it's so nice to see you. can we sit and talk for a while? i have searched forever, i can't imagine anything better....

the end is near. it would seem that this blog is nearing its inevitable end, as i have nothing to write about. today i reworked a data set in sas, concatenated some variables and deconcatenated others, had a two hour lunch with a friend in need, and helped another friend move. it wasn't a bad day or anything, but nothing popped up that i felt needed to be discussed in this space. in fact, the only reason i'm posting anything is so my mom won't be disappointed when she wakes up (hi mom!). so, if anyone has any ideas of something to write on, something they'd like me to write on, or any questions for me to answer, let me know and i'll do my best to make it happen.

i guess i could write a little on my lunch today. panera apparently was sold out of the one thing i eat there (smokehouse turkey panini, with the sun-dried tomatoes scraped off), so i had a bowl of soup and a fruit cup...probably the girliest meal i've ever had. my friend and i sat down to talk about where her life might be going in the next couple of years. now i've never been much of a giver of advice; i've always considered myself a listener and nodder. don't get me wrong, during this lunch i did a lot of listening and nodding, but it felt good to be able to give (i think) constructive advice or at least ideas to think about. i usually have trouble with these things, because i tend to tell people what they want to hear. but this is a person for whom i have the utmost respect. she's in the top three smartest people i know, and when i first met her i probably would have had a crush on her if she weren't married. i knew that she would see right through me placating her, and i think we had a pretty good talk. we reached no great solutions, but i felt good that i was able to speak honestly and so could she. i felt like a grownup for one of the few times in my life.