friday afternoon

It's definitely 4:45 on a Friday. My wrist is sore from a week of attempting to corral my new cordless mouse. It likes to skitter across the screen, playfully avoiding the very thing I'm trying to guide it to. And the physical mouse part likes to plunge dramatically to the floor now and then. I can't seem to get the angle quite right to simultaneously be comfortable for my arm, and to prevent the thing from falling. Something to work on.

It's that time of day when the morning coffee has worn off, but I don't have enough time to take a rejuvenating walk and make it back to do anything productive after that. I don't want to start a new project, because I'll get too into it and not want to leave in 45 minutes.

Hm. I wonder what the weather's like outside. I challenged the weather folks to be right in their prediction of rain by not wearing a coat. I did, however, take care not to wear a white blouse. I've made that mistake before. Coatless plus white blouse is just begging for trouble, especially with the monsoons that can occur around here.

Matt, Lizzy and I are meeting an old friend of mine for dinner at C4F3 4214 in Arlington. (that's written in Pete code. I love Pete code!) I haven't seen this friend since we were 16. We used to walk to school together, and we both played basketball, as well. After our -- hm, sophomore year? -- she moved to another town in Washington state, and we kind of lost touch, though I heard updates now and then from mutual friends. Now, she's living in Montana with a husband and three (?) children.
It feels kinda weird to have plans with someone I essentially don't know. We were pretty good buddies for a little while, but geez. That was a long time ago. Still, my adult life has been full of lessons on how to make small talk, and I'm sure we'll still be compatible enough people. I'm just not sure whether or not I'm looking forward to it. I love socializing with people I know, but I find that it saps me to do time with folks I don't. But which category does my friend Michele fall into?
I didn't recognize her voice on the phone the couple of times we've talked since she's been in town. I joked that I probably won't recognize her when we do meet up (in a half hour). But she probably feels even more that way -- I used a different name when I knew her (Katie). My poor friends. Had I fully thought through the name-change scenario, I probably wouldn't have done it. (I actually didn't ever intend to change my name, per se. But that's another story for another time.)
These are the plans that sound fabulous, until you get right up to them. But I'm sure we'll have a really good time. If nothing else, we can talk about all of our mutual friends. :) And admire my lovely daughter. (her kids stayed in Montana)
Kids -- the great reservoir of conversation topics. Thank God for them.