Oooo, I’ve changed my mind!
Camera Lust:
This is the X10. It’s just about as good as the X100. ONLY it’s a lot cheaper.
According to my camera-friend at work, he says I would hardly notice the difference. Here are the specs, and here’s a link to the review.
This is what I want, now.
Maybe a gift to myself once I cut another debt?
Another note on O’Malley’s Confections
Oh, dear.
Earlier I said that I had stickers.
Then I said that boxes were on their way, and I was excited.
There’s something you should know. I have absolutely no concept of spatial reasoning. None at all.
I didn’t understand that 1.5″x1.5″ was little.
As in, can only fit two caramels little.
So, I won’t quit my day job just yet. And I think I’ll be asking for a second opinion when I go online to buy things.
Wanna see?
Now, how about next to something else for comparison? Which the internet totally should have done.
HAHA.
What’s the solution?
My first thought is, no big deal, I’ll just make smaller stickers and people can take these when they’re just a bit hungry.
My second thought is, wow, this is a great way to make fifty cents!
Open for Valentine’s Day!
O’Malley’s Handmade Confections now has stickers, so we’re official.
What I lack now is customers.
However
Even though I have a business license
I don’t have a commercial kitchen
So
I don’t think I can actually sell caramels yet.
But!
If you’re reading this
It’s likely that you know me
{and love me already!}
Do you want caramels for Valentine’s Day?
Do I have your address?
Better make sure I do!
Someday I’d like to own this
This is the Fujifilm x100 and it’s lovely. It looks old school, and I got to take a picture or two with one a few months ago, and I can’t get it out of my head.
It costs more than a month’s rent, and I have other debts to pay off, but this is a camera that I’d like to own one day.
Let me know if you see it for about half of what they’re asking.
Stranger things have happened!
Related articles
- Review: Fujifilm FinePix X10 (stuffmideast.com)
- Fujifilm X100 Black pictures and hands-on (pocket-lint.com)
- Hands-on with the X-Pro 1: Streamlined controls and bright lenses in the same stylish package (digitaltrends.com)
10 Questions that Create Success
In my day job, I subscribe to Inc’s online sales newsletter. It talks about all kinds of small business success stories — mainly in terms of hard sales or door-to-door campaigns.
But then, today, something else came along. Ten questions that create success. And it blew me away. The author says to think of these things every day, and that it’s okay when the answer is “not today” but they’ll improve your life if you think of them every day.
They’re worth reprinting here, just for reference. They’re already in my journal.
1. Have I made certain that those I love feel loved?
2. Have I done something today that improved the world?
3. Have I conditioned my body to be more strong flexible and resilient?
4. Have I reviewed and honed my plans for the future?
5. Have I acted in private with the same integrity I exhibit in public?
6. Have I avoided unkind words and deeds?
7. Have I accomplished something worthwhile?
8. Have I helped someone less fortunate?
9. Have I collected some wonderful memories?
10. Have I felt grateful for the incredible gift of being alive?
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- 10 Questions to ask oneself each day (weidivv.wordpress.com)
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Confession
It came up last night at dinner. A lovely friend came by, we ate dinner, drank Aperol cocktails, and finished with pumpkin ice cream. She’s been gone for a few months and it was great to catch up.
She’s going to visit her special someone the weekend before that random Tuesday in February. So we discussed Valentine’s day (and gay marriage and abortion and religion!).
I like the ones that are just a tiny bit more subtle than "bee mine"
She seemed like she was starting to apologize, “but Valentine’s Day is arbitrary” or something deep and intellectual, when I blurted:
“I love Valentine’s Day.” She laughed, wasn’t sure if I was joking, perhaps hoping I was. But the secret was out, so I continued. “I love red, pink and white. I love hearts. I love heart-shaped everything. The candy is the best. Seeing an aisle of red in grocery stores makes me happy.”
She laughed. “It’s so comforting to be around someone who isn’t ashamed to like this day.”
