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I miss my friend p.s.v. Where are you?

Things I've Learned Today
by Ann O'Maly

1. "The Patriot" is a really depressing movie.
2. I can nap while someone is vacuuming around my head.
3. I miss Salamander.
4. If you drop a large box on your toe, a few days later your toenail will turn dark blue.
5. My parents' cat will bite your hand if you try to pet him when he's sleepy.
6. I enjoy playing mind games with certain people more than I thought I did.
7. My mother is anal retentive.
8. Sweet corn is still as wonderful as I remembered it to be.
9. I've gotten to a point in my life where my old friends, when revisited, are petty and irritating to me.
10. My alarm clock doesn't work.

I am turning into a senior citizen and I'm only 27.

I'm drawn to the cozy lap of my parents' cooshy couch, enticed by the hypnotic flicker of the television. I watch the History Channel and their episode on the D-Day invasion. I read the paper now and actually get up and eat breakfast on Saturday mornings. We watch Nero Wolfe and old shows with Clark Gable and Jimmy Durante. And, so help me God, I even enjoy them.

Before you know it I'll be complaining about my health - speaking of, I started having terrible back spasms yesterday and then I couldn't hear out of my left ear because it was full of wax. Also, my bunion has been hurting more frequently.

Oh, and much luck to my good friend p.s.v. while moving to school. Happy Trails. Here's your belatedly blogged haiku.

fold another box
to fill with what but what if
the future is packed

Sorry for the lack of blogs, to my three followers. I'm busy in Geriatriville. The old people in this building look at me like I'm some punk whippersnapper that's come to steal their precious costume jewelry. But I'm very excited, everyone. I recently found that up here, Sam's Club sells liquor. I was happy enough when I discovered that Sam's Club carries booze at all, but down in Tennessee they only carried beer and Mike's Hard Lemonade (one of the culprits to the demise of my small waistline). But LIQUOR? I'm giddy!

I'm not sure if that stands true in every Sam's Club in Iowa, but who cares, right? Just the ones near me matter. Hallelujia! Bring on the margaritas, mamasita.

Greetings from Illinoizzzz. Nothing has hit me, yet. I have this weird limbo feeling. I keep wondering why I'm not at work and why I'm at my parents' house. Is this vacation? Must be.

La la la....

You know when people say, "Do you ever meet someone and really click? Like everything just fits?" People say that all the time. Of course that happens to everyone.

I once had an encounter stronger than that. One that started out with an enlightening conversation, where the buzzing energy enveloping us was overwhelming and it felt like the meeting was orchestrated by some unseen cosmic force. Over time I realized that this person and I didn't share everything in common. She liked to debate and my apathetic side tended to give in easily. She was verbally superior to me and well-read. My most impressive vocabulary word was discombobulated, only because it sounds cool when you say it. But the relationship continued and grew and so did that feeling - that supposed-to-know-this-person feeling. That I'm not used to. Typically, that feeling of a sort of spiritual kinship, for lack of a better term, wears off. The more I learn about someone and the more I learn their hidden motives, their trickery and ugliness, the more jaded and unimpressed with them I become, until, quite frankly, the spiritual connection feeling I was convinced existed before no longer existed. Sad, but it happens.

She's the first person with which that intense feeling of knowing has not only thwarted decay, but actually continues to grow. That's how I know we're not done yet, Salamander. So we shouldn't be sad that I'm leaving. It's just a see you later and not a good bye.

I hate that feeling you get right before you make a major change in your life. You know, that panicky second thought stage. I'm sitting here thinking what in the hell are you doing? why are you doing this to yourself and your friends? it's easier just to stay

So this blog is a reminder to myself. This is why, Ann:

You miss school. You love education. You need to learn, to go back to school, to study psychology. Not many people find something they're incredibly passionate about, and you did. Take advantage of that. You're moving to Illinois so you can save money, study for the exams you need to and can ace and concentrate on yourself. Not work, not money and not bills. Keep thinking about your passion. You can't stay here and go to school. Now is the time. The people you are leaving behind will be okay. You know you will end up with the ones you want to keep with you.

Last night the reality of moving sunk in. I call it the "Bare Wall Syndrome" and anyone that has moved has experienced it. There I was, 11:30 p.m., eating a sandwich in my living room, nonchalantly dropping random decorations into a box. I even got a bit ambitious and took a few wall hangings down. I wandered into the bedroom for something, returned to the living room and it hit me. The blank spaces on the walls were like large white scars. Panic began to set in.

Put them back up put them back right now the frightened 5-year-old in me shrieked. The frightened 27-year-old in me took a deep breath and briefly closed her eyes.