Before we were popular we just stared at the TV all day!This is the phrase I've taken to uttering around the house, mostly to no one, though Mr. Dub sometimes thinks I'm talking to him. Which is a nice change since usually I am talking to him, but he think I'm muttering to myself and promptly ignores me. To his credit, most of what I say is nonsense, but I favor spewing out random words over silence. Lumberjack. Pickled cabbage. Aardvark.
But back to how popular I am. (Remember this is my blog, and if I don't come across as a little pretentious then I've failed.) I'm really popular these days if being popular means you have more than one friend. 'Cause I totally have more than one friend ... like three or something!
In fact, these days we have a lot of new friends because young Mormon couples are flocking to Chicago from such far-flung locales as Germany and Bountiful, Utah. Which is cool because Germans speak such sharply annunciated English that it's a pleasure to hear them say anything, like lumberjack or pickled cabbage or aardvark. Also, it's just adorable to hear a 3-year-old say things like, "Frohe Ostern!" In the springtime, of course.
It's fun to hear people from Bountiful, Utah speak, as well. I can't get me enough "Appreciate 'cha," if you know what I mean. Though I wish someone would move here from Idaho because then I could start "fixin'" to have dinner plans with them and increase my popularity even more.
But I must be honest - popularity comes with a price. I can't just sit around in my peejers watching TV all night because there are things to do and people to see. And I can't whine as much about how terrible Illinois winters are because now I have friends who are whining with me and all that noise gives me a headache.
More importantly, popularity brings with it the painful realization that we could have been popular a few months ago, even if our friends wouldn't have been as international or easy to make. Because the world is chock full of people - possibly 100 billion, but who has time to count? - and all of them need friends. And the fastest way to make a friend is to be one first.
But sometimes I like to wait for people to befriend me. Not because I'm shy - no, I could only dream of such splendor. But because I'm lazy and the thought of making a phone call or picking a restaurant is so much harder than putting on my peejers. And, yes, I do call them that. And, no, I don't call Mr. Dub, "Mr. Dub" to his face, though sometimes behind his back while making rabbit ears. (Those are still cool, right?)
But being popular feels better than peejers. Especially when being popular means helping someone out or laughing about how much you have in common or just seeing someone smile because you're the first person to introduce yourself.
Also, being popular means you might win the big student council election, if you have a student council at your house like we do. (And let me tell you, Mr. Dub is going down this year!)
How do you make new friends?
What's your best friendship advice?
For those who don't care and like to choose their own adventure, you may also share your favorite colloquialism or spew random words.
Lumberjack.
Pickled cabbage.
Aardvark.
16 comments:
i love meeting new people and making friends. i always thought i was shy, but now that i'm a grown-up, i've realized that i have absolutely no problem introducing myself to people. if there are new people at church, for example, i'll go up, shake their hand, tell them my name, and ask if they need anything since they moved. mostly it's for two reasons:
1. i really want them to like it here. I want them to tell their families (usually back in UTAH) that Texas is really great, that the people are nice, and that you can live a normal life here and actually enjoy it!!
2. I wouldn't want to be ignored if I was new, so I just put myself in their shoes, give em a smile & ask them over for dinner.
Yay for being popular, Mrs. Dub! I'm so happy for you. :)
I just love colloquialisms. Almost as much as I love parties. Which is how I like to make friends. By throwing parties and guilting people into attending. (That's not the same as quilting them into attending...that's a whole other party.)
So yeah...I find inviting people over for crepes ususally does the trick. Me, the Mr., our beautiful and perfectly well behaved children, and Crepes. It's a winning combination.
I am so shy, still. I try, but it is rough. But I am trying by having people over for dinner and going to events/mommy playgroup things. Still trying to make friends here, but it takes time.
Funny words? Let's see...HUMP. And Spanish? Bragas. HEHE
i am, like, totally jealous!
i totally need this post and i realize that we now have no friends since we moved and that we haven't made any new ones in a long time. i am way out of practice!
i am looking forward to a pleth of comments.
the phrase that usually draws people right in is, "you did WHAT for HOW many cookies?" that is how the dub has stuck for so long. or sometimes i show off my mad rapping skillz.
What exactly did you have for breakfast? That may be the singularly most hilarious post EVER!