It definitely sucks that guys are forced to buy some stupid thing and that there’s some bar that inevitably will leave some guys sleeping on the couch because he didn’t get the not-so-subtle hints in the days/weeks leading up to the day, and some girl ends up sulking when, hey, honestly, this is the one night a year (a year!) that is supposed to be a simple equation of buy flowers/get laid.
get it? GET IT?
Interesting side note: my birthday is precisely nine months after Valentine’s Day, give or take a few days. And you know what? I’ll never (EVER) ask, but I bet it’s not coincidence. It’s fun to remind other November birthdays of that fact, too, just to see them squirm. {Dad, thank goodness, hasn’t figured out how to leave a comment yet.}
ANYWAY, I just love it. Growing up, Mom always made sure that us girls got presents on Valentine’s Day. As a kid, it was exciting! and fun! and chocolate before school! but by the time I turned 13, I realized how special it was. Let’s just say I was a late bloomer, so throughout the “painful years” my mom was my only Valentine. To this day, she goes out of her way to let us know that she loves us. One year, we were informed that we’d gotten a cookie basket. Sure, we had to drive 10 miles to go get it, but it was an adventure that netted us both some heart-shaped cookies that said “I love you” on them. The next year, Mom bought us matching panini presses (or was that Easter?).
So that’s my confession. Valentine’s day is one of my most favorite holidays. Especially now that I’m a grown up and I work in a small office mostly filled with dudes, which means that there aren’t competing giant! bouquets! of flowers!
corny, from 1920
Let’s go back to elementary school, when the idea was egalitarian: show everyone in class how much you love them. Pick out the valentines that said something a little more special for that crush sitting across the room. Agonize over this decision. Realize that there are three or four of the special valentines, and no, that creep with the boogers doesn’t have one yet either, and panic. Somehow, in your ten-year-old head, understand that your crush won’t understand the significance, but the booger boy will. Stay oblivious to this life lesson for another decade or two.
And let’s just say that this is the day to love more. Thanksgiving episode two. There’s a lot of love in this world. Let’s be a part of it!
As for my friend and me, we agreed that it was a fun excuse to wear pink, or red, or white, unapologetically.
For those of you interested, I like the heart-shaped Sprees and the red and white Nerds best of all. Oh, and salted caramels. O’Malley’s Handmade Confections can’t be beat!
Related articles
- Funny Valentine’s Day Quotes and Sayings (livelaugh2love.wordpress.com)
- Less than one month until Valentine’s Day…let the planning begin! (ctworkingmoms.com)
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Christmas gifts 2011
I want to remember what I gave in 2011. So here goes:
- To my sister: the materials to make her very first sewing project (thanks, Pinterest!), the advent calendar, and this quarterly surprise present thing
- To my dad: a painted canvas that says “happy when skies are gray” which is a line from one of the songs he used to sing me, every night
- To my boyfriend: a “perfect Portland day” which ended up being a bunch of gift certificates to fun places in Portl
and. The idea is that we’ll go to brunch at Tasty n’ Sons, then ride the tram up the hill, then go to Powell’s books, then to Pok Pok for dinner and then the Doug Fir for dessert, drinks, and hipster watching. - To my family and friends: way-too-salty salted caramels (my bad!), magnets and coasters. This was the fourth year of “Kathleen’s homemade Christmas” and I still love it. Every year, caramels will be included, but the other stuff is much more open for discussion, thought, contemplation, etc.
This was also the first year of the Kathleen Christmas letter, which I got a bit of feedback from, and none of it was negative, so I’ll continue that.
- I like the idea of sending non-perishables, because it significantly decreases the stress level of mailing things out. Caramels don’t go bad (especially when they’re essentially a salt lick), magnets are cute, and coasters were fun. Next year, I’ll still send Priority boxes, so if anyone has a particularly amazing idea, please let me know!
