Nostalg-ICK

Nostalgia. What's up, Word of the Day? I couldn't escape it today. At work, Geo texted me and asked "Hey! What's up? How's your day?" And I responded with "I'm feeling very stabby right now." Which sent me back in time to my beloved first job out of college, where our Production team would frequently tell me "This project has me all stabby." Then I got all mushy missing my dear old friends from the good ol' days. I came home and saw the goodbye present I got a billion years ago from that job, which was a mocked up cover of our magazine with my face on it and all kinds of little headlines that both mocked and adored me. I still totally love that thing. Nostalgia.

Here's some hilarious background on nostalgia. Okay, so apparently when I was crazy young, we were cleaning out the attic in my childhood home. My mom tells me she was going through bajillions of boxes with crap from all of us five kids, and cleaning them all out. She got to my box. She'd throw some random article of mine in "trash", but then she'd casually toss all my favorite belongings into the "Nostalgia" pile. I started crying and wailing and being otherwise annoying. My mom was all "What's the matter, crazy person?" And I sobbed, "Who is Nostalgia and WHY is she getting all my stuff?!"

Adorable.

Since that day, I've always had a soft spot for all things nostalgic. The other night, I got an email from my former roommate. She said she was a titch homesick for our old place. I agreed. I'd been having similar feelings lately. I was all "I miss the possibility of having mice in a house." And "All these young 'very put-together' people in my new neighborhood are making me feel like I'm bad Lifetime movie character." And "I want my hammockkkkkk!" So, I did what any rational girl would do. I jumped in my car and drove past my old house to see if it missed us too.

Turns out, I couldn't tell. You know, because it's a house.

But on my way to my old place, I was pleased and plagued by all the familiar things I was comforted by in that neighborhood. Zillions of kids screaming for no reason, no one understanding what a Cross Walk is, but also predictable stop signs and potholes, and the wonderfully familiar scent of the Lake of the Isles. I drove by my old house twice. Once to make sure it was still there, and again to just make sure someone was tending to the wasps nests that tend to form in the columns of the balcony. Sigh. Everything looked fine.

Nostalgia is a very protective thing for me. I don't want anyone else to mess with my memories. I mean, I even go as far as to hate everyone who frequents my college bar. THEY don't know how awesome it was...only I do. And hey, wait! You can't just throw away that hat I wore at my first boy-girl party! RUDE! And how DARE a new breed of youngsters re-discover Saved By the Bell! It's not "kitsch" man, it's LIFE. Jerks.

Anyhoozle, I'm all gooshy and nostagia-y today.

Meanwhile, this weekend, my girlfriend from college is swinging by to see me. I haven't seen her in foreves. Seriously. I've seen her like 3 times in the past 5 or 6 years. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to be incredibly nostalgic with her. Lucky girl!

Well, Nostalgia, whoever you are: Let's not screw this weekend up. We'll give you our best stuff, so make sure it's cool, okay?