Decades
Today I was thinking about what to call this post and realized that 10 is a great number. A full decade is actually a long time, although it may not seem so when you live it.
Ten years ago, I was seven years old. At seven, my parents were divorced and my brother and I were getting into the groove of switching houses twice a week (one parent had us Sunday to Wednesday, the other had us Wednesday to Saturday). This schedule was straining on all of us, and was later fine-tuned to a weekly cycle, with my brother and I switching houses every Sunday (there was a period in which Fridays became the switch day. Those were dark times). When I was seven, I thought I had life all figured out. I would grow up a movie star and marry a perfect man (whom I would meet later in life, because all the boys I knew then were yucky) and we would live happily ever after. At seven years old I was actually kind of a brat. I still can be, sometimes, but I think everyone is capable of it, too. But when I was younger, specifically in elementary school, I was a hardcore brat. We even have proof in form of video. I wanted to be the center of attention and couldn't deal with anything not being about ME. I was a nightmare. I mean, of course I had my good moments.
I don't think I am anything like what I expected to be as a teenager. When I was younger, I wanted to super popular, always loved and followed by everyone. Social dynamics have changed me over the years, though. I stopped putting myself first all the time (now I kinda need to start doing that sometimes). I've become way more mature than seven-year-old Zoe, which is a great relief. I've learned to let things go. I still struggle with grudges, and winning arguments (I cannot play board games without at least one threat. It's literally impossible), but overall I've been the bigger person more lately. I've become more realistic in my life goals (though I do still give fake interviews to myself in the bathroom when no one else is around to hear). I've pretty much given up on acting as a career, as it is so hard to go into that field of work without connections. I'm unsure if I will be able to deal with the stress of veterinarian school. I think I would like to go into something in the medical field, like become a therapist or doctor, but I like animals more than humans, so vet seems to make the most sense.
At 17, I am nowhere near having my life planned out. I barely have the next year plotted in my mind. I believe in a decade, at age 27, I will have a steady job. I definitely do NOT want to be living with my parents. If worse comes to worse, I could probably find a job at BuzzFeed. I'd like to think I have at least one animal (dog or cat, preferably) and a significant other. I don't think I'll be ready to get married. I want to date the person for 2-4 years before I commit to marriage, and I doubt I'll date much in vet school. I don't party much now, so I don't think I'll be a crazy party animal in college, either. I'd like to have a good friend group, with a variety of personalities in the mix. I have no idea how different my life will be in the future. It's pretty different right now from what I expected at age seven, so I'm not going to hold myself to impossible standards.
I'm gonna have a blunt shift in topic here, because I don't know what else I can say about my life in general. I'm on the eighth Morganville Vampires book. Almost done with it. I'm not sure what the ninth book is. I think it's Bite Club. That's the one where Shane goes to that place and bad things happen. Yes, I'm keeping brief so I don't spoil it for anyone who wants to read it in the future. But I will tell you one thing: Shane is in it. And I love him. And Michael. I want to marry both of them. I think I'm most like Eve personality-wise, besides the whole goth persona. Claire is one of the nerdy girls who can never get over herself. When I reread the first book she actually annoyed me so much. It was like Taylor Swift in "You Belong With Me." "I'm a nerd!" "I'm a victim, always!" "No one can ever find me attractive!" Like obviously Shane finds you attractive. Shut up. I mean Clare does have some redeeming qualities. She's small but mighty. Honestly, half of her "mighty" moments are pure luck. Just saying. The other half is great, good for her, and all that. But I like Eve. She started getting whiney in the middle of the series, but I think she picks herself back up again. Alrighty I'm done ranting about books that no one knows about. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!