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Maybe a better name
The results of the last poll made me realize that more thinking is in order.
So, after several silly emails between my uncle and me, I have this:
Better? Worse?
Here’s the side view:
Handmade? Homemade? Hand crafted? Artisan?
Candies? Confections? Sweets?
I need help, people.
2012 Resolutions: Ambitious
2012 is going to be a great year! My best friend is going to get married and throw one heck of a party, another really good friend is going to have a wedding, one of my friends is in the final fingers-crossed stage of an adoption, and who knows what else we’ll see?
Well, here are my goals for 2012:
-
Image via Wikipedia
Get completely, 100% out of credit card debt. This is going to happen in a few months, and there will be a happy dance all over the place. I’m aiming for finishing off that credit card by the time my friend has her wedding, so it doesn’t look like swamp thing was at her wedding. Right now it’s set to be done in May, and her wedding is at the end of April. Diligence will pay off.
- Do ten pullups. I was going to write “do one pull up” but I figure, once I can do one, then I can do ten. And putting “do one pull up” on a goal list for the next twelve months is a bit wussy, even for me.
-
Image via Wikipedia
Participate in a triathlon. Gulp. My boss is doing the Portland Triathlon with his son and he’s trying to recruit the rest of the office. It’s a 1.5 mile swim in open water, a 25 mile bike ride, and a 10k run. All at once. This is a stretch goal. It’s on the other side of possible, but only just. It’ll be super challenging, and a bit expensive to get into (seeing as I don’t have a bike or swim gear!) but I think I can do it. Scratch that. I know I can do it.
- Be more charitable. Give $100/month by the end of the year. I’m 20% of the way there.
- Get caramel business off the ground. Any ideas on a name for this?
Yep, 2012 is going to be a fun one!
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- What I’ll be Doing in 2012 (If the World Doesn’t End) (carlybananas.com)
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2011 Holidays with my Sister
My little sister is a schoolmarm. She gets the kind of time off that all other professions envy. In return, she has 30 fifth graders and 30 sixth graders who turn to her for their math and science learning. I say, please, take the time off! That’s a hefty task! And it allowed her to come to Portland for three glorious sister-filled days. Her friends weren’t in town, and we had a couple quiet nights at home and one lovely night out where we went to different restaurants for a progressive dinner. We went to Tasty & Sons in North Portland, then to Produce Row in Southeast. We went to The Woodsman, where the employees dressed like fancy lumberjacks… you know, the “dress up” clothes hypothetical lumberjacks would wear, if they could ever fit into skinny jeans. We went to Ashley’s house for Christmas crafts and family dinner. We ate. We drank. We spent time together. We loved it and we are planning to incorporate sister time into our holiday traditions.
One afternoon, I came home and she shouted, “your present is up there! wait for me!” She came upstairs, and I was looking on the walls. No new art. Nothing jumped out at me, until she told me to turn around. Where there was once a gross cardboard box filled with random crafty things, there was now a tackle box of sorts! She rearranged all of the assorted things from the box into a lovely display.
Here is a picture:
Look how it even says “Time for a Crafternoon” in Scrabble tiles! She even included a gift card (no! two!) so that my next craft adventure will be on her.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a thoughtful gift.
Then, on Christmas Eve (when my family opens gifts) she gave me a book that will help me make a business out of my caramels. Again, thoughtful, perfect, and spot on.
Related articles
- Wrapping up Christmas (lifewellblended.com)
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2011 Resolutions: How’d I do?
I went searching to find my 2011 resolution list. Let’s see how I did:
- eat breakfast every day: I did this for six months, and just couldn’t keep it up. I get up really early and just can’t eat breakfast in the 6 o’clock hour. But I do actually eat in the mornings more often than not nowadays, and I am happy with that progress.
- be more open to new ideas: I’m definitely more open minded and more open to new learning opportunities. I’m thinking of ways to expand my horizons.
