Star Struck

This morning I was reminiscing a little while I sat in traffic and specifically was thinking about my lone famous person encounter.  I was asked to drive Candace Bushnell to the airport after she spoke at the university I worked for.  My all time favorite tv show is Sex and the City and I would rank both movies amongst my favorite movies.  Getting to have a one on one conversation with the woman who wrote the book that inspired the show was amazing for me as a single 20-something.  It was a fun chat and honestly her advice wasn't overly profound or even memorable this many years later (I want to say that this encounter was in 2005, but I could be off by a year or two!).  She sympathized with my plight- boyfriends who sucked and feeling like maybe finding someone special wasn't going to happen.  Her advice was good- have fun with it and enjoy your life and friends.  At the time I was like yeah- I try to do that.  My life has changed so much in the last year that now I get why she said what she did.  I don't think that Candace has children, but she hit the nail on the head.  Life really is different post kids.  Not in a bad way, but really is different.  Here are some ways that I feel like my life is different....

• I no longer get to sleep in on weekends.
• I no longer get to be leisurely about doing any task because my next chance to complete said task might be weeks away.
• I look forward to my quick trips to the bathroom because sometimes it is the only time I get to be alone. (I tear up at the scene in the second Sex and the City movie when Charlotte goes into the pantry for sugar and breaks down while her kids are screaming and crying outside the door.  She has my sympathy)
• Working means that I get to have lunch to use to blog, check email and facebook, and pay bills uninterrupted.
• I get really frustrated when trying to plan things with childless people and they suggest places that aren't kid friendly (and sometimes- it's just the lack of parking that could put me over the edge!).  Then being an accommodating person, I nicely suggest some similar places that I know would be easier to haul a baby in a car seat into.
• I try to stay interested in the details of my friend's lives, but sometimes I find my mind wondering.  My life is relatively boring, but I am so far past dating and going out that I can't really relate anymore.
• I swear I will never be on time anywhere or for anything again.
• The bad days and crappy things that happen in my adult life are quickly erased by seeing my son smile and hearing him giggle. 

I still have fun and enjoy my life- probably more so now than before.  I cringed recently when I was sitting outside an ice cream shop and eves dropped on a conversation between two 20-somethings.  Let's say it was without a doubt a conversation that I had with my girlfriends 10 years ago.  I definitely had a moment of embarrassment when I realized just how shallow our conversations sounded.   Although, I'm sure a mommy conversation can sometimes sound as equally shallow- "so and so pooped today, thank god."  At least we are trying to raise a child and not gossiping about pretty unimportant stuff!