10 Year Itch

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack! I love when I accidentally post more than once in the same week. Okay, month. Whatever. I have a story to tell you today and I will do it, come rain or shine! And it's "come rain" in this case, cause it's sprinkling outside. As you know (?), I graduated from Holland Hall in 2001. I was a Walter Arts Center (WAC) rat and spent most of my time there singing, dancing, sometimes acting, and playing the violin. I remember the feel of that place and the fun I used to have performing on that big stage. Last night I went back and, after ten years of absence, sang on the stage again. Our beloved choir accompanist, Ms. Shank, is retiring from Holland Hall and our choir director invited alumni to join the current choir students and sing her farewell. Believe it or not, when it came time to go onstage, my heart was pounding furiously. I was so nervous! I've been on that stage dozens of times. I've danced solos, played solos, sung solos. I'm no stranger to the bright lights but WOW was I nervous to sing with all those little kids who look so much younger than when I was their age. Wow, what ten years will do to your perspective. We sang a John Rutter piece that was sweet and easy, which is good since I was sightreading. Yeesh, my voice is out of shape.

It's funny to watch all these performances and inevitably compare my own to each one. Things were different ten years ago, yet I still feel at home in the WAC. I'm glad I'm not in high school anymore, but I did have such good times there. I miss dancing and singing and performing with all my friends. Nostalgia is funny that way. I remember the way the stage looked when the spots were low and we were running to take our places. I remember frantically changing costumes in the wings because I was one of the few students in every part of the show. I remember laughing with my fellow performers when something would go wrong. We were all in on the joke and the audience was just lucky to get to watch us enjoy ourselves. Last night I was watching these 18-year old kids and they were laughing at their own inside jokes. I thought, "What's so funny? I want to be a part of this! You may not know me, but I've done this, too! I've been where you are!" Give them ten years and they'll know how I feel. It's not a bad feeling by any means. It's a little bit warm, a bit melancholy, but wholly satisfying. I'm glad I'm where I am now. I generally love being an adult. But sometimes it's just good to be a kid. Oh, and Ms. Shank? We'll miss you.

April Showers a.k.a. I forgot about hail

"What's your favorite thing about spring?" That was our introductory, get-to-know-you icebreaker in class on Sunday. I think about half the people in class said they loved thunderstorms most of all. At first I was tempted to agree. I do love those huge claps of thunder. I surely like those flashes of lightning that illuminate the sky. Even tornadoes have that excitement factor, if you don't mind your property being destroyed by a whirling cyclone. However, as I lay in my bed Friday night, looking up at the skylight - completely unable to see because I'd taken off my glasses - I heard another sound amidst the thunder and rain. It sounded like popcorn on my roof. Oh yeah, that other part of storms...hail. What the hail. In Oklahoma (as in other places, no doubt) they measure hail in terms of sports things. Golf ball-sized, baseball-sized. Doesn't matter, no one wants any sort of spherical hard thing pelting their cars from the sky. I was so happy listening to the rain that night until I heard that popcorn sound and thought, "oh no, my poor car." That's the part of a storm I can do without, athankyouverymuch. Oh well. I'm back in Oklahoma and that's what I get.

Happy Easter Monday, by the way. I'm celebrating this day by blogging and looking out at the rain falling on the pond in the backyard of my work. Pretty soothing. And by soothing I mean makes-me-want-to-nap.

Where did the time go, by the way? How have I been in Tulsa THREE WHOLE MONTHS as of today? Happy monthiversary to me. I now shall tell you of my weekend. I painted. A lot. My third monthiversary was commemorated in latex paint. That is, I spent a good portion of the weekend painting walls and ceilings and ruining a pair of jeans and getting a big splotch of paint on my hair since I leaned into a freshly painted wall without thinking. Proof:




I helped a friend paint her bedroom, and I helped my church paint someone's house. The latter location is where I picked up the hair paint. And some poison ivy. I blame the shockingly friendly dogs who no doubt frolicked in a poison ivy patch before jumping all over me. Ah, spring.

You know what else is happening this year? My 10 year high school reunion. I am shocked at my own age. I don't feel like I've been out of high school 10 years. Well, sometimes I don't. But apparently I've reached that age. 28. I'm not one to fear getting older. I relish it. Even so, I still have the ability to "feel old". Quit rolling your eyes, people older than I. You know you were there once. Empathize. So yeah, I have that to look forward to in three weeks - catching up with former schoolmates and explaining to everyone what exactly has happened in my life in the last decade. Being a decade older than high school means that my wedding attendance schedule has been whittled down to just a handful a summer, and that my baby shower attendance schedule has ratcheted up exponentially in the past year or so. Eh, works for me. Shopping for babies is much more fun than shopping for adults. Plus, I can't offer to babysit at wedding showers. People look at me weird. Now I give a babysitting coupon book and recipients get emotionally overwhelmed with my generosity and start crying and hug me. Okay, that's a lie, but my offers to babysit are well received when there are babies to sit. Shhhh.

