A full two days.
Yesterday evening was spent on a train into the city. Waiting at Flinders for a Broadmeadows train, I was infront of a bin. Fairly busy platform. Older guy comes past looks at me. Creep. I go up to see if I can find juice. None. I come back down where I was before. He comes and puts something in the bin (I had to move) mumbles something. Me with headphones in double checks with raised eyebrows or half a question. I get a smile and a yeh/nod. Still a creep. He gets on the Upwey train. I don’t.
Connex pulls a hat trick on me and the 6:29 disappears from the screen. So I get annoyed and am ready to sit around ‘being late’ when I hear an announcement and have to move to the other platform where the 6:29 now is.
I get to Essendon on time. Jess C and her friend Jess. Get off. Same carriage but I didn’t notice as I was facing reverse and the seats of trains that side of the city are super high. Jess’s friend is a lot younger. I feel very old. She talks so much you cannot get a word in without interupting.
I see Tracey and Jono and Chels and some of the others as soon as we get there. I knew they might be but this unexpected pleasure filled me up. Its good to see familiar faces when you’ve been ‘estranged’ from them for so long.
Talked with them for a bit. Paul was up the end dealing with powerpoint stuff with Age so figured I wouldn’t bother him. Sat with the Jess’s again. Jess (Rae) and Belle suddenly appear at might right. Jess is shorter than I thought she’d be. Belle is just very short 😛 I like them both immensely, and I’m not just saying that Jess because you read this.
We moved to where there was more room and did the whole ‘how are you finding Melbourne’ thing and whatever conversation that followed.
Service was good. Except for when they kindly played the God of Wonders song. Which screws with my insides and was even worse because Age was ‘leading’ – too many memories of association with it being sung heaps and heaps right around the time all the church stuff errupted. Sometimes you have absolutely no control over feelings that just seem to rise up from your gut. I hate it. It took effort and more than I like to admit to suppress them.
I’ve heard Age’s story quite a few times now. Still parts of it I needed to hear. During the later part it was just really good to realise how good God has been to me this past year.
Spent some time after getting a hamburger/sausage with Jess and Belinda. Some laughing done. It was as comfortable as you can sort of expect a first meeting someone in a ‘strange’ (now less so) place. It was really pretty good. For the record (*cough* Burkie): Jess told me I wasn’t as quiet as she expected, I was actually quite chatty. READ THAT AGAIN. feel free to clarify it with her.
Inside again. Spoke more to J and B and Travis and Paul. Said goodbye about 10:30ish.
Paul kindly drove me all the way home. Was good.
I did not read Jess V’s message properly. Alarm goes at 7:30. I stay in bed as late as I think. I get out of bed. Two minutes later she was there. Did not have time to wake up properly. She was cranky at me. Decided we couldn’t make breakfast at Deakin so stopped at McDonalds. Ran into Nathan (yits). Sat in Macca’s for about an hour talking and catching up with Nathan.
Deakin. Badly signed. Marquees. Various mixups over tours etc which left way too early. Meh to them. Ran into Mark (yits). Got various brouchures/bag etc… Jess was impressed at the no free condoms. She could go down to ‘student life’ and get them there 😉 hah. Ran into Mark again standing next to a bin and systematically going through his Oweek bag pulling out junk and dumping it in the bin.
Signed up for Library tour thingo tomorrow. Went to the Arts Faculty session which was quite good. Then went back to Jess’s detouring via Knox so Jess could figure out work stuff and then VideoEzy to get a no-brainer chick flick that we hadn’t seen. Figured the worst we could do was Wimbeldon, so we got that.
Home.
Tonight I just about hit the roof when Hannah and Em make insistent comments whenever I cook ‘ooh don’t burn it’ etc. etc. etc. Really gets to me.
Thinking about other stuff. God throws one verse at me via partial memory (which I look up later) and one at me through reading something.
Then a conversation with a friend. Had to challenge her on a few things. Responsibility for own life and the balance of advice as a friend is a curious thing. Snapped at someone when they interuppted my ‘busy – please do not interupt’ and had to appologise later.
I am tired. Tomorrow has another early start.
Jess and Belle this is a HUGE boost to both of you.
It was fantastic meeting you and spending that little bit of time.
Jess you said as if it had felt you’d known me for longer – I was getting that vibe too 😛
Thanks for making the evening truly enjoyable. Jess I have to get you to give me B’s email/msn etc. and talk to you both stacks more – I’ve seen your maturity at work in your words and now a little in life. It’s good 🙂
Dude….go easy…I’m the one who’s been telling you for years that you’re really an extrovert!!
why do you go online when youre gonna put ‘dont interrupt’??? I’m always so tempted to talk to people when they do that. but i thought ud get angry, so i didnt.
…but i will next time 😛
Bectrovert