On an introversion - extroversion scale, I find myself right in the middle leaning a little towards the introverted side. I definitely like attending social events, as long as I don't have to plan them (and as long as they're not too big)! The problem with not enjoying planning, though, is that it puts me at the mercy of my friends, who are also mostly introverted and don't love planning things. And it doesn't help matters that I married someone with even lower social needs than my own, which means I often have inertia working against me as well. In other words, I like being social and usually am quick to accept when invited to one, but most of the time my social life is a little less active than I'd prefer. My ideal social life would involve a mix of small group social events with the occasional large one...all planned by other people, of course!
Do I think you all really care that much about my social life? Probably not. But I do want to capture a few social events I've recently been a part of and make sure I don't forget them!
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Postcrossing meet-up: You all likely know that I am a complete postcard geek! I love hunting for them, collecting them, and sending them. I generally send 10-15 per week and that's when I'm at home. When I'm traveling, it's even more. Mostly I find that this hobby is viewed as a little "out-there" by most people, but I AM NOT ALONE! Back in September, a bunch of us Utah based postcard aficionados met at a library in Salt Lake City and talked postcards for two hours! It was fun to be surrounded others who share the same interest and I very much enjoyed the chance to just gather with some like-minded people.
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Lunch with postcard friends: In addition to the Postcrossing meet-up in September, I also recently had lunch with a couple other local postcard loving friends I've met through the community. Kelly and Alison both live within about 20 minutes of me and are about as geeky as I am. We even have an ongoing "ugly alphabet" postcard exchange between us, where we take turns sending ugly postcards to each other in alphabetical order. I have no pictures from the actual lunch, but here's a shot of the most recent postcard I sent out in our ugly alphabet exchange. We are on our second round through and I got the letter D this time. 💩
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Virginia Gatherings: There are times when I feel like I'll never really have good deep friends here in Utah like I did in Virginia, but I sure am grateful for my friends from Virginia. We've had a few gatherings recently that have meant the world to me. A few of us (Linda N., Heather P., Karen H) met for breakfast a few weeks ago. I also loved that the Palmers recently moving here meant that some get-togethers happened amongst Vienna Warders that might not have happened otherwise. We met at the park a couple times and just enjoyed catching up with old friends. Since we had a pit-stop in Pennsylvania between Vienna and Utah, I think some people forgot that this is where we landed, so it's good to have some Virginia friends close-by to add a little pull! I also met with a friend (Christina) recently who was here babysitting her grandkids. I enjoyed catching up with her and getting to know the cuties that are the kids of one of Spence's best friends.
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Book group: It's been a while since I mentioned my book group, but this is my one exception I have about not planning things. I LOVE my book group discussions and people so much, that it's worth it for me to overcome my dislike of planning social things, and just making it happen! I wish I took more pictures of these awesome ladies, but book group is something that keeps me sane. I host every month AND make the refreshments every month, since that's what made it more likely for people to come. Tonight we will discuss,"The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore and I am making Lona's famous popcorn from my PA book group. I made it last time and generated some excitement with it, so I'm sticking with what works!
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Jan: "Becoming Beatrix: The Life of Beatrix Potter and the World of Peter Rabbit " by Amy O'Quinn
Feb: "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce
Mar: "The Personal Librarian" by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Apr: "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
May: "Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution" by Michelle Moran
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I can't do a post about being social and not mention the Relief Society activities, which I've been planning for the last 2-1/2 years, but rarely post about. They've been taking up a lot of my social bandwidth and I'm hoping to stretch myself more in my personal life now that I have a new calling. We shall see!
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Give me a call next time you come to town!
That's fun that there is a group of postcard loving people in the area!
ReplyDeleteI just started listening to The Last Days of Night and am enjoying it so far!