just live your life

Today was a crazy up and down day, as they all seem to be. Some things were totally fine and some totally weren't; by the end of the work day, I was so worked up that I left at 5:15, fought my way through the incoming traffic that was attempting to get to a Grateful Dead concert (there are downsides to having an office building that shares a dead-end road with the biggest concert amphitheatre on the peninsula), and spent ten minutes in my car with a 7-11 cappuccino. Strange choice, I know, but I was dead tired, in need of caffeine, and also in need of a few moments of silence. By the end of it, I had decided that I need to stop being a victim with everyone else and start being a player, even if player in this case probably equals martyr. So, that was good, or bad, depending on how everything shakes out.

But, the evening was a noticeable improvement -- I met up with Terry, Tom, Chris, Natasha, Fred, and Jaime at Iberia in Menlo Park for a couple of hours' worth of sangria, tapas, and hilarious conversation. We had a fabulous time and I'm more full than anyone should be after eating tapas. But, it was v. bittersweet; this was likely the last time that I saw Terry before she takes off on her two-month odyssey and then goes to business school. Luckily, she's meeting me in Washington D.C. for the romance conference, but I will still miss her v. much; once she's gone, my only remaining regularly-seen friends are Adit and Katrina, so I may need to consider expanding my base.

Then again, I intend to go into deep hermitage/travel mode over the next few weeks -- I'm going to write all day Saturday and likely all day Sunday as well, and then I'll write next weekend, and then I have a last-minute three-day trip to Ann Arbor right after Memorial Day, then a week-long summit here, then a week in Iowa. I get a couple of weeks off, but then my uncle is coming out for fourth of July, I have to pack up my whole apartment, go to DC for a week for the conference, and then move while simultaneously planning the biggest conference/event of the year for my department at work, which takes place in August and which I stupidly volunteered for on top of my regular responsibilities. So, this summer is going to be rough.

But, there's no reason to stress about it now; it's time for bed!