Goodbye Hil and Jay!

Two of our good friends are leaving this weekend to join the Peace Corps; they'll be living in Swaziland for the next two+ years, helping with AIDS awareness and prevention. We had their "going away" dinner last night, and I can't believe that I won't see either of them again until November of 2010!!

At dinner, Hilary asked for an update of what we thought would be different when they come back. It was such a fun discussion--it was very telling about how much goal setting we've done (or haven't done) and what our visions are for our lives for the next two years.

On a personal level, we hope to have a kid in that time. That led us to speculate about two new cars. We'd still be at our house. Alex predicted that he would still be at his current job and still quite happy with it. I didn't know what to think/say about my job--I know that I won't still be a contract employee for that long, but beyond that....??? I may find a permanent position with this company; I may find a way to stay home with possible kid; I may find a job I can do from home; or I may find a totally new and different job! While that uncertainty is unsettling to a certain degree, it's also kind of exciting. I'm the kind of person who could very easily get bored if I thought I was just stuck in a job interminably, with no sign of change in sight.

It was also interesting to make predictions about other family and friends. I think my brother, at least three of my cousins, and two of my friends will also be having (more) kids in the next two years. I predict my sister will be in love and in a serious relationship (both at once instead of just one or the other!). I think Alex's brother won't be living in Austin any more. I think that my parents (all of them) will be getting ready to retire quite wealthy, and I think Alex's parents will be happy and healthy.

On a bigger level, there will have been a new president for almost two years at that point, more than enough time for the country to become disenchanted with him and start all the griping all over. (I guess in that sense things will have both changed and stayed the same.) We were in disagreement over whether we thought the economy would be better, the same, or worse. I think hybrids will rule and that there will also be a new trend in cars (but not sure what that trend will be--mini cars? electric cars? flying cars?). I think there will be more incentives to recycle and that being "good stewards" (to borrow my dad's phrase) of the planet will be "in."

And, unfortunately, I think the New Kids on the Block reunion will have fizzled, plunging the fab five back into relative obscurity.

What do you think the next 2.5 years will bring in your lives, the lives of those around you, and in the world?