I guess it's been a while, so it's time to play catch-up!

Let's see... Last weekend was all about the migraines and eczema breakouts. Too much stress and not enough fun. I even missed a party because of it, damn it. I figured my body could use some rest, so I hung out at home and napped, and considering I felt better on Sunday, I think my plan worked out splendidly.

I also saw two of my awesome friends this week, Laura and Misti. I am so lucky to have really wonderful friends to spend time with. I feel like I'm still getting to know both of these lovely ladies, and that process is a lot of fun. Isn't it interesting how every relationship we have with other people is so different from the others? Each interpersonal dynamic is unique and fascinating, and I love it.

When I saw Laura, she and I spent time just driving around, walking around the mall, and buying a new cage for her rats. Then I got to meet them! They are tiny and cute and crawled on my shoulders. I love little ratties!

Anyway, it was a very full day, filled with lots of conversation and laughter. I had a lot of fun!

Then I got to hang out with Misti, which was super cool because she and I have such similar spiritual beliefs. I find that really comforting and awesome, because it's not always easy finding people to share those kinds of personal, thought-provoking, enlightening conversations with. Misti and I talked for hours, and laughed a lot, and just had a fantastic afternoon together.

Misti also made me feel better about two things. Well, more than two things, actually, but I'm only going to talk about two of them, so here they are:

1) I said something about feeling dorky for always mentally jumping the gun on friendships. What I mean by that is that if someone is nice to me, often my first thought is, "Ooh, I hope they can be my new best friend!" Not to replace old best friends, mind you. Just to add to the list of close friends in my life. I always want to get to know people better and develop friendships and stuff, even with waitresses I meet for five minutes or nice people on the bus. I used to feel self conscious about that, and wonder if I was a little dopey and/or needy, because a whole lot of people out there don't think along those lines. And since they don't, a great majority of the folks I've wanted to befriend have had no interest in getting to know me better. Or, it turned out to be a bad match, plain and simple. And either of those outcomes left me feeling dorky for ever having had such high hopes to begin with.

But Misti pointed out that that's how we do things as children, and that it's actually a pretty natural first impression to have. And that's so true! I'd never thought about it that way before, but it makes sense. When I was little, I was always hoping to befriend other kids, and often, it just worked. If you liked each other, you were immediately close friends, sometimes for years!

Making and maintaining friendships as an adult is often a lot more difficult and complicated than that. But I wish it weren't. And I guess that childlike part of me is still going strong, hoping to make friends easily and quickly with anyone who seems friendly enough. Now that Misti put it in that perspective for me, I feel a lot better, and actually hope I don't stop perceiving the world like that. After all, there are far worse things I could be doing than keeping myself wide open to the possibility of new friendships in my life.

2) I have been totally weirded out by my little kid dreams. Since the last time I mentioned dreams, I've had two more dreams in which I was the mother of a little boy. In one, he was an infant. In the other, he was a few years old. I kept thinking, "Dude, what is going ON?! I do NOT want a baby right now!" I mentioned all this to Misti, who told me that dreams of babies and children often symbolise a new project or a new upcoming experience, not literally the desire for a baby. What a relief! And, that totally fits, because everything in my life is new right now. I'm newly becoming fit and healthy. I'm applying for new schools. I'm going to be moving to a new city. Okay, so moving to L.A. isn't completely new, since I've lived there before, but it's still a change, a move, an upcoming project. Now it all makes sense, and I'm terribly relieved that my subconscious isn't trying to convince me to start a family. Because hell, that's WAY too big of a change for me right now. That one can wait a good five years or so!

Speaking of new schools (no really, I mentioned it, I promise), I just sent out my last college application. Hooray! I have been thinking of applying to this particular school for a few years. I finally completed the last prerequisite and began working on the application in December. It involved lots of little details, and it took forever, but I finally got it all done. I got majorly stressed out along the way, and each little accomplishment sounds boring to anyone but me so I'll spare you, but hey, it's done and I mailed it out just a few days ago. When I left the post office, I felt very weird. I'd worked on it so intensively for such a long time (and had it on my mind off and on for a couple years prior) that it felt completely unreal. I had to convince myself to stop worrying about it once it was out of my hands. And I finally have. Now all I can do is wait.

Well, that's not all I can do. I can also lounge around, read, and watch hours of quality reality television (god, I love that American Idol!)! I've also been exercising, and of course, reading plenty of journal entries. I try to pry myself away, but they just suck me back in! Right now, I'm going to go make some pasta and tune in to What Not To Wear. Now that all this college stuff is over and done with, I have a little while to relax. And that, my friends, is a pretty good feeling.