Friday night

Purely out of my own laziness and lack of initiative, I found myself without a meal for Friday night. This knowledge did nothing to brighten an already bad mood on Friday afternoon, but I went ahead and made preparations to eat by myself in my apartment. Nothing too fancy, but still nicer than usual, and I certainly wasn't going to starve (at least physically). I contemplated skipping going to shul, since I wasn't particularly in the mood to be social. However, I decided to go anyway because usually when I'm not in the mood to be around people, the best thing for me is to be around people. It forces me to act happier than I am, and sometimes by acting happier, I really do end up being happier.

After shul got out, I was about to make a quick escape to avoid the usual social scene that follows services, when a girl I know--not a close friend, but a step above casual acquaintance--said hello and wished me a good Shabbos. She asked if I was okay; I said I was tired and not feeling 100%. She then asked me what my plans were for that night, and I answered that I was eating in my apartment. "Oh, so how many people are you having over?" she asked. "Oh, it's just me," I answered as brightly as I could muster. I'm not foisting myself on anyone after shul on Friday night! But of course, she had other ideas. She promptly invited me over, as she and another mutual friend of ours were eating together and they wanted more company and had more than enough food. And of course, since eating alone on Friday night is slightly depressing no matter how positive one tries to be about it, I did accept. I had a very lovely time, and my mood picked up in no time! :)

By: Scraps | Monday, August 27, 2007 at 8/27/2007 10:18:00 AM | |

Thoughtful

I have a friend from school who is just really thoughtful. Every so often, I receive an email from her asking how I am doing. When I miss class for Jewish holidays, she gives me a copy of notes and remembers to ask how my holiday was. We once bonded over lipstick. We use the same brand but different colors. She told me how the drugstore near her often has buy 1, get 1 free sales. She asked me what color I use so that if she sees the sale, she can pick some up for me. Well, that's exactly what happened a couple weeks ago. She saw the sale, remembered my shade, and got me my lipstick. She's now traveling into the city to take care of a few things, and she made sure to contact me so that she will get to give me the lipstick. And she offered to treat me to Starbucks. It's a small thing, but it means a lot.

By: Shoshana | Friday, August 24, 2007 at 8/24/2007 08:34:00 AM | |

Great message

We all need someone to talk to either for guidence or just to talk. I found this beautiful message on Scrap's blog

By: smb | Wednesday, August 08, 2007 at 8/08/2007 05:12:00 PM | |

Little Stuff and Big Stuff

I've been going through a very stressful housing situation. There have been so many people who have been so amazingly kind that I can't even count them.

I've had SOOOO many offers of places to stay temporarily, I can't even count them. Some came from people I've never even met in person. Some came from friends of friends.

I've had dinner made for me, with the leftovers packaged up and sent home with me, since I don't have a full working kitchen at the moment.

I've had people who have checked up on me daily to see how things were going.

I've had those who supported me in so many ways all the way from other countries on occasion.

I've had people be understanding when I completely forgot my obligations to them.

I've had people who understood when I told them I didn't want to talk about the situation any more, because I just couldn't deal with thinking about it.

I've had people give me boxes and offer to come over to help me pack and move.

There are more things that people have done - I wish I could list and remember every single one of them here. But mainly, I just feel so incredibly lucky to have had such support through such a difficult situation. I'm eternally grateful to all those who have shown their kindness and caring. As stressful as it was, I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like without these kind people in my life. Thank you to everyone.

By: Shoshana | Monday, August 06, 2007 at 8/06/2007 03:36:00 PM | |