- be more positive: This is definitely an area where I have improved greatly. I have framed my outlook in terms of thinking of how lucky I am, how many things I have, rather than focusing on what I don’t have.
- let mean comments roll off my back: I would call this a partial win. There are some people who can still say mean things and get me upset, but my guess is that’s how it’ll always be. For the most part, though, I don’t spend time with people who say mean things.
-
learn how to cook meat: Partial win, too. I am significantly more comfortable with meat, and I can only think of one time where the thing I made went from the table to the trash, and I think it’s just that I’m not a huge fan of ribs. I learned to cut up a whole chicken, I can cook pork tenderloin, I’m an expert with sticking something in the slow cooker, and I can even cook steak. The fact that my diet has become more meat centric forced me to get better at this, since let’s be honest, there’s only so much ground beef a person can eat.
- run a 15k with emily and dave: Well, this was probably cheating, since I think at the time of writing my 2011 resolutions, Emily’s plane ticket had already been purchased. I ran it, and had a blast. I ran a half marathon, too, and then I stopped running. I think I put on jogging shoes and went jogging six or seven times since April.
- travel for work: A win, I suppose, but a silly goal, in retrospect. I went to Colorado and New York in the early part of the year and Park City, Utah in the summer.
- travel for fun: Yes, definitely. However, I think that some of the travel was to make my relationship more fun. And I realized something really important: if you have to travel every month (or more!) to keep your relationship fun, you’re doing it wrong and it won’t last.
- love more: Yep. Win.
- be less skeptical: Hmmm. Some of these (like this one!) make me wonder what I was referring to, exactly. Skepticism is good, and exists for a reason. The opposite of skepticism is blind faith and that’s not something I’m good at. I’m more open to new ideas, but I’ll forever be skeptical. I’m not as apt to listen to my critical inner voice as I once was, so let’s call this a partial win. And a reminder to make my 2012 resolutions decidedly less vague.
- believe in myself: YES! Much more than I was. I’m going to include listening to my gut, because I finally got around to that in the summer and haven’t looked back since.
- give the benefit of the doubt: This one is kind of hard, actually. I definitely don’t think the absolute worst every time someone says something, but I still need to be a bit more generous and assume that people mean the best when things are unclear.
All in all, not bad. For next year, my goals need to be SMART (I can hear the teacher voice of my sister coming through here):
- specific
- measurable
- attainable
- realistic
- timely
2012 goals to come!
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Vegas recap
Image by RobertCiavarro via Flickr
Last weekend, my boyfriend and I went to Vegas and had a wonderful time. We’re not party animals, so Vegas was kind of an odd choice, but we made it exactly the kind of trip we wanted.
We didn’t spend much money or time gambling, we walked all over the strip, we got massages, we slept late, we hung out by the fire, and we saw three great shows and one mediocre one.
Shows I would highly recommend:
- Jersey Boys (link goes to the CD, which I’m strongly considering purchasing): Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. So fun! Great songs, wonderful acting, a lot of machismo.
- Michael Jackson Immortal Tour by Cirque du Solelil: My first Cirque show, and it was amazing. Coming from someone who works at a desk all day, it’s easy to be impressed with what people can do with their bodies. The only thing I didn’t realize going into the show was that Immortal was the last album Michael Jackson ever released (and even then, it was posthumously) and I’d never heard many of the songs. But they put old ones in, too, and it was over before I was ready.
- Absinthe: Adult variety show, came highly recommended by the guy working the discount ticket line. Very small venue, pretty raunchy, but still impressive. Like a tiny circus, but without animals. We sat in the second row, which was close enough to see everything, and far enough away to not be the butt of the emcee’s jokes.
In the vein of if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all, I would recommend staying away from kid-friendly shows, or shows that cost $10 in general. Unless and until I have kids, there is only so much amusement to be had in watching an illusionist stick a girl into a box and “cutting her up” six or seven times.
