Friday, May 20, 2011

How I'm feeling

I've been struggling a bit with loneliness lately. It is a common struggle for me, even when I am surrounded by people I know. I live really far away from my family, and I think this time, I'm just feeling a little homesick. My sisters all hung out last weekend and I'm sad I didn't get to go with them.

I do feel that I'm making an effort here, since I know I'm lonely, I've been trying to call a few old friends, and trying to set up times to be with some friends here. These feelings ebb and flow, and I wish I felt less reserved about just going out on my own and trying to meet more people. I'm so intimidated by that experience most of the time.

Most people are really surprised when I tell them that I'm shy, or introverted, because they see that I'm really good at talking to people I don't know. However, I need an introduction, or a commonality (for example, it's easier for me to talk to someone I don't know in my symphony because we have music in common).

Most people also tell me that I seem busy. And I am. I have a full-time job, and teach 3 cello lessons during the week, as well as play music at church on Sundays. But I do try to make time for friends. I miss having a regular activity, like frisbee, on Saturday mornings. The weather in TX is not conducive to frisbee. I need some ideas about how to meet people that isn't "go to a bar."

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Chair races

Most of my coworkers were gone today. There were only two of seven of us working in my area, which is how it feels when I'm working a Saturday. So my coworker and I (based on a suggestion from another coworker who works in a different area) decided to do a chair race loop. She pushed me in a chair around the "desk island" in our work area. As she was wheeling me back into my office, our boss came around the corner. Oh man. We totally got caught. Not that there will be repercussions...

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Canoeing

I have been wanting to get out on some water since I moved to Texas. It FINALLY happened yesterday. A friend of mine invited me to come along with some of the history graduate students from TCU (which is where I work), Well, it was a lot of fun. It was a perfect day, and it took us about 7 hours to make our way 10 miles down the river.

As we got toward the end, I noticed a baggie floating in the river with this white tube of what looked like sunscreen in it. My first thought was that some one had just trashed it in the river, so I wanted to try and grab it and get it out of the river. But it was too far away to be an easy grab. I would have had to get out of the boat to get it. So I let it go.

When we got to our pick-up location (we had rented the boats, and the rental place had a shuttle service) one of the guys who drove us realized that his car key was missing. He was really mad at himself and the situation, though the rest of us were really calm. As he was describing where the key was and what it was with, I realized that the baggie I saw floating in the river was the one with his car key in it.

I am kind of sad I did not pick up that bag now. I could have been a hero.

But we did figure things out and it turned out to not be a super big deal. We were able to get into the car and home eventually.