Especially diet coke. And Dr. Pepper. I like diet DP and I like regular coke too – but diet coke and regular dr pepper are my fav. Right now I am drinking a diet coke out of an aluminum can, which is the best way to drink diet coke, and it is seriously increasing my quality of life.
I had a dream last night that I was in a triathlon of sorts – I had to run and bike and kayak. Random. And I didn’t train for it. And right before it started I had to buy a water bottle for the event, and the one I picked out ended up costing $80 – and I almost choked, but I HAD to have the water bottle and I didn’t have time to find a cheaper one and I really loved the one I’d picked out. It was a gray sigg bottle with a carabiner on the top. I was very concerned I was going to drown during the kayaking part.
I also dreamed that I had a party at my parents house where we grilled out hamburgers and fed like 50 people. It was fun, but I didn’t know a lot of the people very well, and I hadn’t exactly cleared it with my parents that the party was going to be that big, so I was a little nervous.
But those are just dreams. The reality is that I’m going to Aspen tomorrow for Allison’s wedding! I am so excited. There are lots of people I haven’t seen in a long time that I’m really looking forward to hanging out with.
Plus I really miss my mountains!
I read this article the other day by Judith Warner – and it reminded me of some things I’ve been thinking of a lot recently. Namely, how our friends define us. Take Jessica for instance. She’s a great friend of mine, and when we met – we immediately clicked and wanted to hang out all the time. I definitely had a big crush on her. We now live in different cities and I don’t see her as much as I would like to – but when another friend says – I hung out with Jessica the other day and I really think she is the funniest person in the world – I take that as a compliment. Because, well, SHE’S MY FRIEND! My special friend. Not that I don’t have other equally as special friends, but Jessica thinks I’M FUNNY. We laugh at each other! So if someone else thinks she is hilarious, that means I might be sort of hilarious too. At least when I’m with her. In addition to taking it as a compliment, I feel like, wow, I’m special to have such a funny and great person as a friend. And you know what? The person who told me they think Jessica is hilarious had no intention of boosting my self esteem. He was just commenting on a fact.
And I know this can go the other way as well. I’ve had friends that I’ve introduced that served as a catalyst for disaster, where one person was definitely in the wrong. And I’ve felt responsible. For subjecting the victim to such disaster. Or the friends who meet randomly and find that I’m the mutual friend, and a strong dislike develops between the two people which has nothing to do with me and I find myself trying to convince both sides that the other isn’t as terrible as they think. Which is silly, not everyone has to love everyone else. Or the friend who just ends up not being a friend at all and stabs you in the back. That friend makes you question your judgment. Makes you wonder why you didn’t see it, especially if everyone else in your life saw it clearly.
I think this is also why we take insults to our friends so personally. I can handle being insulted. I don’t like it, but I can handle it. But when someone insults or mistreats one of my special friends, it really ticks me off. And I see how when I’ve been mistreated, I recover from the slight much quicker than my close friends recover from it. For some reason it is much easier for me to forgive someone for hurting me than for hurting my friend. I’m not sure exactly how this all relates back to how your friends validate you, but it is just what I have been thinking about lately.
I hope you all have a spectacular 4th of July – Yay AMERICA! Let me know if you are going to be in aspen this week! Wish me luck, it could be a big weekend! Kisses!
the thin line between optimism and delusion... 