We stayed in a condo (the boyfriend has access sometimes to his parents’ timeshare credits!) way off the strip, and that was better. We cooked our meals for the most part, and did a good deal of relaxing.
All in all, Vegas was enjoyable. If and when I come back, I’d like to remember to do the following:
- Rent a car
- Stay in a hotel off the strip
- Bring a swimsuit!
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Giving
I’ve been really focused lately. Focused on work, on family, on friends, on writing. Focused like a laser, trying to dig my way out of debt. Focused on Christmas, too
. On filling my days with happiness.
On giving. I made holiday gifts (though I haven’t mailed them to those I haven’t seen in person) and I’ve given those out.
And now, somehow, unexpectedly, I find myself thinking over the spirit of Christmas. What is Christmas? I believe that the definition is rather personal. At least for me it is, since I am a non-believer. But I love Christmas. I love the lights that I can see at night. I love the look in a kid’s eye when I ask if he’s sure he’s on the nice list this year. I love spending time with my sister, my mom, my dad, and all 78 pets.
I love the way Christmas makes me feel. The Christmas version of Kathleen is happy. She laughs easily, she’s not so cynical, and she judges people less. She gives to people holding signs. She wears holiday attire, though she is still too young to pull off the Christmas sweater look.
And yet, the season gives me pause. On Thanksgiving I wrote that I was thankful that all of my problems were first world problems. I can’t help but think that I don’t give enough money away. It makes me feel guilty that the only giving I do goes to my local NPR affiliate. I’m one of those middle-class, NPR listening, fancy-coffee drinking, local-food eating liberals who are too selfish to see that their actions don’t reflect their values.
My actions don’t reflect my values. According to my actions, making caramels and paying my credit cards are more important than helping others. And that doesn’t sit well with me.
So I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to donate every month. Not just to Oregon Public Broadcasting, either. Today, I gave to World Vision. Sure, they’re an evangelical group, but they do good work. I don’t want to sponsor a child, but I do want to give. There’s a section on their site that’s called “area of most need” — that sounds noble. I only gave a little, but I intend to donate at least ten dollars a month to some sort of charitable organization.
And I’m going to give to the people holding signs in the cold. If you’re holding a sign and standing on the corner on my commute to work (I get to work around 7 or 7:30) I will give you money.
I don’t know what else to do, and I don’t know how else to give back. But it’s important to me. So if you have any ideas for this season and beyond, please let me know.
Related articles
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- Spreading Christmas Cheer (greenviewplace.wordpress.com)
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- Declaring a Truce in the War on Christmas (usnews.com)
Thoughts on the “wedding industry”
Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, a bride.
#4 result when you type "wedding industry" into Google images
This weekend, after a surprisingly enjoyable visit with my parents (surprising since Mom is recovering from hip surgery and I was expecting her to be a tough customer, when she was in fact a trooper) I spent some time shopping for something I don’t typically purchase: wedding dresses. My best friend is getting married in the Spring and needs a dress. We spent Saturday driving around my fair city attempting (in vain) to find a lovely dress at a vintage shop. There were a few, but the styles left much to be desired and the sizes were less than ideal. So then we thought we’d check out the mall. Regular stores might have white dresses, right?
Wrong. There’s this conspiracy that says you can only wear a white dress on your wedding day, and all the stores follow that rule by offering dresses in every other shade but white. We gave up after a few hours and had dinner. It was fruitless. But we did have a lovely dinner where we talked about life, love and marriage.
Sunday, we met up at a wedding dress shop. She had to fill out a survey and had to describe her ideal silhouette. She didn’t really know what she wanted, so the girl helped her with a few different kinds.
Now, my best friend is practically perfect in every way, but she lacks leg length, so the short dresses looked a little like she was playing dress up. She’d thought she would be able to find a short dress, but she was mistaken, evidently, since there’s no such thing as petite in that part of the store. She found a dress she looked great in (naturally!) but was hesitant about the price tag. The dress was $700. I realize now that 700 is “cheap” in wedding-dress speak, but that is absolutely ridiculous. She decided she would look elsewhere for a better deal, and didn’t end up getting that dress.
