So, I just want to sing a few praises here. There's been much talking and reading and discussing in my home this week, and while it's served several purposes, one of the main ones for me has been to reiterate just how awesome my parents are and always have been.
When I look back on my life with my parents (thus far), it's always with a smile. Mom and Dad, whether they knew what they were doing or not (smile), never missed an opportunity to let me know they loved me.
Dad played ball with me.
Mom fixed my hair in curls, went to McDonalds to get me a Happy Meal, and took me to the park for a picnic.
They let me "hang out" with them while they listened to records (real actual honest-to-goodness big vinyl record albums) and answered my questions about who we were listening to (even if Dad did try to torment me with that Cat Scratch Fever album cover). They had no idea the monster they were creating, of course. But perhaps when their five year old knew all the words to Meatloaf's Paradise By the Dashboard Light, they might have had a clue.
We had elaborate bedtime good-night rituals, involving things like Eskimo kisses and Frances Face-Maker.
They read to me, gave me books and a library card, and encouraged me to read.
They trusted me to make beverages in the Smurf glasses.
They talked to me. Not just "How was school?"but about what I was learning in school and what was going on in class and what I was actually doing there. They asked me questions about what I thought and felt. And didn't let me off the hook with answers like "Fine..." "Good..." "Okay..." etc. (They still do that.)
They wanted to meet my friends' parents before they'd let me go over to play.
They gave me responsibilities, and there were consequences if I didn't do what I was supposed to do. If Mom told me to clean my room and I didn't, my toys disappeared. (And it took me awhile to realize that they really just disappeared to her closet, but I guess the point was that I thought they really were gone.) And I never really got much allowance, because, um, I never really did much to deserve it. (I still think it might shock Mom that my house is clean.) I was only ever spanked once. Because that's all it took. I never wanted that to happen again. Not just because it hurt and was scary, but I did not want my parents to be that mad at me ever again. I didn't want to disappoint them.
They let me have my own ideas. Encouraged it, even! They didn't always agree with me. ("I'm not eating meat anymore." "I'm going to take my graduation money and go to Germany for a month." "He's buying a house here, and I'm moving in with him.") They would question me, not because they didn't trust me, but to make sure I was thinking through my actions. But they let me do what I thought was right. They let me make my own mistakes (if mistakes were to be made) and they let me learn from them.
Then they supported me in the choices I made. On my first day of work at my first real, this-is-what-I-went-to-college-for job, there was a vase of flowers with a card that said "We're so proud of you! Love, Mom and Dad." When I crossed the finish line of my first ever marathon, they were there to meet me. When I got married they were standing right next to me.
They never tried to make my choices for me.
They might not let me off the hook, but they forgive me for being on the hook in the first place.
They'll help me get started, but then let (or, in some cases, make) me stand on my own two feet.
It's okay if I fail, as long as I try my hardest in doing. Like, you know, high school math.
They know they've raised a (moderately) strong, (very) independent person. But if I say "I need you" or "Help" they are there in a heartbeat, and will stay as long as it takes. Or until they see that I am ready to stand up again, even if I don't see that I'm ready.
They are my friends.
They are awesome parents. Not everyone was blessed to have it so good. And I'm lucky they're mine.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
You Capture - Fourth of July / Food
So, as an overachiever, if someone provides me with a choice, like, say, "You can take picutres of the Fourth of July or food," my answer is going to be "Um, both!" And, you know, I'll use any excuse I can to get up close and personal with some good food. You can see everyone else's choice over at Beth's.
For the Fourth of July:
And for Food (maybe some explaining is good here....):
For the Fourth of July:
And for Food (maybe some explaining is good here....):
Veggies before being roasted....
Then the same veggie after being roasted and turned in to pizza (which is one of my favorite dinners)......
This one seems pretty self-explanitory (normal Sunday in my kitchen).....
This is while waiting for entrees to be served......
And these are the cupcakes Best Friend made for her daugher's birthday. (Yes, that is, in fact, homemade buttercream frosting and edible glitter. Can it get better? Probably not.).....
This is while waiting for entrees to be served......
And these are the cupcakes Best Friend made for her daugher's birthday. (Yes, that is, in fact, homemade buttercream frosting and edible glitter. Can it get better? Probably not.).....
So this is love....
So, I married a selfish jerk. Who was a liar. Among other things. I just didn’t find that out until later. Turns out it’s not too hard to hide things away when a relationship is carried on via email and weekend visits. Which is how our “whirlwind romance” was, until he bought a house where I lived and proposed. We were married one year to the month we started dating. But I had fallen in love with someone who didn’t exist. I’d based my expectations for the future on a lie.
I found out the hard way. The big, ugly, God-awful, horrid hard way. And then I had to make a choice. Continue to love him? Stay and attempt to see this though? Or run screaming in the opposite direction? Common sense said run, but I thought of my parents. I’d seen them go through tough times, but I never saw them quit. Or give up. Or leave. And, after all, I had made a promise. For better or worse, right? And I was raised to stick to my word. So I stayed. And I made the mistake of asking “How much worse can it get?”
Um, worse. It got worse. Yelling. Screaming. Fighting. More really bad choices from him. Uncovering more and more and more secrets. Begging him to get help. It tested every ounce of strength and love and understanding and compassion in me. And my parents had to deal with me during that time. Dad had to ask, in all seriousness, “Do you need me to pound him?” The things I had to ask Mom to help me with. But I kept at it. I kept at him. Until finally it came down to what was, essentially, an intervention. Although at the time I just saw it as my breaking point.
Somehow, thankfully, it worked. When he returned from having stormed off, he told me he needed help. Professional help. And he needed me to come with so that he wouldn’t lie. I knew then that we had finally stepped on to the right path. I knew then that, eventually, we’d be okay.
