooking the amazing sights of DC and some truly relaxing 'girl time'.

There is something magical about sitting with your girlfriends and talking through what's going on in your life - the good stuff, the tough stuff, the embarrassing stuff, the sad stuff - they WANT to know it all. Girlfriends can bring you up out of the depths without even realizing they are doing it or truly grasping how much you needed it. I haven't really talked much yet about what happened at the end of last week (only to a couple people that I couldn't avoid) and yet somehow I feel like they all knew. They all reached out and picked me up and made me see how much BETTER things will be now that the door to the past has finally closed.

So, I'd like to say THANK YOU to all my wonderful girlfriends (you know who you are).

Summer Roommates

Yeah, yeah, I know - three months since last time. Someday I will get better at posting when things ACTUALLY happen. For now, deal!

At the beginning of the summer a cousin of an old friend of mine asked me if she could come to stay with me for three months. She was doing an internship in DC organized through The Washington Center. I will admit that I was less than enthusiastic about the idea. I didn't really want to do it. But, after lots of thinking and soul searching and talking with people wiser than me I decided to open my home up to this girl I've known for years but didn't really know at all. It was the right thing to do. Helping people out is always the right thing to do. And really it was only for three months, that's not that long in the grand scheme of things. So, I made the offer. Even still I really wasn't looking forward to it.... to be honest, I was dreading it.

I've been living on my own for three years. I've gotten very used to my own company, my own routines and my own space. I like being able to come home to a quiet apartment after a crazy day. I loved never worrying about who I would annoy if I played my music full blast while cleaning on a Saturday morning. And I like having the option of hanging out at home cuddling on the couch with a date watching a movie and drinking some wine. Having someone else in my house was going to change all that. So I decided that the best thing I could do was make sure that I had so much going on all summer that I wouldn't notice that there was someone else in my space.

Over the last three months I've been playing ball, meeting new friends, dating, going to concerts, taking road trips, hiking, traveling, and generally just enjoying life. It's been an amazing summer. I've made some great new friends, done some incredibly fun things and I've also learned so much about myself. I was expecting to spend a lot of time swallowing my annoyance at things being in the wrong place, irritated that someone was in the bathroom when I really needed to pee, or feeling like I had no time to myself in my own house. That never happened. Yes, I did have moments of irritation but for the most part having a roommate was NOTHING like I expected it to be. We each had our own lives and did our own thing but we fell into a pretty easy routine when we were home. We both kept the house mostly clean and tidy. We both gave each other the space we needed while still co-existing and sharing our lives for the last three months. We actually got along really well.

Letting Lisa stay with me was not an easy choice for me to make. But because I did, I've had a great summer and I've realized that as much as I like (ok, LOVE) living on my own, having someone else around doesn't have to be a bad thing. I had a chance to do something really nice for a young girl who really just needed a safe place to try to spread her wings and really experience life. I don't think she's had any real opportunity to do that up until now. All in all I think that she had a fantastic summer too and in a lot of ways I was really glad to have been able to give her a safe place to experience it all from.

That said, I am REALLY glad to have my house back to myself! Wonder what interesting adventures the fall will bring to my life?!?