i took out the trash today, and i'm on fire

When other girls in grade school were dreaming of weddings and husbands and houses, I envisioned a life in a charming flat(grade school was had with british nuns- we called them flats, not apartments), with some interesting job, and either a small, friendly cat or a big, stupid dog to come home to. I imagined walks to the grocery store, and constant use of mass transit, and a neighbourhood coffee shop and excursions to used bookstores and esoteric restaurants.

Yes, even at 8, I was planning the life of a pseudo intellectual, slightly introverted single woman.

Today, I walked to the grocery store and then wandered around looking for dinner, ending up at a place I affectionately call the "dive sushi place". It is actually far better than its moniker. I sat and watched a subtitled reality TV show while making my way through a pile of bulgogi, and some yellowtail sushi. At some point, I realized that the rest of the place was filled with couples or groups of people, and that the two men next to me had left and I was sitting at the bar alone. If it were an earlier point in my life, I would have felt oddly self conscious, but I just grinned and sent a couple friends a "Dude, I am such a bachelor!" text message.

As I headed out of the restaurant, it had started raining, and I walked four blocks in the rain before ducking into a Starbucks for some hot caramel apple cider, and walked another four blocks home. I admit, when I was eight, the weather never necessitated an umbrella. There is still something oddly romantic about the idea of walking into your apartment with jeans wet up to the knees from puddle jumping, and raindrops dripping off the tip of your nose, even if the reality is that it really just feels wet and drippy.

Still, despite the fact that I still do not take mass transit(but would, if it were more convenient), need to account for slightly inclement weather, and don't have any pets, my life is actually shaping up much like I had thought it would 16 years ago. Discounting the fact that I didn't have a sex drive when I was eight, and didn't account for the issues associated with that minor detail, I think that all is well.