Well, I’ve decided to resurrect my nearly forgotten blog site, and to christen the opening of this blog, I’m starting with some basic experiences - my life in Greenville.
Just some background – for those who are not already familiar with me, I have moved six times in the past 15 months, five of those times were within the same town, but I don’t think that should lessen the impact that constant moving has. Now that I’ve finally settled down (well, somewhat) I am working on finding my place in this new and beautiful city that I am in. Finding my place involves not only meeting people, finding a church, and adjusting to my new work schedule, but it also means visiting friends and family in nearby towns and cities, and branching out of my comfort zone to try new things.
So these past few days, starting with last weekend (Oct. 29), have been interesting to say the least. Here is a little taste of the crazy wonderfulness of my new life.
My weekend started, in a sense, with a rainy evening – the type of evening that the old me would often spend curled up on the couch, staring at an empty fireplace, sipping a cup of hot cocoa and reading a good book. In fact, this was how I began the evening (minus the hot cocoa) until I discovered that my roommate was meeting friends for dinner and I was invited along. Granted, I’d already eaten dinner, but my new motto is “seize the day” or something like that, and knowing that opportunity seldom knocks twice, I got myself dressed, brushed my hair, and headed out for a lovely evening of fellowship and chocolate cake. Yes, I ate cake while the others ate burgers, but as I pointed out, I’d already eaten my dinner.
Saturday and Sunday were spent in Atlanta catching up with an old friend (I swear, we talked almost the entire time, and probably could have kept going for several days on end) and watching my cousin, Bethany Anne Lind, give her final performance in Georgia Shakespeare’s production of The Glass Menagerie.
Saturday night was for people watching, and Jennie and I saw all sorts of interesting people from a couple dressed up as Yellowjackets for the Clemson-Tech game, to a young man wearing what I can only describe as a fishnet tank top and black jeans, to a male bartender with false eyelashes. Midtown Atlanta is full of interesting sights, and these were not even the people dressed up for the Halloween weekend! Those in costume were interesting to observe as well, and the costumed adults that appeared later in the evening included Gnomeo and Juliet, a medieval priest, a keffiyah’d Bedouin, several princesses in tiaras, and a group of gentlemen and ladies in the quaint and classic clothing of the wealthy gentlefolk of the late 19th century.
Sunday brought on its own flurry of activity from the church service at downtown’s Christ Community Church, to our unsuccessful search for a lunch spot before the play, to a smashingly successful performance by my cousin (and the others, of course) that left me both laughing and crying and slightly perturbed that my alma mater did such a poor job of presenting Tennessee Williams and other early twentieth century literature in class. Of course, while I now feel slightly jipped in my undergrad education, at least I still have time in life to learn a new appreciation for these authors.
Monday and Wednesday I spent with my sweet and adorable new charge, a nine month old baby that I nanny for two days a week. Tuesday I got my brakes fixed (boring!) and spent several hours camped out at the mechanic shop using their WiFi so that I could multitask and get some work accomplished while I waited.
Thursday night I started a Lindy Hop lesson - I’ll be spending the next six weeks learning the finer points of the Lindy Hop. Things like how to follow a lead (which is harder than it looks), what the basic step is, how to listen to the rhythm of the music, and hopefully some of those fancy moves that involve jumping, hopping, lifting, swinging and flying.
I made apple pie yesterday with Sky Top apples that needed desperately to be eaten. Several friends came over to help me eat the pie and we played one of those crazy get-to-know you games that turned out very fun. I also had opportunity to meet my cousin’s new fiance (family wedding, this summer!) for dinner and they stayed for the games as well.
This is just a taste of how crazy my life has been for the past six weeks. Each and every week has been filled with places to go, things to do, and people to meet, but I think I’m finally starting to recognize many of the people I’ve met, and I even have a few that I know a little bit about (beyond the name and where I’ve seen them). I look forward to more craziness and further experiences that push me a little farther out of my comfort zone and a little closer to what God has for me here in Greenville.
