Month: December 2003

We’ve decided to attend Joe’s company’s Christmas party, which is in January. One problem – it’s semi-formal dress. Ugh. I own absolutely nothing that falls into this category, well, until today. Thankfully, I severely overestimated how long it would take me to find a suitable dress for this event. The first dress I tried on at Marshall Field’s was great. We had them hold it so I could look around some more … and I found another nice dress at JC Penny’s for only $20; the original price was $100! How sweet is that? So we bought that one and went back to Field’s, but I couldn’t bear to put the other dress back so I got that one too – $47 marked down from $100. So now I have two dresses and only one event to attend. I found out I can return the Field’s dress within 90 days even though it was on clearance, so I’m going to be doing a little modeling for Joe tonight to figure out if I should. I’m keeping the $20 dress no matter what … but I’m not sure if I should keep the $50 one. They both look good on me, so it’s really just a matter of whether I need two formal dresses. Maybe if you invite me to your swanky Christmas/Holiday party I won’t have to choose. ;)

So it’s been 100 years since the first airplane flight. Wow.

You know what I hate? I hate how growing older ruins things. Not just the “there’s not really an Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy” things either. I mean how growing old, and being introduced to a little thing called reality, makes us more fearful of the world around us. Such things as flying, for example.

The first time I went on a flight was when I was around 5-6 years old and my grandparents took my cousin and me to Disney World. I was so excited to be on the plane and thought watching the ground grow smaller as we took off was so cool. I went to Disney World again sometime when I was … um … who knows – 10? I honestly can’t remember. Again, I enjoyed the flight. Then we went to Disney World a third time when I was in high school, and while I wasn’t as thrilled, I certainly wasn’t scared.

Well … that has changed. The last time I was on a plane was in 1996 when I went to London. I was pretty apprehensive about flying, and I just so happened to come down with the flu right before I boarded the plane. Seriously – I was fine until I was sitting in a restaurant killing time before my flight took off. I have to wonder if it was mere coincidence or if I literally made myself sick from worrying. In any case, I spent the ensuing 10 days in my friend’s bed feeling horrible, only venturing out when I had to (like to see the most awesome Cure concert I’ve ever been to). It was disappointing to say the least to have missed so many sights because I felt so terrible.

So anyway … after growing older and wiser, and realizing that each time I set foot on a plane I could possibly die, well, I’m certainly in no hurry to get on another plane. September 11th didn’t help matters much either.

So I guess I’m just wondering how many of you out there is scared of flying, and if you don’t fly because of it. I figure I have to get over this fear because there are a lot of places I’d like to visit and I don’t plan on driving to all of them. Maybe anti-anxiety drugs would work? How does one stop obsessing over dying in a fiery crash? I realize that statistically speaking driving is far more dangerous than flying, but at least my car is planted firmly on the ground and I am in control of it (yea, the control freak in me is uncomfortable putting my life in someone else’s hands).

God, I hate what a wuss I’ve become. :p