Blind Date

Ok - it's not really a blind date, but that's what it feels like to me. Tonight I am meeting a friend from grade school. Now living in Minnesota, most people from around here would think big deal, however, I went to grade school in IL. The grade school I went to was a small Lutheran school and I had 40 people in my graduating class. Of those 40, only 1 other person went to the same high school as me. I haven't really kept in touch with any of those 39 people (however my best friend Lisa from Seattle is one those people!)

Thanks to Facebook I recently discovered that one of my former classmates now lives up in Mpls too! Tonight we are meeting for dinner. I don't think I have seen her since 8th grade graduation which was 17 years ago (that number makes me feel old!!!). On one hand I am really excited to see her again - I can't wait to find out what she does for living, how her family is doing, what she thinks of Minnesota and of course to find out what she knows about other people we went to school with. But on the other hand - I am really nervous. As a rule I don't like going to new places by myself. And whenever I am meeting someone for dinner, I really hate being the first one to arrive. My co-worker today was giving me a pep talk, which seems so incredibly silly. I am almost 32 years old - you think this wouldn't be a big deal.

This all reminds me of Colleen. She's really a friend of a friend, but we did hang out a few times back in the day (i.e. stalking Jared Leto). This year she has decided to do something once a week that takes her outside her comfort zone. She has invited people to join the challenge and while it probably would be very good for me to do ( a lot of things make me squirm just thinking about them) I am going to stick to my challenage of running/walking 500 miles this year. So far everything that Colleen has done has been successful and usually a lot of fun. Which is a good reminder that often times I don't want to do something because it is uncomfortable and makes me incredibly nervous, but who knows what I could be missing out on!

So, on that note I am off to print out directions to the restaurant. And even though my stomach is all in knots - I am going to do my best to not get worried about getting lost, not being able to find a parking spot, that everyone will stop and stare at me while I walk into the place, and that I won't be able to recongize my friend and I am just going to try and enjoy the night!