Life After LeakyCon

I have to say that it hurts to put down in words that it's been 3 weeks since I left LeakyCon. I don't want to accept the fact that it's already been that long since I've seen so many of my very best friends. And I can't tell if it seems like it's been shorter or longer than that.

But life moves on as it always does after Con and Tour Season (it's a thing now) comes to an end. You see you're URL friends less and actually start to answer when your IRL friends send you messages. You start going out with people you haven't seen since June rather than the ones you haven't seen since David Tennant was still the Doctor. You create memories with your IRL friends and soon the last time you were out that late it was because you were at the grocery store looking for peppers with Chris, Kate, and Dan rather than because you were sleeping in the lobby of the Royal Pacific with Annie, Kara, ShaSha, Zach, Alex, and the rest of the gang. And the blisters you got from running around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for five hours are replaced with the ones you got from going on four mile walks along the highway at night.

But the reminders of friends stick around long after everyone has left the conference halls. Just the other night when Chris, Dan, Kate and I were out walking, Chris decided that if he shuffled along he would expend less energy. Of course I was still thinking of LeakyCon and started to sing "Everyday I'm Shuffling". But as soon as I got "shuff-" out, I remembered where I was and that no one would join in. Kate looked over at me and asked "Everyday you're shuffling?" I told her never mind. Kate! One of my best friends for six years. I couldn't even explain to her why I stopped singing.

A similar thing happened earlier that night when Dan got in the car and brought with him the scent of Man Christmas. Man Christmas is what we smelled on the morning after the Roflcoptour stop in Poughkeepsie. Kristine, Patrick, Alex D, Mo, and I were just sitting in Kara's room and then this weird scent that can only be described as, in the words of Kristine, "Like Christmas, but Man Christmas." So when I smelled it in Chris' car I had to say something. And no one knew what I was talking about. I had to text Kristine and then I remembered she's in Europe and wouldn't be replying. So not only did I sit in Man Christmas for nearly 20 minutes, I couldn't share my emotions on finally finding the smell again with anyone.

I love my IRL friends, but it's those little moments like that on days like these that make you realize how much of your life is made up of things that only people miles and miles away would be able to understand.