tinsel town comes to med hat

this weekend i'm meeting up with an old friend.  we have known each other since we were three, which is pretty cool.  we went to school separately, but attended university together under the same discipline.

from the get go, jen was quite ambitious and always knew what she wanted.  i think she was quite goal oriented and this was exaserbated once she got engaged in second year.  it was like that engagement sparked a whole lifetime of planning.  it was graduate, get married, go back to university, teach, and live all within 10 minutes of her family farm.  to have full knowledge of that at age 19 was astounding.

that's not to say that i looked at her with envy.  i most certainly didnt.  i liked jen, but grew tired of endless nights of pondering through bridal magazines and discussions about hoping i'd find my prince someday.  meanwhile i was fumbling my way through u of l's biggest princes*.  i had no clue what i wanted to do, other than make it through another semester unscathed and pass.  that's all that mattered to me.

so while the rest of us were getting drunk, kissing frogs, and falling down, jen spent her weekends driving back home to see her betrothed.  i think i looked at her with pity during my four years because she missed out on a lot of fun.  according to her, she had all her fun in grade 11 and was done with that once she met brent.  fine and dandy, but it wasnt for me.  i was finally out from under my mom's thumb and i was going to spend my last $5 at the zoo drinking pitchers of big rock, thanks.

jen did graduate with me and moved back home and married 2 months later.  she's been married nearly 16 years now and has two kids, both of which were planned with almost precise measurements.  i am certain the only thing they didnt have under control was the time the kids were born...the rest of it was planned right down to the minute, i'm sure.

so while i spent my 20's fumbling through geeks and finding myself, jen was a mom with a husband.  she probably did grow up before leaving high school while the rest of us took our sweet time.  i dont think i really have ever settled down.  i'm ok with that.

so we will meet up this weekend.  i'm sure that all the stories exchanged will revolve around husbands and kids and where the time went since we last saw each other.  i'm pretty secure with the knowledge that things havent changed.  we may be heavier, have more wrinkles and baggage, but some people dont change and sometimes i find comfort in that.



*sarcasm