Making New Friends...as an Adult

Today was my last day at work for a full nine days! I can't lie: I need the break. I think most teachers would agree that the first two months or so are the most difficult and tiring part of the year. But once we hit Thanksgiving break, the rest of the year seems to move quickly and smoothly (er, knock on wood).

This week off has quite the agenda of fun activities planned:

• the UCLA-U$C game (GO BRUINS!!!)

• my parents' visit for a few days
• Thanksgiving
• our first UCLA basketball game at the new Pauley

Of course, there will be grading and studying thrown in there, and I hope to bake a little something here or there.

After work today, I couldn't wait to hit the gym. The English teachers spent the day in a meeting, which meant a LOT more sitting than I'm used to, and I was ready to move and sweat a bit! But I completely lost my motivation. I just wanted to get back to the apartment, make dinner, and call it a night.

Thankfully, on the way to the gym, a girl stopped me to ask me to save a treadmill for her (we only have two in our little apartment complex's gym). Once she arrived, we got to chatting about my current boot camp workout (I think I convinced her to at least check it out for the next round!), and I hopped on the other treadmill for about 30 minutes of running while we kept up the conversation.

It's so rare now that I meet someone new outside of work, and I'm honestly a little unsure of how to approach this whole "make a new friend" idea as an adult. Here's what went through my head as I navigated the interaction:

• Does she want to be my friend? Is this happening?
• At what point do we say our names?
• Okay, we said our names. Do we shake hands?
• No, no shaking hands, okay, got it.
• Do we exchange phone numbers? 
• No, this isn't a date.

I'm a loser. Also, it's probably really lucky that I'm not single. 

But seriously, I don't know how to make friends as an adult. I guess I assume that everyone already has the friends they want, and it's just not as natural to get to know someone outside of work and school. But it was refreshing to have a purely social conversation with someone new today. We chatted about running, races, our jobs, our significant others, our Thanksgiving plans. Hopefully we'll get a chance to run together again, because I was definitely motivated to keep up my pace as we chatted away. The time flew by!

The rest of the night was blissfully relaxing: waffles, champagne, making fun of the awfulness of Step Up 3, and a late-night run to Ralph's for a little Ben & Jerry's action.

I tried a new flavor, Chocolate Therapy, which was exactly that. I am cured of whatever may have been ailing me. Ben and Jerry really know what they're doing over there.

Tomorrow is the big game! It's an early one, but we're excited for the rivalry--GO BRUINS!!!

What's the worst movie you've seen recently? 

Um, Step Up 3 is terrible. You should watch it.