Meanwhile, in another universe… There was a girl in the room next to my friend’s who was getting married sometime soon. She tried on one dress, and her friends laughed because she looked like a wedding cake. So she tried on another. And she kept twirling around in it, and loved it. The salesgirl said, “okay, so that’s $675. Would you like a credit card? It’s six months zero percent something or other.” She said okay, then she went and looked at veils and tiaras and shoes and other accessories with her friends. The salesgirl came back.
“It turns out you were not approved for this credit card. That might be because you just turned 18.” Red flag #1.
“Let me call my fiancé and we’ll have him apply for this card instead.” Red flag #2.
One of this bride’s friends gets her a phone, and she calls her man. They get his info, and the salesgirl walks away. She’s still on the phone with her man (boy, let’s say, she’s all of 18 years old) and she says, “oh, so my friends and I were talking and August 4th works best for them, so let’s do that.” Red flag #3.
“Oh, and we’re not telling your parents until next year, right?” Red flag #4.
Let me see:
- You just turned 18
- You cannot afford this dress by yourself
- Your fiancé doesn’t want to tell his parents
- Your friends set your date
- You just turned 18!
A dress that takes you six months to pay off is not a dress you should be buying. Full stop. A relationship where you talk about the wedding before you talk about the marriage is not a marriage that has the cards stacked in its favor.
Marriage is not about the dress or the shoes. Choosing to marry is choosing the person you will be in a relationship with for the rest of your life. It’s giving up a part of yourself to be half of a unit. Half of all marriages end in divorce. If you spent $675 on couples counseling to communicate better and be a better partner, and you ended up wearing something else on your “big day” then you’ve done yourself a favor.
My advice? So glad you asked!
- Wait! Date the boy, see what kind of a man he turns into, and decide then if you want him forever.
- Figure out what you want to do with your life, and do it! Then see if he still fits.
- Read Lisa Firestone. Find out what she means by “fantasy bond” and take a hard look at your relationship.
- Find out what you want out of a marriage. Really know the answer to that before you figure out what you want out of one day in the summer.
Buddy the Elf, What’s your favorite color?
Some years I’m Scrooge and I don’t care at all about the holidays. Some years are stressful, and I spend too much money (or not enough! oh no! I forgot to get you something! It’s okay! I forgot too!) and the month is over packed and some years I’m too far from the people I love. Some years the weather gets to me and some years I don’t want to hear yet another Christmas song.
This year? FORGET ABOUT IT! I’ve been thinking about Christmas since late September. Planning gifts, making gifts, spending enough money on crafts to make a bunch of “feel good” homemade gifts. I’ve spent more money on crafts than in bars for three months in a row. I’ve made my list, I’ve checked it twice, and things are set to go out in the mail next weekend.
I’m that obnoxious person. I don’t intentionally play Christmas music, ever, since it is ubiquitous, and I don’t need to overdose. I have captured the Christmas Spirit and I want to keep it!
I’m going to help my parents decorate for Christmas, and then I’m going to do girly things (shop for wedding dress? drink pink drinks?) with my best friend on Saturday afternoon, into the evening. I won’t apologize for ordering holiday drinks!
There are a number of gift guides popping up in my RSS feed — if they’re amazing, I’ll share. So far, though, I’ve only read the one from The Meadow, and that is a very cool store. It’s so hip actually that there is one store in Portland, and their second store is in (wait for it) New York City. You know you’ve hit the big time when store number two is in the big city.
Need some help with Christmas cheer? Rent Elf. Sit down, watch it, and try not to smile.
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11 Reasons to be Thankful
So, Thanksgiving is easily one of my favorite holidays. The weather is just plain gross out there, so we’re stuck inside anyway — why not hang out with people we love? Add in delicious food, some football, a parade and a dog show and really — I could not be happier.
