BE MY FRIEND! (please?)

Yall are going to be so proud of me! I’m being SOCIAL!!

Those who know me well were all pretty surprised when I moved to the middle of nowhere and switched to teleworking. That was two and a half years ago and I’m still at it! While most days the pros outweigh the cons, there is one little con that has the ability to get me down a bit: loneliness. I go days upon weeks without seeing another face besides JRock’s, especially in the winter.  Not that J doesn’t have a wonderful face that I’m quite fond of, but variety is the spice of life!!

This causes problems because I’m typically a very social person who thrives off human interaction. So when I finally do get to see people face-to-face, I freak out a little. Especially at first. I had finally started to be a normal person again, making friends with local girls and leaving the poor postman alone. Then we moved. Now I’m back to being lonely, not knowing another soul and having no one near me to make friends with (so I thought).

The toughest part was that we moved out here to Trout Lake in the middle of winter. Locals here tend to fly south for the winter if at all possible. Those that stay huddle up by the wood stove and hibernate (I should know, that’s what I did). Even though we live on the Forest Service compound with actual neighbors, the only thing that changed was I actually had to get dressed in the mornings so I could walk the pooch.

Spring has caused miraculous changes. Not only has nature come to life, so have the neighbors! We’re meeting (real) people, going to social functions, interacting with our fellow man – it’s fantastic. This last week, we REALLY out did ourselves.

Friday night we had dinner with J’s boss and his family. A couple other folks were in town and joined us. Then we hung out with several of those same people Saturday for some beverages, which turned into dinner and live music. Tuesday, we joined some local TL folks for volleyball down in the high school gym. Met some new people there (and am sporting some amazing bruises after 6 or so games of trying to keep up with high school girls…). And Wed, we went down to the Trout Lake Inn for a retirement party and met a ton MORE people!!

I really had a blast every single day. I realized, though, that I may not be…going about this in the right way. Is there a correct way to make friends? If there is, I might need some assistance.

My problem? I think I get a little over-excited. Not quite pushy, but very… insistent. I don’t ask people to be my friend, I just tell them it’s gonna happen.

“Hi! My name is Kalista. You seem pretty awesome. We have several things in common. Perfect: you’re my new friend! I’ll just need your phone number, address, email, mother’s maiden name, and social security number. Won’t this be FUN?!”

I got my hair cut on Saturday, and the girl I had my appointment with was amazing. I wanted her to be my new bestie. Forever. We chatted the whole time, while visions of us laughing together in matching sunglasses and capris with our dogs and boyfriends all having a picnic on the beach danced through my head. I was sad to go when she was done, and tipped her too much (although she did make me look like a supermodel). Can you bribe people to be friends with you?

But the wife of one of the guys J works with, who also happens to be a neighbor, is super nice and doesn’t seem to have been scared off. J and I plan to have their family over for dinner soon. And J’s boss is pretty awesome, also with a wonderful wife, and an invite will be going out to them as well. I’ve met two women with the Forest Service that I’m trying so hard not to terrify so we’ll all be best friends for ever and ever. I’m pretty sure it’ll happen. Summer is crazy for all the Forest Service folks, but I’m going to plan a bar-b-que or two and at least one game night. Maybe if I can show them how fun I can be despite the crazy, they’ll decide to be my friends anyway. Besides, bribing people with food is totally acceptable, I’m pretty sure.

I mean, look at this face – who WOULDN’T want to be my new best friend?!

Hi! You like nice!

Let’s be best friends!

FOREVER!!