No WONDER you are so poplular.
first of all: aardvark is my second favorite word. good work incorporating that into the post :)
second, i agree with leslie in that i was super shy when i was younger but now that i have obvious things in common with poeple (such as a child), i don't feel so shy.
take, for instance, my age and robby's (my hub). i'm embarking on my 20's and rob is nearing 30.
because we live in az we are around all the people he grew up with who are all his age also.
your mrs. sea (my stephanie) is my best best friend and she's in rob's catagory and grew up with the things in his era.
when we first moved here, i was so intimidated by all rob's friends because they are all so much older than me. but it turns out that if you have kids, you have automatic things in common.
it also turns out that steph and i could be friends in any situation. so when i come along a friend such as her, i grab on. then i feel more comfortable associating with her friends, while i'm still so young.
so, to sum up: i'm not popular, like it that way, but love to talk to (or read from, in this case) those who are and try to let them enjoy every minute of it. so enjoy! you are popular!
ps. miss dub could not be cuter. how is she sleeping these days?
random words...
wasps nests, hyacinths and thistles.
say them out loud for full effect.
i also like the word OHIO because you can say it with your mouth open. if i were studying ventriloquism this would be the first word i would aim to master. followed by pickled cabbage.
This is one of my favorite entries that you’ve ever written. That’s not me sucking up to the popular girl because if I’m equally as popular, that means it’s recognition of equals. Word.
I love to make new friends. I collect friends. I made a new friend yesterday in the nursing buckets at church (more on that on a different blog later this week.) How do I make friends? You’re asking me to spill my patented friend-making secret? Ok, but I’m going to whisper it to you:
I find something that piques my interested about them, their appearance, clothing, a character trait, and point out that I like that particular something. “Hi! I just love your shoes! I’m Azucar, what’s your name?” Then I employ the cjane Method ™ and ask a lot of questions about my friend.
I learned in a women’s studies class at the Y that women make friends by seeking out commonalities. I didn’t need that class to tell me that, because that’s the next step—find something that you share.
Viola! You have a new friend.
I have more favorite words than I have friends.
i am split right down the middle: one side: super shy. the other side: very outgoing. we're newbies in the O.C. and yesterday i decided to pull out the shy side at church and see what happened. just as i expected: nothing. no one said a word to me. except cynthia who asked me to say the prayer. to have friends you have a to be a friend. and sit on the back row. that's still where all the cool people sit.
I think that in order to be friends, you kind of have to be able to cook. That is just a generalization. But it really does help. Every time we get together with friends or family, there is some kind of food involved. Some people might just casually say, "Let's have some friends over for dinner tonight." Because I don't enjoy cooking, that is a huge stress for me. Most of our friends/family have the same, easy meals at our house. Plus, it gets a little expensive to be feeding a bunch of extra people all the time! Non-cook = not popular
This is a great post, and having just moved to a new state is close to my heart. I am really good at the initial meeting and friendly hellos but bad at becoming close friends with people. It seems to take way too long and I get embarrassed to make that next step to inviting them over or being comfortable hanging out without a master plan. But I am working on it because I love friends. Congrats on being popular.
Cooking helps but having a clean house does too. That's my excuse for not having people over more often. I can cook, no prob, but I rarely feel like my house is guest-worthy. Jamie always has a guest-worthy house. Now if only we could somehow combine our skills... who knows, we might be able to take over the universe or something.
Pleased as Punch
The Cat's Meow
The Bees Knees
Everyone wants a new friend, it's true! You are the voice of reason!
My problem though, is finding things in common with people. Not many people in my ward are A) single B) childless C) normal. Those that are are usually on an internship or are like 21 or something ... and it's exhausting to make friends with a baby that will only be here for 3 months. I don't have that kind of emotional stamina.
My best friend and I decided to become friends in a conversation that went something like this:
Me: Hey. My best friend is moving away. What am I going to do?
Her: That's simple, we'll be friends.
Me: Ok. Good idea.
And we were. If only all friendships could be defined that easily!
go away for a long weekend and you risk missing out on some good blogging! love this post. i love friends. i love old friends, new friends, friends of friends, spouses of friends, my parent's friends, my friends parents... all of it. my grandma used to say "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet"... and i will add that sometimes friends are bloggers you haven't met yet. :) anyway, one of my favorite "let's be friends" moments is one of my first sundays in our ward after i got married (sidenote: i felt like i was AGES older than everyone in our ward and i was pretty convinced i was going to make NO friends... because i'm always that dramatic), i made some brilliantly executed (haha) comment in relief society and moments later this girl turned around and said "i want to be your friend"... and we laughed and our husbands laughed even harder when we told them... but three years later we are the best of friends. i LOVE that. no sense beating around the bush about it. i have found that if i can locate someone who is equally as outspoken and odd as i am, there's no sense drawing it out, let's just skip right to the part where we have dinner parties and talk about periods.
Post a Comment