I think now I've been in Tulsa long enough to have finished "settling in." Besides the fact that I really do need to sift through my storage unit and get out some useful items, I'm pretty well set at the 'rents house. I'm slowly but surely learning how to do my job properly, and I've had that first round of friend reunions. Now I'm getting into the routine mode and figuring out what new activities I might have time for...I'm keeping those violin lessons on hold. I did renew my gym membership so I can hate myself for wasting money again. Just kidding. I'm actually using it. But good grief, it sure makes a difference in my fitness when I'm not walking to and from the metro daily. Can we install a metro station about a mile from my house so I can get my accidental workouts everyday, please? Thanks.

I'm done rambling for now. See ya.

The Cake that Took the Cake

I missed a February post by that much. Blimey. Oh well, I prefer March to February anyway - now that I don't get Presidents' Day off from work. Happy March! Beware the Ides of it! Aaaaand scene.

I've been home over a month now. Can you believe it? I can't. I left Arlington, VA, on January 24th and arrived in Tulsa on January 25th. I think we can all agree that I've been home over a month. And this week will be my fourth on the job. How did I get so Tulsan again so quickly? I don't know where the time went, but I'll tell you this: I'm loving it. Who knew I'd be back on the streets of Tulsa - driving, not walking, as this is no pedestrian city - and so happy to see that Taco Cabana and that Panera bread and that ORU?! It is good to be home again.

Alright, I'm going to insert my foot into my mouth RIGHT NOW and tell you what my goals are for this year in Tulsa. Yes, please remind me of these in 9 months and listen to my sob stories of how I just couldn't quite get them all accomplished. Whatever. Here we go: I want to take violin lessons again, I want to learn to cook more foods, I want to pick up this physical fitness thingy again and I want to spend more time poolside during the warmer months. My first goal isn't set in stone, but I would love to be a sub again for the Tulsa Signature Symphony. I did that when I was living here last and it was great fun. Plus, this October my dad and brother will performing with the symphony, and it'd be jolly good to play with them. I told my mom I wanted to learn to cook more and I'm worried that will be interpreted as let-me-cook-for-you-often. Nope! I just want to try new recipes and...okay, that does sound like let-me-cook-for-you-often. Okay, maybe I'll start trying one new recipe a week. Geez, I should just take some initiative. I'm not shaking on it!

Alright, here's the rub with the physical fitness thing. I really have to do it. Problem! I don't walk everywhere anymore. In DC I walked two miles everyday just to get to and from the metro. I canceled my gym membership because that was enough of a work out for me in the winter months. Well, now I'm driving everywhere AND sitting at a desk all day AND sitting on my couch at night to (re)read Harry Potter. But how to get motivated to pick up those running shoes again? Maybe look in the mirror. Ha! Self-deprecating humor! It's like I'm hilarious and British! Anyway, that's a goal. March is a good time for this. Perhaps I'll pair that goal with giving up something junk foody for Lent. Perhaps.

Finally, let's spend some time at the pool, people. I don't have one, but I know people. I have pool connections. I just have to milk them for all they're worth. Not that I'm using anyone. Aaaand scene.

You know, I've found myself a lot busier than I thought I'd be upon returning home. For some reason I had this expectation that I'd be home every night, wondering what activities I should get involved in so I could "plug in" to the community. I guess that's been my task the last two moves I've made (i.e. Kentucky and DC), so I assumed the same would go for Tulsa. Nerd. How about all the friends I haven't seen in ages? How about the musical events I attend because I'm finally in the same city where my dad and brother play? How about it?! Maybe that's why this month flew by...

Alright, I have a cake story, slash explanation for the picture that won't seem to copy and paste to the bottom of this post. My Sunday school class made a cake to auction off at the annual FUMC Birthday Banquet, an event to raise money for youth missions. Not only were we making a cake to raise money for the youth, we were making a cake to win the "Best Cake" prize. Last Saturday we gathered, tools in hand, to make a penguin and his igloo look impressive. We even incorporated a class "uniform" into our presentation. Gotta admit, victory tastes sweet.

The Great Move

If I ever thought I was somehow shielded from the "real world" at any point, now I know I'm deep in it. You never feel so adult as when you pack up your things to move semi-cross country, dragging your worldly possessions (including a cantankerous old Sentra) across states to start, or re-start, your life back home. Granted, this is a new chapter for me, but in a way it almost feels like an old chapter. At least, it's a familiar one. That's why I'm back. I had a taste for Tulsa that wasn't squelched for long by the fine frenzy of Washington, DC. However, I think I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning...

