One Hundred

This should be a time to celebrate. One hundred posts. It really is an accomplishment.

Except for the fact that all of the time that went into making these posts could have been put to better use, such as studying or more hours at a job.

But then you wouldn't be receiving the quality material I prepare each and every time I decide to update this ol' mother!

Well, technically, it's just material. I don't really think about preparing anything. In theatre terms, this is all just improv. off the top of my head.

And that makes it quality.

Material, I mean.

Tonight, I ended up laughing quite a lot with a friend Gina, whom I ended up having a lot more in common with than I'd ever have anticipated.

Starting with just going to Pac N' Save for some extra food, we hummed and hawed at whether we should actually buy products for over an hour. I ended up buying three times the amount of items I wanted, as usual. And to splurg it all, we went to Mcy's (McDonald's) to have a cone.

Getting back at past midnight, I have to say that it was a blessed evening.

We just drove to a park, then sat and talked. About everything.

It has been quite some time since I've just sat and talked, laughing and really giving responses while also receiving.

We talked about boys (for heaven's sake, we do talk about boys at times), we talked about great lines in movies and we talked about old friends and how fucked up things can get.

I talked about how we got lost in Australia, and how I was the only one who had a cool head. She talked about her step-father and how awesome he was when he'd heard she was pregnant and helped her make a decision. She talked about Marcus, an American she was best friends with the semester before and how confused she's been since he's been gone. I talked about how I'd been best friends with a kid Nick in High School and he'd ditched me with another best friend because they'd been "in love."

Then we went and got more ice cream cones.

It was one of the few times in my life where you're with a person and there isn't an awkward pause after a sentence is finished. A connection made on too short of notice, as I only have a few weeks left before leaving New Zealand for home.

It always sounds mean to say, but it's true when we think about a "system of friendships." There are certain friends we go to for a good laugh, certain friends we go to when we want to bitch, certain to forget, certain to remember, certain to have mindless chatter with... But there are those precious few that somehow have all of those "certains" crammed together. And it's amazing how easily they can be pitched away or lost.

I love the friendships I've made with Sara and Michael. Sara has my morals and shares my quirky thought processing. Michael is the playful puppy I've missed at home. But the appreciation for this night seems to pale in comparison, as truth is the best in any relationship.

I will be hanging out with Sara for the last few days of my trip, going to Lord of the Rings sites and climbing mountains. And J and I will do even more by checking out Wellington and hanging out at Hawk's Bay for a few days with another friend.

But by far the best event of this trip has been meeting the people and making those connections. Places are everywhere, but what makes you come back is the memories made by those connections your heart will always remember.

I'm glad the last few weeks of this will be filled with laughter. It always was the best medicine.

Random Fact: The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.