Excitement VS. Expectation + The High 5

Do you remember when you were a little kid, and your birthday was coming up, and you were so pumped because you just KNEW that it was going to be the best damn day of your entire life?!? Then the day came and your friends didn't want to play the party games, you were cranky from not sleeping well the night before, you had a tummy ache from all the cake and instead of getting a Holiday Elegance Barbie you got a shitty green-haired knock off from the dollar store.

Expectation is a tricky thing. On the one hand, I expect to be treated with a certain amount of respect at work. That's good. On the other hand, I expect to be able to eat ice cream every day and never go to the gym, yet still have the body of an 18 year old. That's stupid. Realistic expectations are something I have always struggled with, and I often confuse them with excitement. If I'm planning a trip or looking forward to an event, I'm probably excited about it. But then I start imagining specific scenarios, detailed down to what shoes I'm wearing. And that's when things get complicated.

Talking with a friend this past week, about the fundamental differences between men and women in this regard, he mentioned that he's planned trips before with girlfriend's of his. It could be six months away, and all is well, everyone is excited and happy. But as the date approaches she starts getting weird, questioning everything and worrying about obscure little details. In his mind, nothing has changed. They planned a trip. Now they're going on a trip. It'll be fun. But in her mind...and I can speak from personal experience here...there is a circus of second-guessing going on. What does it mean? What if something goes wrong? What if we have nothing to talk about? What if it's great and I fall in love with him? Am I ready to fall in love? Can I see myself marrying this person some day? Seriously. It's nuts.

This topic arose because I am, in fact, going on a trip. And I did, of course, start down this path of questioning a few weeks ago. For some reason (I'm giving credit to finally learning from past experiences) I stopped myself. I determined what was a rational, legitimate thing to be worried about, and what was not. I talked to the necessary people. I allowed myself to be excited without all the stress of having expectations. Of course I'm nervous, I don't really have any idea of what to expect. But I refuse to set myself up for disappointment before I've even started packing. So, off I go! No blog for the next week and a half or so, I suggest baking a flan in the dull hours you'll have to fill up without my constant ramblings. Also, Happy Thanksgiving!

And here's some pictures I found amusing:

 Bonus Round: