Back to normal

I've finally gotten back to some sort of normalcy after the bridge collapse, although I'm still not feeling up to being funny or witty. I'll be interested to follow the story to see what details emerge about the condition of the bridge and what might have caused it's collapse in the coming weeks and months. Until I have some answer though, I'm moving away from dwelling on it.

On a lighter note, I got to talk to Zac via Skype last night. I think that was just the tonic I needed to bring me back. If you aren't familiar with Skype, it's a computer program that lets you talk to people over the internet. If you have Skype installed on your computer, and they have Skype on their computer, you can talk for free. Yes. Talk. With your voice. (You have to have the hardware of a microphone and speakers, too.) It's like talking on the phone, except that there are no outrageous charges or signals cutting in and out. If I could meet the folks that came up with this, I'd hug them. Technology is amazing. I was sitting at my computer in Mpls and Zac was sitting at his laptop in El Salvador and we talked for an hour and half for free. Unreal.

It's one thing to exchange e-mails. It's quite another to be able to actually hear some one's voice. It was really comforting talking to him. I'm just glad that he's safe and sound and liking it down there. Now we'll just wait and see if he makes chief, when we're getting married and where we're going to live next. Just minor details, you know, not like anything major and life-altering. [sarcasm people, sarcasm]

Also adding to my good mood was my ability to hang out with my friends this week. On Sunday I went with three of my friends to the bridal shop in Crystal where I bought my wedding dress. (Yes, I don't know when I'm getting married - it might be this fall, maybe next year. But by God I'm going to have my dress prepared so I'm ready to go whenever the occasion arises.) I was glad to be able to share that with them. Then on Monday I got to go have lunch with a friend of mine from high school. I'm really glad that we're reconnecting after a number of years where we didn't talk. Then tonight I got together with a few friends from the Barn (Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Har Mar Mall) to watch the Twins lose to Cleveland. And tomorrow night I'm getting together with some of my girls to celebrate one of their birthdays. All in all it's been a good week for getting together with friends.

I'm frequently inclined to be a homebody. I'm perfectly fine at being alone, watching TV or a DVD, reading a book or crocheting or doing cross stitch. I really have to motivate myself to get up off my butt and get out of the house. So it's been good this week being able to spend time with friends. You just feel good when you're around them. You can relax and laugh a lot . You get those endorphins (or whatever they are) flowing and you can't help but feel good. Friends are the family that you get to pick. It's kind of neat that way. I'm glad that I'm back in Mpls so that I can spend some time with them before I'm off gallivanting around the country and the globe playing "Navy wife" and can't sit around watching baseball with them anymore.