a break in the rain brought to you by the first wednesday of the month...

i love these days... the quiet first wednesdays of the month are one of my most treasured things at work... and this week has been rainy... the past two days, it's been gray skies, clouds and rain... the whole world looked gray... and i like the rain... but it's nice to look out my window today and see patches of blue behind the clouds...

november is looking to be a pretty crazy month... it's amazing how time slips by so quickly... unnoticed... i've been thinking on the lyric "Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans" (Thank you, John Lennon, for that slice of brilliance)... i heard this phrase first when i was in high school... it should have been a warning... but instead, i thought it fun and interesting... and didn't heed the warning...

and today is probably no different... i often miss things because i'm looking at the next step... i've said it before that when i get on "go" mode (at work or in life), i might accidentally step on someone and not even know it... if i'm "on a mission" to do something, i often don't notice who i'm hurting or ignoring in the process...

here's the real life example...

i have a couple of great friends in the northwest... they're the friends i'd pick even if i hadn't had to take desperate attempts to find friends here... they have definitely moved past the arena of "friends by convenience" and right into that special spot called "friends by choice..." they are fun and exuberant... (i just really like that word...) they are the people that don't laugh at me (at least to my face) when i'm having weird issues... when we talk about guys (it's just... a little crush), they want the whole story, with no part left out... and i want the whole story from them, too...

what's funny and a bit ironic, is that i don't know if we make each others' b.f.f. lists... we all have other friends that we "do stuff" with... we're not bound in those relationships... i don't hang out with them every second of the day... but they're my friends... true... honest... fun...

i haven't considered their feelings much in the last few months... with all the planning for the move... at one point one of the girls let me borrow a cd (vance gilbert) with a song on it called "taking it all to tennessee" and she said that's her song to me... it's a great song (and cd, by the way)... but one of the verses stung me in a very deep way... i've put the words below (to the chorus and the verse...)

Now you're taking it all to Tennessee
Taking it all to Tennessee
What about me?

I haven't heard you mention my name
And tomorrow in the same phrase
Since this Smokey Mountain conversation started
You've got this picture of your place
And you flash it in my face
Well, if you want me to for you
I'll be excited

life has happened to me with my northwest friends while i've been busy getting ready for nashville... i don't want to miss it anymore... i've tried to be intentional with them - to say "tomorrow" and their names in the same sentence... to make deliberate plans with them... i will miss them when i move... i have friends in nashville, but it's just like starting over... and while that's exciting and fun... it's also terrifying...

maybe i'm just more introspective today... i think that kind of mood comes with the kind of weather we've been having...

on sunday, i'm going to spokane for our annual convention meeting... i'm hoping there is free internet in the hotel and i can take my laptop and blog from there... i don't know how much time i will have... but i'm excited to go to spokane because i've never been to eastern washington and i'll get to drive over to idaho and mark another state off my list... and hopefully, i'll get to hang out with my friend heather... it's been a long time...

but i guess i should get some work done before the meeting is over and the silence is broken...