Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Grown Up

Date night isn't really an established element of our household anymore. We spend plenty of quality time talking or working together (or at least in close proximity) so I don't feel at all as though we have neglected each other since the arrival of our joyous bundle (a bundle nearing nine months!).

Regardless, I felt a surprise night out with dinner and a concert was in order, especially since one of hubby's favorite bands was in town with cheap tickets. A yummy dinner with a coupon, checking out silly baby halloween costumes and then on to the show.

It was a fantastic show. Chill, casual and just the thing for enjoying company with your favorite man. But. We decided we have started feeling old.

The show was held at one of our local colleges and therefore attended by mostly students. Young students. Trendy students. Full of hopes and dreams. We giggled at some of them and watched as some chose to sit up front on the floor for two hours while we old fogies preferred our padded seats with backs.

It was a great night. Even though I'm not going to sit up late tonight and discuss either the philosophy of life or the cutest boy on campus (both topics I used to love chatting over) it was fun to remember being where they were. It is amazing how quickly life passes by so that when you turn around so much has changed without our even noticing.

8 years ago we didn't have digital cameras, ipods or camera phones. We didn't blog, tweet or text our friends every 2 minutes. It's just so interesting how much can change about culture so quickly.

What do you remember about college?

9 comments:

Luanne said...

Well, my college experience was not at all the typical one we all would expect. I had children involved in mine since my second year! So at first I was a young working single mom, then I was a young married working mom, and then I started having more babies!! And to make a long story short...12 years, 5 children and 4 colleges later I did finally finish and get my BFA in Interior Design from Kendall College of Art and Design! Yea me!

I always feel old or out of place wherever I am. I am only 33 but have 5 kids, one of them a high schooler. I often long to have friends that are closer to my age rather than friends that are 15 yrs older than me and have kids that match the ages of mine. It's a daily dilemma to find my place in life :)

But, that being said...I do love my life and the fact that when my youngest is graduating from high school, I will only be 46!! That's when I plan to start partying :)

Kris said...

I remember being able to get by on next to no sleep, staying up all night studying in a classroom in the engineering building with my future husband, dry erase boards full of greek symbols, and a 2 litre of cherry vanilla coke. I still can not drink that without thinking about an entire wall full of engineering problems.

Jenn said...

The only year I was AT college (all of my subsequent college years were done online) was in Madrid, Spain. That was a very tumultuous year for me because one of my friends tried to commit suicide and then things got even uglier.

But it was also a year full of fun. We DID have cell phones but only with prepaid plans so we never used them. We took public transportation everywhere. And I'm pretty sure my hand almost fell off from taking so many notes in my History class.

Subsequent years were not nearly as exciting but just before I graduated last August I found out that I was pregnant, so that was a nice segue into the next stage of life. (By then I had a cell phone!)

anne said...

Luanne...I can relate to your feeling out of place. For many years most of my friends had kids before I did. And while I like kids and all, it can be rather weird. I'm pretty sure you're totally going to be rocking it when I'm still dealing with pre-teen issues!! :)

Kris, I love these memories. They remind me of being in the tech center with my eventually-to-be-hubby late at night working on projects. And how did we do it without any sleep!?

As crazy as that year sounds, Jenn, it also sound amazing. I sent a semester in Israel and will never regret it. I only wish I had gone for a year or had done another country while I was over there!

Jean said...

Ahhh college. So long ago. I remember having to abide by a dress code (no shorts to class and they had JUST passed being able to wear pants to class), having to go to church every Sunday (morning and night), no lap tops or cell phones were around yet (had to take notes the old fashioned way). It was also when I met you Anne through Andy. yay! :) So yeah...I'm feeling old now. Thanks Anne.

I agree with the feeling out of place aspect as we were the one's who had kids first in our group of friends so we're the one's who have the older kids when all our friends have younger or no kids. But I'm very thankful for the friends I have and who have loved my kids as their own. :)

anne girl said...

College, the first time around, was all about being a music major for me. We formed our own little family in that music building, and I loved every part of it: the endless choral rehearsals, the slightly musty practice rooms, feeling the keys of a Steinway under my fingertips, the thrill of performance. I also remember pulling some all-nighters with a steady stream of Coke in my system to stay awake, and also these chicken fajita subs that I practically lived on - the cafeteria lady who made them knew me by name and exactly how I liked them made.

Grad school, I remember loving the snow (college 1st time was in Florida), riding the subway into Manhattan and loving being in NYC, being scared out of my mind that I'd "slipped" into the school and that everyone else was way more talented than I was. I remember my roommate's loopy dog and how he used to chase his tail all the time. I remember singing with the NY Philharmonic and thinking that life just didn't get any more exciting than that.

College - the third time, this time for my second bachelor's in nursing - was all about studying. I don't think I studied harder in my life! I drank a lot of Starbucks, made awesome friends, was pregnant twice and lost both during those four semesters, lost 30 pounds, ran a whole lot, and hoped I wouldn't kill anyone as a nurse.

I might just do college again someday!

anne said...

Eew for dress codes...glad that when I got to the Stone they had done away with a few more rules. It's all going down in a hand basket now... ;)

Geez, Anne, you were good at college! Three degrees is impressive!

anne girl said...

Eh, really only two. I dropped out of the master's degree because I realized I didn't want to go the route of starving artist ;-)

Chris Walker said...

yeah yeah yeah....memories and whatnot. what i want to know is - what's the deal with drew not telling me that you guys saw sleeping at last!? i wanted to go to that show so bad! and we hung out this afternoon and everything....