This year I’m thankful for a lot of things. Since I love lists, I’ll just list some of the things I’m thankful for (things for which I’m thankful?) here.
I’m thankful for:
- Staying grounded. Literally. I’m glad I don’t have to fly to see my loved ones.
- Shelter. When it’s pouring down rain, I’m grateful I am inside.
- Words with Friends, the Scrabble game on my phone — I’m koprim if anyone wants to play!
- Scarves with pockets.
- The fuzzy feeling of a new sweatshirt.
- Christmas jammies.
- Coffee in the morning. A working coffee pot, and a boss who’s nice enough to buy me a coffee when the pot breaks.
- Fresh sheets.
- Cheese.
- Other people’s pets. All the fun, none of the responsibility!
- Realizing that every single one of my problems is a first world problem.
weekend entertainment
aerial view of Hood River
Tomorrow afternoon, a handful of my favorite people on earth are joining me in Hood River to celebrate my birthday. We’re renting a vacation home that is walking distance to all kinds of fun things.
On Saturday, a few more people are coming over to have dinner with us. We’re having a pasta bar. Several different sauces, several different pasta shapes (plus roasted cauliflower for the weirdo!), salad and bread. And creme brulee for dessert. A really nice way to celebrate 30. Planny pants is also putting together a sparkling wine taste test, which should also be very fun. Especially since I love sparkling wine. I’m hoping I end up liking the cheapest one best.
There will be pictures of course! If you’re reading this and you’re not going to be with us, we will miss you! (That’s you, Dad, who accidentally got the same disease that the new dog gave you — try not to chew up a slipper!)
the last day of my twenties
Adults sometimes wave their hands and say, “I was in my twenties” as if that simple statement somehow justifies ridiculous behavior.
I’m going to come right out and say it. I’m jealous. I don’t have any crazy antics to shrug off, no wild stories, no DUIs, nothing.
So, to remedy that, today, I tried heroin and drove under the influence to a tattoo parlor where I had an expiration date of Nov 8, 2061 tattooed on my forehead.
OR…
I went to work, about half an hour later than usual. Ate my leftovers (pulled pork from my mom!) for lunch, and then went indoor rock climbing after work. Then went home and contemplated making brownies.
On Turning 30
In six days, I will no longer be in my twenties. I joked with my friend yesterday about how I had a week to get married, have a baby and buy a house. She said I better get started!
When I was a kid, I could imagine some day, well into the future, where I would be 30. I would have a family, my best friend would be my neighbor, and our kids would play, and have just as much fun as we were having. I probably thought we’d live in the same houses, since he was my neighbor when I was a kid. And we did have fun.
I bet even ten-year-old Kathleen wouldn’t be disappointed with how her life turned out. If she could see me, she would see that I’m still independent, I’m working in a cool job, I have really good friends, and I still consider my best friend from childhood to be among my favorite people. She would see that I’m lucky, and she would understand why I don’t have a house or a couple kids of my own.
In my twenties, I accomplished many things.
- I graduated from college
- I traveled extensively, both in the US and abroad
- I fell in love
- I got my heart broken
- I spent too much money on an investment that sounded good
- I moved across the country
- I moved back to Portland
- I held hands
- I kissed in the rain
- I had so many adventures with friends, family and loved ones
- I faced a few hard truths about myself
- I took many jobs
- I left many jobs
- I followed my heart
- I learned about the importance of family, close and extended
And as far as ten-year-old Kathleen? If I could tell her that the two kids in the neighborhood — one girl, one boy — are absolutely worth hanging on to, I would. One will become a very good friend who mails you scarves when you talk about scarves with pockets and lives in your computer except you’ll get to see her more than you could ever hope to; and one will be a friend who moved back to Olympia and you can go months and months without talking to, and one day you can pick up the conversation right where you left off!
