Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Yesterday, after departing Atlanta and spending approximately 187 jongjillion hours on a plane, I arrived in Seattle. As I’m sure you are aware if you have in any way communicated with me since August 8th, my birthday is this Sunday. And this trip is my gift.

I am out here to visit one friend I’ve known since I was 10 years old, and one friend I’ve known since I was 4. (I will be 34 on Sunday if that makes the math any easier for you.)

It’s always a gift to have friends, especially ones who have known you for so long (and who still like you anyway.) My Seattle friend and I went to elementary school together, and we loved to entertain ourselves by highlighting what were, to us, the seemingly mystical connections between us. My initials were JLD; her initials were JLC (spooky, huh?) And we were born at the same hospital, 9 days apart (can’t you just hear the music from the “Twilight Zone”?) We liked to joke that we were “Twins Separated At Birth”, which was funny for so many reasons, not the least of which is that she is (and always was) tall, lithe, graceful, and elegant. And I…am not. Not even a little bit.

My other friend was special because she always knew things I didn’t. Her mom was a nurse, and so she was always the first person around me to be conversant in The Facts Of Life. Even now, 30 years later, I find myself remembering things she said and having little “Aha!” moments (“O-o-h, so that’s what she meant!”)

I really wish I could say that I had some awesomely funny stories from our past adventures to share here with you now. But unfortunately I do not, because I was back then (as I continue to be now) just a Big Giant Nerd, but without any of the redeeming qualities I now possess that allow me to make up for that fact. Now, I am “witty”; then, I was just a geek. So all of my stories from that time would pretty much go like this:

I was very short and my hair always bushed out.

I did not know how to dress or how to talk to people.

I thought I knew everything.

But I was really stupid and embarrassing.

The End

So to conclude this extremely long and entirely rambling post that does not actually say anything (See: Hours spent on a plane, 187 jongjillion), I promise to be on the lookout for stories that contain some actual humor. Or at least, some pretty pictures for you to look at.