Numbers

Some off-handed quips stick with you. A few weeks ago, brimful and I were on our second date. I was loving the lounge, but, being the misanthrope that I often am, complaining that I wanted all the people to leave so that I could chill there with maybe....20 friends. Brimful suggested having my birthday there in Jan., and I suddenly realized I don't have twenty friends in the vicinity.

I found myself counting on my fingers ... and not getting past the ring finger on the first hand. I started adding in work friends, and their SOs/partners, and I realized I was stretching. One of the things I miss most from DC is having a deep and varied pool of friends. Gym friends, coffee buddies, happy hour invitees, former coworkers, designated movie dates, people who used to date my friends, swing kids, etc. etc.

I'm developing my pool slowly here, and that's exactly as it should be. Finding people you vibe with takes a long time. I've started referring to The Star as Number 2 (or as I prefer 0002) in my own version of the dot.com employee number game. I'm not going to make it to twenty in time for my 31st (unless I import some from the east coast), but that's okay - maybe something more like a dinner party. :)