If you have ever visited the StL for a long period of time, or moved here, well, you’ll know that we ask everyone the same question:

Where did you got to high school?

I promised myself when my parents imported me to StL in 1993 that I would never ask that question. I mean, seriously, who cares? Ah, StL does, that’s who! Why bother asking? Because you can get information quickly: rich or poor, religious or not, overly-snobby opposed to slightly snobby, what kind of jobs their parents have, what kind of car they might drive, etc etc.

When I chose my desitnation for college, I chose Mizzou, a university within two hours of my parents (just in case) and a notorious gathering ground for 75% of my high school. Throughout my three and a half years there I didn’t socialize with any of them. I didn’t want too. I was there to grow, and that I did.

And now, three years after graduation, several of my best friends are people from high school. We all came back from our respective collges (Boston U, Oklahoma State, KC, Illinois) and fell back into our patterns of hanging out.
I never thought I would be friends with them now, but I admit that the comfort I find in talking about the “old days,” and how they accept me as ME is one of the best things about friendship. There is no judging, we are all open and honest, they don’t project their ideas onto me (as in, they don’t tell me I NEED a man, like my other coupled friends do). There are six of them in total; one couple is already married and the other two are marrying in the next two months. (Surprise! Nora is in one of them and of course attending the other), but nothing will change even after that.

I guess there is something to that high school bond after all.

I got to hold a baby tonight. Three months old.

During her sleep in my arms, she grabbed my finger and wouldn’t let go.

Her little baby weight rested heavily on my arm, but I didn’t mind.

It’s been about two years since I held a baby (back to my nanny days) but tonight all the rules and reminders and watchful eye of someone who’s holding a baby come flooding back.

I couldn’t help but think that I want one… not necessarily now, and definitely not without a man in my life, but yeah, I want to someday, with the “right,” man, have a baby.

Damn biological clock. It’s ticking loudly this evening.

Tomorrow Lent begins. Yes, 40 days of: no soda, no fried food (originally it started as French Fries, but I am now moving towards fried potato chips, chicken, etc) and no fast food.

I am currently sucking down a Diet Dr. Pepper, both for a false sense of energy (stayed up until 1:30 am studying the many theories of Organizational Behavior) and because it’s my last chance for 40 days and nights… and enjoyed greasy fried mozzerella sticks for lunch. (Not much of a lunch, that’s for sure, but the calories! Oh, how I miss the days where I didn’t care about the calories.)

I don’t normally eat fried or fast food except on those days at the office where there is “no time,” or those Saturday/Sunday mornings where the only thing to beat the hangover is going to be greasy food. So that’s more of a just improving my health thing than a sacrifice. 

I tossed around the idea of abstaining from chocolate too, but then I realized who we were talking about. Me. And just how grumpy and unpleasant do you want me and the people around me for 40 days? Not that grumpy. The soda will be tough enough; it’s everywhere: in energy drinks, Long Island Ice Teas, and of course, in my fridge.

Are you giving anything up? Or, conversely taking anything on?

Happy Fat & Super Tuesday!

(that title is from Will & Grace, in Karen’s voice… )

If any of you followed me over here from Blogger (it feels wrong to type that on WordPress.com!), you’ll probably notice a significant shift in my postings… not so personal anymore.

There’s a few reasons for that:

1) Dry Spell in Dateland. That may be self-imposed or it may be the way the cards are currently falling, I’m not sure which. Every weekend my friend TLo and I decide we are going out, having fun and making sure our cell phones start ringing again, but by the time we get there, a dinner & movie or night of studying or reading is preferred.

2) The reason I moved from the Blo–er site to this one is that someone from my past (who shall remain nameless) managed to find my blog, read it, and let it be known to me that (s)he had read it. While I know that everything on the internet is public, there is no real anonymity, it was startling and shook me up for a few days. What I write is more or less for entertainment purposes and maybe a little bit to “find myself,” in this world. It is never meant to hurt anyone, to be read by those I’ve dated and etc. Needless to say, I’m a bit hesitant to post any real experiences pertaining to my life at this point.

3) I am going through a serious soul-searching, meaning of life phase in my life and considering most of what I’m thinking is a jumble in my head, I doubt it would make sense to any of you. And I don’t want to be all whiney, because hey, I know things are good! Life is good! I think I’m coming to terms with the fact that we have one life, one shot, and we should do what we need to do (without being completely self-absorbed) and keep on going. Ah, but how to do that without hurting people? Yourself? How to take that giant leap of faith in yourself and the future and just go with it….?

So, not that I need to apologize for lack of interesting content as of late, but if it’s been utterly boring you (like it has been me) I am sorry. I’ll see what I can do about that.

I recently succumbed to IT Peer Pressure.

At the conference in NOLA everyone had these neat phones: iPhones, BlackBerry’s, an assortment of PDAs. And there I was with my hot pink Motorola Razor, a phone I pined over for many months and Darling (being the great mom she is) bought it for me over a year ago. I still love the Razor but at the conference I felt like the 24 year-old that I am and not the heir apparent or “exit strategy,” to the family business.

I need to look the look (which I do for the most part, thanks to my Limited, Express, Banana and J. Crew wardrobe), talk the talk (I can hold my own at a Microsoft meeting) and have the gadgets…

I bought a Blackberry Pearl in Sapphire which is coincidentally my birthstone and favorite color. There is a bit of a learning curve considering it’s a mini-computer, but I’m learning my way around it and suddenly feel a bit more confident in my IT-Geekness, as if that is something to be proud of.