Miscellany

That's a fun word, isn't it? I recently bought my friend Danielle a book called Jane Austen Miscellany. (If I haven't mentioned it a million times before, I love Jane Austen!) :-)

Anyway, there are a couple of exciting things going on. My friend Cindy is about to have a baby girl. And I mean ANY DAY NOW. Tomorrow at the absolute latest! HOORAY!

Something that has surprised me lately is that I have started exercising and eating fairly healthily. I've lost 12.5 in 4 weeks and I am so very proud of myself!!! :-) Anyway, I've been doing Weight Watchers online and also trying to do either Zumba or a Latin dance moves DVD I bought every day. It's quite a workout, but I can really tell a difference in my life. And I figure, hey, if I put it out to the whole world that I'm trying to lose weight then I'll continue trying! Accountability, folks. LOL! Anyway, this is probably the longest I've stuck with a diet and exercise program since high school...

NEXT...

I'm helping to plan our class reunion, which is a total surprise since I didn't even go to our 10-year reunion (we didn't have a 15) and now we're two years away from our 20th reunion! The funny thing is that as I communicate with people I can't help but think how in some ways nothing has changed, but in other ways everything has changed about us.

I'm so proud of some of my best friends from school. They're wonderful successes. Kairy Barazi is a retinal surgeon in Washington, DC. My friend Chris Byrd is a Major in the US Army. Jamie Martin is a partner in a North Carolina law firm. Jody Driggs is one of the best architects in the state of West Virginia. Stacey Smith is a podiatrist in St. Albans.

While I'm only a person who helps lawyers use their computers, though, I feel like I'm a success, too. Not necessarily at my job (though I'm proud of the job I do and I work hard), but at life. I've come to know myself since high school. I'm secure in who I am and (maybe more importantly) who I am not. Did it take a while? Of course it did. It took YEARS! I certainly wasn't this self-aware in college. And another reason I count myself as successful is because I have some of the most amazing friends you could ever imagine. Luckily I have had very few reasons to lean on them over the years, but when I have they have been my rocks.

So, I quote the Golden Girls to close:

Thank you for being a friend

We've traveled down the road and back again

Your heart is true your a pal and a confidante

And if you threw a party

And invited everyone you ever knew

You would see the biggest gift would be from me

And the card attached would say thank you for being a friend.