Long-distance

I came into work early this morning so I can leave early and hopefully beat a little of the rush hour out of the city. I'm excited to get to Columbia tonight and spend the evening with Mattie. I saw him last weekend for about the hour I sat next to him at Chili's with all the family and friends after the graduation ceremony. We probably average seeing each other every 2-3 weeks or so. I hope he'll spend a week here in St. Louis before he leaves for Boston. My parents offered to pay him to paint the barn and how great would an entire week together be? We haven't been together more than three days in a row since I left Columbia last July. This distance for ten months has already made us cherish our time together. I guess it has been good practice for him moving to Boston so soon.

Still, a two hour drive a few weekends a month is quite a difference from a plane ride a few times a year. It's a different mindset. We won't be able to randomly get weekends for football games or family things or parties or weddings. It's not "I'll have to see if I can get Matt to drive over for this" but thinking more in terms of going places alone or with my friends in St. Louis. Like, I was going to see if I could save my awesome 7th row free tickets for the Cards game until the Cards play the Royals in late June... but then found out that Matt may have already moved. So I took Jen a couple weekends ago - it was a wonderful time! But it's hard to think about someone you want to spend all of your time with playing an even smaller role in your day-to-day life.

One of his friends handed him a graduation present when he sat down in church last weekend -- a book: "How to Survive Long Distance Relationships". Nathan's long distance relationship hadn't quite worked out, so he thought he may as well pass the book along to Matt. Ha! Comforting... ;-)

Anyway, I don't have any real fears or worries. This isn't something I would worry about -- in a negative way. I am thinking about it to prepare myself for the pending differences and plan ways to keep close despite not seeing each other often. We already watched a TV show "together" (we watched an episode of Lost online while on the phone one night!), but we can also cook a meal together on the phone (an improvised date night?), I can send him CDs or pictures or care packages or collages or art work made from the goodies he gave me for Christmas. Just cute ideas that show I'm thinking of him, ways to improvise being together though a couple thousand miles apart.

And I have sixteen vacation days, eleven that I have to use by the end of the year. I'm excited to see Boston, maybe Cape Cod, New York City... I haven't been out there since I was little. That's fun.

I'm jealous Matt gets to move to a cool new city. I like change, new things and planning. I've spent hours looking over apartment listings for him, purusing the cheapest airfare, and figuring out the bus and subway system.

And I can't reiterate how proud and excited I am for him. His trip to visit Boston to attend the Harvard Divinity School welcome days were just so great for him-- he absolutely loved it. Some of his fears and uncertainties were lessened and he felt more comfortable, capable, and so ready to jump into the exciting program -- it wasn't as snooty, formal, and intimidating as he had feared. It's just so perfect for him. We're so blessed! Harvard! Bah!!