A few things have happened since you heard from me last. For one, Christmas 2010 happened, and Christmas 2010 changed everything. As many of you know, I chose to go home early to be with the family after my grandmother's passing. Due to this unexpected turn of events, I rearranged my social schedule for the week so I could meet with a couple former coworkers from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa. We met for coffee the night I flew into Tulsa. Afterward I came home and said to my Mom, "How do you feel about me moving back to Tulsa in a month?" I wasn't just saying this for funzies. I was coming back in a month.

Ever since late October I had been feeling a pull from middle America. These twinges were no stranger to me, so I thought I could ignore it, see my family for Christmas, and get back to life in DC, no problem. Not so much. Okay, so in late November I decided that when I went back for Christmas I'd casually mention to my former co-workers that I was ready to move back and did they know of any jobs in the area? By the time I'd re-booked my ticket home in light of the family stuff, I was more than ready to come home, but I thought it might take a bit. I mean, I was secretly hoping it wouldn't take months, but I knew that my time table wasn't necessarily the right one, and I was willing to negotiate. Turns out I didn't need to. I came home that first night in town with plans to move back by the end of January.

WHAM! Okay, I know I said that I wanted it to happen quickly but how was I going to handle it happening so quickly??? First, I needed to get an official job offer so I could give notice at work. Check. I also really needed to find a house replacement so I wouldn't leave my roommates high and dry. Easy, turns out. I sent one email to a friend and within an hour that was settled. Then...I just needed to pack, get my brother a ticket to DC so he could drive back with me and reserve a U-Haul and tow dolly to transport all my stuff. Check, check, check, etc. Things happened so quickly and relatively effortlessly that there was no way I could attribute my success to anyone other than God.

Granted, in the mean time I had fun. I enjoyed "last rites" with my friends, coworkers and roommates, traveled to Austin for the christening of my goddaughter (picture!), and was showered with affection by the people I was leaving. Definitely didn't deserve all that.

So on my birthday, January 23rd, my roommates and I loaded up my U-Haul and the next day my brother and I drove back to Tulsa. Weird. You know how things can happen so quickly that they don't feel real? That's kinda how things were for me. Even now, 9 days into being home, I still feel a little like I'm just here visiting. I'm eating giant portions of food cause that's what I do when I come home for vacation. I'm reading lots of Harry Potter cause that's what I do when I come home for vacation. Except, I'm also calling friends and making plans for future engagements that still involve Tulsa. I get emails from my new work place to which I respond...cause I'm staying here. I'm looking into gym memberships. Just weird.

Weird, that is, but good. I am so excited to be back. I'm back within driving distance of so many people I love. I'm back to a pace of life and work that I love. I'm back where my friends are having kids - I get to be an "Auntie"! But of course, my departure from DC was bittersweet. There are many things about that city I'll miss. I'm going to list them here because this, my friends, shall be my homage to DC. It's going to be about things because the people I miss were told about it separately. But the city itself, it's unlike any other place I've lived.

I'm going to miss...

• walking into the Natural History Museum before it opens in the morning, strolling past the giant elephant as the cleaning crew washes the floor and the security guards check the doors before opening to the masses
• leaving the Castle and looking to my right - the Capitol - and to my left - the Washington Monument
• running around the Tidal Basin and waving hi to Jefferson's monument as I pass
• spending July 4th on the Mall or at the Iwo Jima memorial, watching the greatest fireworks display you've ever seen
• blueberry buckwheat pancakes at Eastern Market
• driving along the George Washington Memorial Parkway at night when the monuments are all lit up and glowing
• stepping on the Metro and hearing three different languages being spoken on one car
• Teaism
• touring the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Art, where some of my favorite paintings live
• watching movies set in DC and saying, "I know where that is! I live there!"

I realize this post is a bit disjointed and I apologize. I don't really know how to express myself honestly when it comes to this Great Move. I've been living in Adult Land and continuously riding its Roller Coaster of Emotions this last month and a half. I have no idea what this chapter will bring. I don't know how long it will last or what event will catapult me into the next one. I do know that I'm glad to be home. I'm excited to rebuild relationships that I've neglected for the past four and a half years. I look forward to reacquainting myself with my city. And I'd thought I'd be done with this blog when I moved. My life in the big city is done, so what do I have to write about? We'll see. Vamos a ver. All I know is I'm still in the real world and that's not ending any time soon. Why wouldn't I chronicle my wacky, amusing (I hope) and sometimes painful adjustments to life in T-town. I'm still an adult, right? Ugh, right.