Take life one day at a time

Friday, February 4, 2011

I have not accomplished anything today. I woke up a little before noon and have been in my pajamas almost all day. In my defense, my best friend and cousin, Gabby, spent the night and we were up until 3 a.m. putting on makeup and taking pictures of each other, laughing like we used to when we were little girls. Gabby is the best. We became best friends when my youngest sister, Isha, went to college. My aunt said to me at the time, this is your chance to be Gabby’s best friend now that Isha has left. I had always been jealous of Isha and Gabby’s relationship so I wasted no time in making her my bestie. We’ve been inseparable since. We can go weeks without talking and pick up where we left off. Usually though, we talk every other day. I love that I live in Houston so that I can spend time with her. It’s definitely one of the best parts of living here, if not the best part.

Since I made such a drastic change in my life by moving to Houston, I need everything else to be just as different. After three weeks, I was tired of the mousy brown I had been sporting as my hair color and decided to go darker. I am now a dark brunette. I don’t wear makeup anyway but the darker hair color makes my features more intense and I look like I’m wearing makeup when I’m not.

It’s freezing here in Houston. It’s absolutely nothing compared to the wretched winter conditions that those up north are suffering, but for Houston this is the worst weather they’ve ever had. They shut down the highways and the mayor told everyone to stay home. I went to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping for my mom and realized that everyone was making a big deal out of nothing. The roads weren’t iced over and there was no snowfall as opposed to the conditions in Dallas.

This morning I received texts from both her sister and mom with our puppy, Philly, playing in the snow for his first time. I’m not sure if they genuinely texted me the pictures themselves or if she sent them from their phones because I told her I didn’t want to talk to her for a week. It was the first communication I had with her since Monday when I had texted her, I still can’t believe you let me go and her response had been, what happened to not talking to me for a week. What kind of response is that?! Supposedly, it wasn’t her texting me but rather her sister and mother, however one of the pictures were of her with Philly. This will be the only time we have ever gone more than 24 hours without speaking to one another since we met in college.

Right now, I can’t even say that I miss her. I recognize the absence in my life but I’m not at the point where I miss her. All I can think about is how much I have to do – physical, well women’s exam, psychiatrist appointment, colon hydrotherapy, dance class, yoga class, applying to jobs, adviser appointments at UH and UST, studying for the psychology GRE, taking the psychology GRE in April, filling out my FAFSA and applying for school loans, summer school classes, college applications, recommendation letters, unpacking my clothes, buying a bed and other room accessories. Yet, I lounged in my pajamas all day. It’s overwhelming to think about the next year ahead of me. It’s daunting. Oftentimes, I have to remind myself to stop and breathe before I have a panic attack. I have to remember to take life one day at a time. That’s easier said than done.