Walk on...

Last night I hung out with my girls. It was a great time. The last one with us all living in Minnesota, but not the last by any means.
Today I finished all of my wedding preparations- well the last one, printing directions, will occur momentarily- then had lunch with a friend, something we have been meaning to do for a long time and never got around to, I am so glad we did finally.
In an hour I start my last shift at the Mill. A bunch of my favorite mill-ians are closing with me- and a bunch of my favorite non-millians are coming in to hang out, listen to the live band on the patio, and make my last night great. I know this is a great time for me to be ending this job- because I am still excited for the last day. After this though- I will have nothing more connecting me to this city- well besides a lot of awesome friends- and that feels good. Time to walk on...
Shady arrives in the morning- then we will be driving up to the wedding- having an awesome weekend- driving back down on Sunday for a family dinner/going away party, and probably departing this fair state on Monday.
Everything is happening so fast I don't have much time to think. But thats the way I like it ;)

I just can't understand

what makes people do things like this.

Recieved a phone call last night from Connie- who had gotten a text message from Jill saying "Egypt was bombed. Jen is ok". Immediately I called Shady- Told him all I knew- which was nothing- and told him to call his family...

People make me sick sometimes. I always say that I respect people who fight for what they believe in. I may not agree with them, but I do have some respect. However, I don't care what your agenda is- taking innocent lives is never ok. Yeah, it gets a lot of press, gives you a voice, makes a splash, but is it really worth it? I vote no.

I don't pretend to have the answers. I just know that this isn't it.

Its so easy to close your eyes and minds to the happenings in the world around you. To live your small, simple life with no worries. To go to work, school, bachelorette parties... Until something strikes close to home. Then you are shaken awake.

I was talking with one of my friends to other day about the passiveness of our generation. People sit and complain about the state of the world on a local and global level concerning topics ranging from the price of gas, to war, to the leaders of the world and how inadequate they are, to that hot new Lebanese pop star... but who really does anything anymore?
Things don't change unless people change them. And we can't just expect everyone else to do it. Its so easy to sit and complain- activeism is a little harder. For the ones who really care.

I'm guilty of passiveness- we all are. But thats not how things get changed.

The other day I went to visit one of my best friends who just had a baby- on the 16th- Jaegar, she named him. He was so tiny and sweet and innocent. (Congratulations Brynn and Josh, by the way!) As I am holding him I thought of a conversation I had had with one of my friends who has a 13 month old while we were watching the state of the union address a while ago. She said to me "how could I bring a baby into a world like this?". Its pretty sad that someone would have to ask themselves that.

This entry keeps growing slowly- and I am going to be late for a bridal shower so I have to end it.

I wish peace to all those affected by last nights bombings, and a concience to those who caused it- directly and indirectly.

...and this one's for you.

So I am really into giving gifts. Its my love language ;)
If I had more abundant funds, I would give more gifts... but that is another story.
When selecting a gift it is important for me to choose something that means something to the reciever, bonus if it means something to both of us. This is why I never like to give impersonal things like bath sets. Boring and uncreative. Sometimes I go in spurts of gift trends too- like lately it happens to be books.
A lot of thought and planning often goes into the perfect gift, however usually the best ones are ones you stumble across and they just seem to strike you.
This chance-find is more difficult in situations (such as a baby shower or wedding) where there is a list or registry provided. It seems so impersonal to simply choose something off the list, however in most of these situations you also realize that these are things actually needed by the recipient (especially in your 20s when most people getting married or having babies are broke), so the gift-giver is presented with quite a dilemma.
Also, when the occasion is something monumental, like the marriage of close friends or relatives, I want the gift to be remembered and cherished. Something that will stay with the couple forever. This is a demanding list of criterion for a limited budget. ;)
Eventually you always find the gift, or sometimes it finds you. And even if it might not be the 'perfect' one that you had hoped for (dang early shoppers taking all the good registry items *insert a firm fist-shake here*) presentation can make up for that. Beautiful packaging and a thoughtful card can make even the everyday item special.

I am currently being faced with the 'choosing the perfect gift' dilemma- so apparently I decided to write a weblog entry about it... goodness knows why. Nevertheless I feel energized and refreshed by my own pep-talk. And if that is all it is good for- thats alright with me.
;)

Peace out homies.

But time makes you bolder, children get older, I'm getting older too

I put my two weeks in at work today. Well, its a little more than two weeks- my last day is July 28th. But close enough.
Its one of those things that won't hit me until much later. Once this job is over I have nothing tying me to st cloud anymore (note: this is a good thing). Craziness.
I am in the new job application process- if anyone knows of any awesome opportunities in the Ft Lauderdale area starting in August, let me know (and come visit).
I will miss my homegirls though. Granted, most of them are not in st cloud any more anyway- but that hasn't hit me yet either. Everyone is going their separate ways: finishing school, working, getting married, moving, being nomadic... thank goodness for free long distance.

I was talking with my friend Karen the other day (the above mentioned one getting married, July 30th- woohoo!), about me leaving right after the wedding. She said "Pants, its not going to hit me until like 2 weeks after you are gone- because you always leave, but you always come back. I never really feel it until it passes the two week mark."
Its nice to think that you will be back eventually- that way you don't have to say goodbye to everybody- I hate goodbyes- hate. You will find that I rarely use the word. Its always "see you later", or occasionally "peace out homie" (I'm a nerd). I find that somewhere along the line you end up seeing most people again. Our world is pretty small- and getting smaller by the minute according to Friedman- (how is that book anyway, Kait?) ; ). But there are always some places you never come back to - and some people that you never see again.
Personally- I often choose to ignore these trivial details. "See you laters" work great for me. Does this make me optimistic, naive, a jerk? Feel free to leave your opinions (bearing in mind this doesn't necessarily mean I will consider them).

I could be really sappy and tell myself that you never completely leave a place, even if you never return. And I will be making my way back to MN often- family ties. I like to be sappy. So thats how I will end it.