Free as a Bird

Tuesdays, I don't have class 'til 12:40 PM. I'm sad that when I return to the real world I won't know what it's like to sleep in and work out before thinking about important tasks.

So, this morning, I took full advantage. I slept in briefly, ran 6.5 miles, and then came home to find all the local old people gawking at the street. As I walked towards my house, a fire engine rolled up slowly with its lights flashing and siren on so low that I shook my head to see if I was just filling in the music with my imagination.

Nope. It was a real emergency. I asked the nearest older couple (gotta love the old folks: at least 5 older couples had walked out to the sidewalks in front of their homes -- they didn't go to the scene of the problem, but they were there, observing, commenting, and ready to share with me.) what happened and they pointed and explained. Apparently, a blue Trans Am (yeah, I live in a slightly white trash neighborhood. What?) was driven fast down our sleepy little street by a very young boy, that one, over there [cut to 15-year-old looking kid with a ponytail on his cell phone]. According to the neighborhood watch, he sideswiped a white truck and careened into the house of my acrossed-the-street-neighbor.

It was very exciting stuff for my neighborhood. No one was hurt. I was lucky enough to be having a slow day, so I was back a half a mile instead of on the sidewalk in his path when he careened across my neighbor's lawn.

My morning proceeded in a surreal kind of way after that.

E still hadn't left for work when I returned from my run, which was odd. So, we both went back outside to gawk with the elders at the car, the police, the boy, the firefighters, the lawn, and the perfectly intact across-the-street house.

After we tired of what passes for drama in these parts, I took my shower and loaded my car to 1) go to the post office and mail the invitations and 2) get the bridesmaids' shoes dyed. I gave myself an hour to accomplish both tasks.

I was severely conservative in my estimate. First, there was a line full of crazy people at the post office. There always is. That's one constant. No matter what country, state, or city you are in, there are crazies in line at the post office. I know this. But, I forgot.

Then, when I got to the counter, I found out that my gorgeous invitations are too heavy for the one stamp each that E so carefully affixed last night. So I spent 40 minutes affixing 24 cents of additional postage to each envelope (except the international ones). That's one sticker stamp and one good old fashioned lick-it-and-stick-it stamp per envelope my friends. Fun!

By the time I left the post office, I knew I wasn't going to make it to corporations. At first, I thought of how to get notes, and tried to tell myself that it didn't matter. But then, all of a sudden, I felt like undergrad. I had a flashback to what it felt like to have priorities above school. Not just any priorities, but fun priorities like athletics, sleep, and a social life. And, I smiled. Because I've returned, finally. My wedding is more important to me than today's corporations class.

How decadent!

I just skipped a very expensive, but very boring class to hang out in the post office with the crazies and get those invites in the mail. Then, I went to the cobbler and dealt with the shoes to be dyed. The weather was gorgeous, there was a spring in my step and I found myself walking in the middle of the day during the middle of the week with my sunglasses on -- grinning.

I am a student. I am free to skip class. It's a freedom those in the working world don't have. And today, I took advantage of it -- Finally. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I still haven't read a single page for this semester, but I have managed to locate complete outlines, class notes, and/or lecture slides for each professor/class I'm taking.

I am a 3L, hear me roar.