Re-connecting

so i just got home from richmond. i had a blast seeing friends and watching movies with jenny and playing grand theft auto 4. i was as busy as you could be for a person who has to lay low all the time. sadly, GTA4 gives me headaches for some reason, but hopefully that goes away the next time i get a chance to play.

i got some GREAT news today from the surgeon at my follow-up appointment. they're going to take the wires off my jaw next WEDNESDAY. WAY sooner than i ever expected. i'm still limited to soft/liquid foods for at least another month, but to be able to actually talk normally and eat more than just milkshakes... THANK GOD. it was the best news i could have ever received.

when i got home from my richmond vacation, i had a blog comment from a total blast from the past. back when i was in junior high in utah, i had this crew of best friends. it was a co-ed group of maybe like 10 kids and we hung out NON-STOP. it was me and my buddies in my band in 9th grade (yes i was in a band back then.. we played pearl jam covers) and the various girls we hung out with. and i don't mean to blow my own horn here, but these girls were the hottest girls that went to my school. i don't know HOW i managed to hang out with a group of hot girls in junior high every weekend (i was totally unprepared), but it was pretty amazing. our group was totally inseperable and i pretty much had crushes on all of the girls at different times. fate intervened later when i moved back to virginia and had a year of being awkward and not knowing anyone before i talked to any more cute girls. you can see a few of the cute girls in the picture, and please note that i wore hawaiian shirts back then. i have no excuses.

anyway, the girl who hit me up was AMY (on the left in the picture). and she was this amazingly awesome girl. totally sarcastic, great sense of humor, and a really amazing friend. amy and i dated for approximately two months one summer i think. i asked her out while we were both on a ride at the local amusement park. we had season passes. i'm pretty sure we held hands non-stop and the one thing i distinctly remember is that i never got the guts to kiss her. not once. how ridiculous is that? i was definitely at that awkward stage where a girl had to force me into kissing them for me to get the point. what can i say? i was shy.

anyway, we lost touch over the years, but now she's married, has an amazingly cute son named sebastian, has traveled the world, and seems to have a pretty awesome life going for her.

it's awesome to check in on the lives of really old friends to find that for the most part, everyone is living awesome and fulfilling lives, doing what they love, and seem genuinely happy. it makes life seem a little less scary sometimes. if 10 random friends from junior high can all end up happy, despite choosing completely different paths and destinations in life, maybe being happy isn't all that hard. i know it hasn't been for me. even with a jaw wired shut and a growing hatred for milkshakes, life really isn't all that bad. i have amazing friends, a great job, and, thank god, health insurance.

good times.