Hello, I'm Tiffany and I'm a Talker . . .

I'm kind of a social person.

Not a shocker, you say?

Yeah, I know . . . but a few things happened this week that made me realize how isolated I felt this summer.

First, I had to go to the doctor's office.  I didn't actually see a doctor, just played twenty questions with the nurse.  As new patients, Kevin took his turn a few weeks back and I went in this week.  Between answering her bazillion questions about everything from any history of seizures, blood clots, etc., to family health history as far back as my grandparents, I was talking the poor woman's ear off.

Even more evidence that I'm a fan of gabbing?  She had a college student shadowing her for the day.  You can take the youth director out of the church, but . . . well, let's just say I engaged in caring conversation with this young person.  I asked about her nursing program, what she's liked about rotations so far, and twenty other things that I'm sure drove the nurse trying to put together a file for me absolutely insane.  Somewhere in the middle of my story about how I wanted to be a brain surgeon when I was in sixth grade, but then almost fainted during the movie about the human heart, seeing all that blood . . . well, I realized that there were probably other patients waiting to be seen and I should maybe shut up and stick to the matter at hand.

Yep.  It was like I'd been living in a cabin in the woods for three months.

We also had couch surfers this week, which I LOVE.  If you've got a spare couch or a guest room and you love to meet people, I highly recommend signing up at couchsurfing.org.  I used the site to find places to sleep as I made my way across America, and now that I'm settled with a spare bed, I'm loving that I finally get to pay it forward.  The couple we hosted Thursday night were a cute pair of sixty-somethings from New Mexico.  They retired this spring and are meandering from Minneapolis (where her brother lives) to Muscatine (where an old college friend lives) on a tandem bike.  How cool is that?  I made dinner, we heard about their adventures, and then we wandered down by the river for a while.  As they pedaled away the next morning, I realized these were people I never would have met had it not been for this crazy people-connecting website.  I love it!

But probably the biggest, most exciting thing of last week -- I went back to school.  I've got a long-term sub job lined up for a woman going on maternity leave any day now.  I shadowed her for two days last week, and it was so refreshing . . . to be in the classroom again, to have conversations over lunch in the teachers' lounge, and, frankly, just to get out of our apartment.

I guess overall it really hit me last week how lonely and isolated I'd felt this summer.  Poor Kevin has had to endure my needy side who couldn't wait for someone to talk to at the end of every day.

It's hard to make friends as grown ups, don't you think?  I read a book recently that said most adults feel that way.  If you don't keep your college friends close, you pretty much have to wait 'til you have kids so you can elbow your way into a Mommy-and-Me group and make some new ones.  We're not there yet, so that won't work for me.

And here's the thing that worries me: Kevin's leaving for Asia in a couple of weeks.  He's going to be recruiting in several countries and gone for six weeks.  SIX WEEKS.  If I went a bit batty with only him for company this summer, what am I going to be like when left completely alone in this town where I know hardly anyone?

So here's the advice I need, friends: how do I pull on my big girl panties and make some new local buddies?  What has worked for you?  It seems so awkward at this age.  I'd love to know how you've stepped out, taken a chance, or just fallen into a friendship if you were lucky.  Give me tips or at least give me hope!

Maybe I should bring cupcakes to the teachers' lounge.  That might be a start.  ;)