how they do it down south

so. while i still spend my work days in boston, i am officially part of the austin office.

today was a training session for people from the dallas and austin offices of my company. it was my first time meeting any one from texas offices. i was nervous about the whole 'walk into a giant room where you know no one' thing. but i've done it before. and of course, all these people were texans, so it was easy to sit down and find people to talk to right off the bat. i know that i work for a huge, global company and everytime i meet people from different places i'm amazed at how similar our work experiences are. and the whole 'it's a small world' piece of it also. it's awesome when i meet someone who knows someone else i know.

so anyways. we went over a series of situations that can come up at work, on the client site, and how to approach them. the seminar's faculty gave advice on how to take ownership of our careers and make sure we continue to develop our skill sets. so you know... some good stuff. general people and client management stuff that can definitely yield results going forward.

but the one thing that stuck out to me the most today- which is not particularly career focused but is definitely related - was the percentage of married people in attendance. this company function was focused on people at my level, who for the most part are mid to late twenties. and i would say that at least 90% were wearing wedding rings.

obviously, i'm used to senior level people in my company being married. but seeing people my age - all married off, it's weird. things just aren't like that in boston. yes, there are definitely young people in boston that are married. i friends with a few. and a few engaged people here and there. but it's definitely not the majority.

i ate lunch with three women and a large part of our conversation involved, 'my husband this...' or 'my in-laws that...' then they turned to me, "flora- are you married?" um. no! boyfriend? still no... cue awkward silence.

it's weird feeling so out of place due to my marital status. my non-existent marital status.

yes, of course i would like to find a nice guy to date. that'd be awesome. i'm generally open to meeting new people and i'd love to find a boy.

but come on now. seriously? i could not possibly see marriage in my near future. at all. i'm such a kid. focused on me, myself and i. and sometimes the world as a whole. but mostly- me.

these texans. already all married off by the age of 25. i don't get it. i'm not fitting in. also every single person i met today besides the two foreigners (UK and France) went to college in texas and lived here for most of their adult lives. UT, TAMU, baylor, SMU, texas state, UNT. also, so not me. i was the only weirdo who'd wandered off for college, and then was crazy/smart/dumb enough to return to the homeland. at least people had heard of boston college. of course, i know our recent success in football is a factor in my school's brand recognition.

however. they did all say, y'all regularly. and there was almost an aggie/horn throwdown which was thouroughly entertaining. and they all know where grapevine mills is and the awesomeness of chick-fil-a and have visited san antonio beyond the rivewalk. texans. i love them. i am them. kind of.

moving on and on and on

moving out of my place in 12 days. i've been packing on and off for the past two weeks and it still looks as if i haven't even started.

this is not going to be fun.

i didn't even go out today except to go to mass and the grocery store. i actually did spend the day packing. and still... so much stuff all over the place.

i hate moving.

beyond the accumulation of 'stuff' on such a grand scale is the somewhat significant issue of figuring out where i will be 'living' per se come sept1. i can only last on the couch of ex-roomies for so long i think.

so stressful.

and i have amigos that are planning on visiting in the coming months. visiting 'me'. of course, when visiting me, it's important that they have an actual placeee to visit. a physical location where i live and they can stay for a night or two. i don't know where that is. eek. i need a place. soon.

this sucks.

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went to a concert yesterday. the day was pretty beautiful out, feeling like fall in new england (though it's still bloody summer!), with sunny skies and nice breezes. only once the sun set it was freezing cold and my fingers began to turn blue.

musical highlights of the concert were band of horses, yeah yeah yeahs and modest mouse. my first time seeing each and they were fantastic. seeing karen o. in person in her total rockstar persona with crazy dancing and theatrical makeup and was so awesome.

seeing guster again was also great, only cos it took me back to bc days. i remember sitting on the windowsill of our mod on the last day of classes to watch them perform in the mod lot. ahh. bc memories. :p

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my mom/bro are on the phone giving me update on people from my elementary school that she sees around town. two more girls are engaged/married. seriously. i cannot move to texas under these conditions. all other girls my age are married or engaged. all decent boys are already taken. there will be no girls for me to hang out with and no boys for me to date. fantastic.

not.

so depressing.

go on and work it out

so i went to the gym today. i know, i know. its once every ten years. such a good use of my money...

anyways, i saw a couple guys walk by in shorts. and their blindingly white legs made me think - oh, if i ever married a white guy, i'd totally make him go tanning in the summer cos that's gross. then i thought to myself, wow, flora- that was really racist. but actually, its just a matter of aesthetics. and then, i realized, duh flora, you dont have to worry about that blindingly white leg thing. cos duh, you'll live somewhere warm where everyone can be tan and pretty year round. no fake baking at the electric beach. duh! so yeah. duh. i will live a happily ever after nicely tanned married life, no matter what race my future husband is. cos we'll live somewhere warm, obvs. that's so affirming. :)