Oh, my goodness, I am having a nice evening. Paul and I are working on a new arrangement in which I pack up the computer, leave the house, and take my work elsewhere. Charlie’s developing some serious Mommy-attachment behaviors (which, I understand, is not a bad thing, but he and Paul definitely need some no-mommy bonding time) and I’ve been getting pretty stir-crazy.
So, here I am, at the nearby coffee shop, drinking a regular (note, cheap) coffee (okay, so it’s decaf, but the first cup was regular) and getting some work done.
And, holy crap, I actually felt like blogging.
I won’t lie, I’ve really been having to force myself to blog lately. Between getting all caught up in the Japan disaster, moving, and a bunch of other excuses, I just really haven’t been feeling too terribly inspired.
Apparently, all I needed was a little dose of College.
I graduated from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and I’m not sure if they do this anymore, but there used to be an event called “Mochas and Music.” Once a month on a Friday night, they would open up the Starbucks and host an artist playing live music in the Union. I would get a giant-sized peppermint white mocha, get comfy with my friends or by myself, and soak in the awesome college-ness that was surrounding me.
There was just something perfect about sitting back and floating in a sea of brains filled with the day’s knowledge. Add some live music to the equation and it just couldn’t get any better. It didn’t matter to me if the musician was amazing or not, as long as the guitars sounded nice and their voices were honest.
I’m so surprised and thrilled to realize tonight that my old College Feeling has stopped by to visit me. I may be hanging out with a crowd that is about 20 years older than me, but the music is honest, I’m drinking out of an actual ceramic mug, and I’m sitting next to a college professor who is grading papers. I can taste the coffee and I can feel the knowledge, and I’m calmer than I’ve been for quite awhile.
I’m tempted to try and milk a longer post out of this, but I think that would be a betrayal of my moment. I’m calm, I’m happy, and I’ve come to the realization that sometimes, in order to relax, you have to put forth a little effort. It might be easier to stay at home, but sometimes you’ve got to just get out of the house.