Young At Heart

Wow, I threw an idea out into the cosmos and things happened which I hadn't quite considered.

My erstwhile friend Facebook put me in touch with a couple more dear wonderful friends from Chicago--Adam and Scott. As luck would have it, both are coming out in two weeks for entirely different reasons and I'm so excited to see them both. Scott will be speaking to the advertising majors at BYU in a couple of weeks during Homecoming, but he wasn't quite sure what time he would be giving his presentation. I left a message with the professor over the advertising program and kind of forgot about it for a couple of days until he returned my call. Such a nice guy! We had a great chat and he asked about my background which I shared with him. When he found out I'd been a media buyer/planner at Leo Burnett and planned on applying for grad school, he threw out the idea of doing some teaching for them while I'm going through my program. No big deal--lots of grad students teach lower division classes. But to think that I might be one of those grad students makes me all excited and happy inside! I've decided to spend the whole day with the advertising students and professors and listen to the other presenters that day, as well as Scott. I can introduce myself, get to know a few people, maybe hang out at the Ad Lab for a little while. See and be seen--you know.

And then the awful truth hit me.

I have nothing to wear! Proud to be a mom, but keenly aware that I look like one. This was confirmed by my mother who panicked at the thought that I might wander amongst polite society in my usual garb. So I got my hair cut over the weekend and have to head out for new clothes this week. I used to dress pretty sharp back in the day, but I'm not sure what's workable on me now. There's a big part of me that's worried that no matter how much paint I put on the old barn, it's still just a barn after all.

Years ago my darling grandmother Gigi prepped me for just such an occasion. She was a great beauty when she was young, but she looked very much like a grandmother, albeit a lovely one, during most of my life. She always encouraged us to show off our strengths and be interesting and animated. People are much more likely to listen to what one has to say if one is not self-conscious about how one looks. Make scintillating conversation, be witty, urbane, au courant, considerate, and charming.

That's a lot of pressure!

But I listened.

I'll put on something nice, put on a big smile, and jump in with both feet.