some random thoughts worth keeping

Part 1- Planning ahead
I love parties. But planning a party always makes me nervous. In addidition to all the preparations there is the fear, "what if nobody comes?" I was in charge of planning a social event for Journey. Not long after my roller-skating adventure with my kids, I attended a meeting to plan upcoming events. And so, I suggested skating.There were a few who thought roller-skating to be lame. They suggested ice-skating instead. And so I began to plan. I looked up a list of ice-skating places and made some calls. I knew for sure we could go ice-skating at the big, fancy mall. Unfortunately it was outside of the area so many of my friends refuse to leave. So I found a place closer. The location, date, and time were set. For at least a month, it was announced there would be ice-skating at the chosen venue. It was not until 2 weeks before the date, that someone let me know that there was no ice-skating at this place. It was just an old-fashioned roller rink. I was faced with a dilemma. Do I change the location? Or do I change the activity? In the end, I decided to just keep the location. We would roller-skate. Only 6 people showed up. Including me. After an hour of watching the clock and waiting for anyone else to show up, I gave up. I was ready for a beer.
Part 2- Looking Back
Once we had all agreed we were too old for skating, we decided to head for a bar. After much debate, we finally decided on a place to go. I hadn't been to this bar in a year. In fact, it was almost one year exactly. I can't help but reflect on all that I've experienced in a year. New friendships, lost friendships. A relationship, love, break-up, hurt, healing, frustration. Mistakes I can't undo. Moments I would never want to change. Trips with friends. Trips with family. Lots of laughing, lots of crying. Avoiding regret at all costs. In the year since I was last ordering a beer at this bar, I've had my share of really good, amazing experiences as well as just plain shitty, this-hurts-a-lot moments. But I guess I hope that all of these have made me just a little more interesting. I just wish I would stop having those "I'm such an idiot moments." No need for me to be that interesting...