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Day 45 - The Casual Swiftie

Happy TS 12 to all that celebrate!

One of my closest friends (who is one who lives furthest away) is a hardcore Swiftie. When I visited her last year, she ran through the lore with me while we listened to some of her favorite songs, and she gave me background on some of my favorite songs. I'm far from a hater, but I am not close enough to know all Taylor's easter eggs. I'm a casual Swiftie.

This morning, when I texted her about The Life of a Showgirl, I got the lesson I was expecting on the lyrics. As I was trying my best to piece together what I knew about Taylor, I jokingly said 10th grade Stephanie wouldn't recognize me. Here I am writing blogs and interpreting lyrics. 10th grade Stephanie was convinced that Robert Frost had written a poem about taking a hike. WHY COULDN'T IT JUST BE A NICE HIKE???

But I couldn't shake that feeling for the rest of today. 10th grade Stephanie would be so confused about a lot of my life.

First of all, after growing up with only cats, she expected to have cats instead of dogs, but I'm actually allergic to cats. Eh, who am I kidding? I have always loved any furry pet, including my two current gremlins, so she probably wouldn't care what pet she had.

She was so sure she'd be a meteorologist and working in an airport doing flight planning. She simultaneously wanted to stay in her hometown and move to Atlanta, but the Buffalo area was nowhere on the list. Buffalo? Isn't that just a drunker Rochester?

She was not going to own a house. Sorry, do yard work? No thanks. Fix things when they break. No, that's what landlords are for.

You know what? I think I'm getting the versions of me mixed up. Honestly, I don't like to think too hard about my previous versions. I was bubbly, but not always nice. I was smart, but I didn't know anything. I worked hard, but maybe not at the things that needed working on. I had my whole life planned out, but the plan was so precarious that it blew up the moment I experienced even an ounce of life outside my worldview. I was cringey and self-confident and unsure and tough and a leader and loyal and defiant all at once.

Gosh darn it, without meaning to, this post is itself a reflection of my life, and probably the exact reason I started this blog. I said I was writing to help me figure things out. I started this post today thinking how I knew it would end, but my thoughts derailed me and I wrote myself in a different direction. I have only a vague idea of how I ended up here, and no idea of where I'm going next.

Son of a... did I take the path less traveled?

(PS I know I need to pay the dog tax since I brought them up. These are courtesy of our groomer, Pups Styled by Jessy.)

Juniper, 10/2/25

Poppy, 10/2/25

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