Twenty minutes later and I'm starting this post again because it didn't post properly. Ah well...

Tonight was great. Supper at Mano's with the Haggmans. They moved to Australia just over two years ago and have been missed. It's funny how you don't realize how much you miss someone until you see them again. It was like that tonight. I was looking forward to seeing her, but I didn't know how much until there she was in front of me.

She is gifted. The gift is that no matter what the social circumstance, she makes everyone feel welcome and comfortable. Tonight, different social circles, different people and she didn't let anyone go unnoticed as she bounced from conversation to conversation from her corner seat and everyone's attention went with her. It's like she has a social scorecard in her head and makes sure that no one gets too far behind.

In small settings with new people that I don't know well, I don't say a lot. I wait and make small comments to see if they're accepted and if people will accept me. I suppose it's a defense mechanism. If I don't let the new people see that I'm different, they can't make fun of me. I'm working on it. [grin] Anyway, I really didn't know her very well and in one car trip to Calgary before she left, she had me spouting my entire life story without being self-conscious. I didn't know what was wrong with me. It was a really great feeling.

We were saying our goodbyes by the time I had a few moments with her. And I knew if I started talking, I wouldn't want to stop. I wanted to tell her all about my house and my cat's collar incident and his drenching one afternoon and about my roommate's poor involvement in the whole thing. I wanted to tell her about my garden and about my sweetie and I although I'm sure she knows some, but I love to tell her about the prank and the nine month hiatus. [That sounds ominous.] My mom would have come up and my job and the blunderous interview and the job I really wanted and should have gotten. I would have told her about my other dear friend in Australia whom I miss terribly. She's so fantastic!! I wish the rest of our pack and the storyteller could have been there, but Winnipeg and San Francisco are a bit far to travel just for supper. It's a shame they had to move to Australia. I love the Australian accent and was happy to just sit and listen to their stories of Australia and Scotland and having no jobs so they could tour the globe for 7 weeks and everything else they talked about that I can't remember already. What a fabulous evening!

The Calgarian Agent was brought up several times at supper. He'd be happy to hear that. ;)