Be Present

That's what my friend Merila said she's been working on lately and it really resonated with me. I hadn't seen her in years, but we went to middle school, high school, and UT alongside each other. We stopped to talk after seeing each other at the UT CO-OP this afternoon. It was a small but great catch up. Realizing that so many of our friends and "smart" kids our age are back in school - either for another Bachelor's, a Master's, or Post-Bac.
I walked around Central Market after talking with her and finally resolved to admitting to myself that I am horrible at "being present". Either I miss how life was in the beginning of 2006 or I miss living in Portland (while I was living in Portland, I missed Texas terribly), and now that I'm living in Beaumont, I'm missing Austin. I never seem to be content where I am. Why can't I just be content where I am? One of my biggest regrets from my college years is that I was always off somewhere else. I was never actually in Austin on the weekends. I would drive to Houston, College Station (seriously?!), or Beaumont. I love driving, so getting somewhere else was always fun for me... I guess it still is. I just want to make it a point to actually be content and be present. I'm sick of missing out on life because I'm not pouring into the present. In a huge way, Blipfoto has been a connection to the present. As I was walking around the pond behind Central Market (looking for today's blip, of course), I reminisced of the countless times I had walked that path between my old apartment at 38th and Lamar and Central Market. CM was my college cafeteria basically. I have a special place in my heart for a silly grocery store. My brother and I would meet there for dinner with his family and I would buy bottles of excellent Italian wine and search for the perfect cheese. As I've spent the last few weeks in Austin, I find myself in Central Market practically every day - studying in the cafe or picking up a soup and sammich with a sweet leaf tea to go to my 7-10pm class.
Today was rainy and foggy as all get out, so I decided to forgo the gray sky/pond/oak tree blip from behind my old abode and go with this parking garage snippet instead. This is the garage behind my Princeton Review MCAT course at Dobie Mall next to UT's campus. I've been to it far more times than I ever imagined I would and I just really liked this corner where I parked tonight. It seemed more blipworthy to me tonight... a glimpse of my Austin experience this time instead of a shot that makes me think of another era.

Tomorrow's gonna be busy as I pack up and set off from the Foley's house. (I love this family.)...thinking about getting my hair cut before I leave.. Hopefully I can make that happen.
Tomorrow is Michael's birthday (!!)...what in the world does he have in store I wonder (wink)....
For now, I will fall asleep with the steady sound of the rain beating down hard on the metal roof...I wish I had a cup of hot chocolate.. I love this sound.

[450th entry today - wahoo!]