Of course, “eventually” has no real time line. And the first years of counseling were, as they needed to be, about Hubby getting well, facing demons, fighting addiction, standing up for himself to his family, reclaiming (or really just claiming) his life. It was heart wrenching to watch. I did what I could to help. That didn’t feel like much. And it was hard for me, too, in very different ways. I hated to think of me, and hated myself for thinking of me, but I just wasn’t sure what to do. What did this mean for “us?” Would there still be an “us” when this was all said and done? What did this mean for me? Since what I thought I was getting into was a lie, what did I do now? It was like living life on hold.
But once he got through the worst of it, the focus shifted to us. And how to be us now. And we’re still working at that. (And, Hubby’s still working to figure out things for him and about him. It’s a lot to undo 35 years of crap being filtered in to you. To use his words “I wasn’t raised to be a decent human being.” So he’s still working on that. And probably will be for a long time.) But now we’re working for us, too. And, damn, that’s tough.
I still feel like I’m in a kind of limbo. I constantly, daily, have to rework my thinking and alter my expectations of what this life with him is. And since he’s working to change 35 years of bad information, I’ve got to be super extra patient (which I’m so not good at). And one-time possibilities like raising a family slip further away each day. Sometimes I still get bitter that my courtship and the first year of my marriage were based on lies. Sometimes I still get frustrated at his seeming inability to function like a normal human. And I still don’t know where it will all end up.
But I still know we’re on the right path. The peaks start to seem like plateaus (like, it stays good for longer periods of time). The valleys become less deep and further apart. We talk more and fight less. He is a completely different (significantly better) man than the one I married (although still super cute). There are (finally) no secrets between us (Amen.)
So, why do I blather on about all of this today? Not sure. I think maybe I just needed to say it and sort it all out in my head. It's just that kind of a day, I guess. But I think my overall feeling at this point is grateful. I know he's a better, stronger person for all of it. I know I'm a better, stronger person for all of it. I know we're a stronger unit for it. I'm grateful that when he fell, I was there with him. That he had a safe place to completely and utterly fall apart and start over again; that he had someone there with him, because he's told me many times that if I hadn't been there, no one would have been (and I sadly believe that) and that the outcome would have been far worse (and I believe that, too).
Instead the outcome is merely temporary (again, a very relative time term) frustrations shuffled in with the (increasingly plentiful) good times. Hubby and I both believe there was a greater purpose for us to have stumbled across each other when we did. And I'm so grateful, and I do believe, that when he said "I love you" that was never a lie.
I found out the hard way. The big, ugly, God-awful, horrid hard way. And then I had to make a choice. Continue to love him? Stay and attempt to see this though? Or run screaming in the opposite direction? Common sense said run, but I thought of my parents. I’d seen them go through tough times, but I never saw them quit. Or give up. Or leave. And, after all, I had made a promise. For better or worse, right? And I was raised to stick to my word. So I stayed. And I made the mistake of asking “How much worse can it get?”
Um, worse. It got worse. Yelling. Screaming. Fighting. More really bad choices from him. Uncovering more and more and more secrets. Begging him to get help. It tested every ounce of strength and love and understanding and compassion in me. And my parents had to deal with me during that time. Dad had to ask, in all seriousness, “Do you need me to pound him?” The things I had to ask Mom to help me with. But I kept at it. I kept at him. Until finally it came down to what was, essentially, an intervention. Although at the time I just saw it as my breaking point.
Somehow, thankfully, it worked. When he returned from having stormed off, he told me he needed help. Professional help. And he needed me to come with so that he wouldn’t lie. I knew then that we had finally stepped on to the right path. I knew then that, eventually, we’d be okay.
Of course, “eventually” has no real time line. And the first years of counseling were, as they needed to be, about Hubby getting well, facing demons, fighting addiction, standing up for himself to his family, reclaiming (or really just claiming) his life. It was heart wrenching to watch. I did what I could to help. That didn’t feel like much. And it was hard for me, too, in very different ways. I hated to think of me, and hated myself for thinking of me, but I just wasn’t sure what to do. What did this mean for “us?” Would there still be an “us” when this was all said and done? What did this mean for me? Since what I thought I was getting into was a lie, what did I do now? It was like living life on hold.
But once he got through the worst of it, the focus shifted to us. And how to be us now. And we’re still working at that. (And, Hubby’s still working to figure out things for him and about him. It’s a lot to undo 35 years of crap being filtered in to you. To use his words “I wasn’t raised to be a decent human being.” So he’s still working on that. And probably will be for a long time.) But now we’re working for us, too. And, damn, that’s tough.
I still feel like I’m in a kind of limbo. I constantly, daily, have to rework my thinking and alter my expectations of what this life with him is. And since he’s working to change 35 years of bad information, I’ve got to be super extra patient (which I’m so not good at). And one-time possibilities like raising a family slip further away each day. Sometimes I still get bitter that my courtship and the first year of my marriage were based on lies. Sometimes I still get frustrated at his seeming inability to function like a normal human. And I still don’t know where it will all end up.
But I still know we’re on the right path. The peaks start to seem like plateaus (like, it stays good for longer periods of time). The valleys become less deep and further apart. We talk more and fight less. He is a completely different (significantly better) man than the one I married (although still super cute). There are (finally) no secrets between us (Amen.)
So, why do I blather on about all of this today? Not sure. I think maybe I just needed to say it and sort it all out in my head. It's just that kind of a day, I guess. But I think my overall feeling at this point is grateful. I know he's a better, stronger person for all of it. I know I'm a better, stronger person for all of it. I know we're a stronger unit for it. I'm grateful that when he fell, I was there with him. That he had a safe place to completely and utterly fall apart and start over again; that he had someone there with him, because he's told me many times that if I hadn't been there, no one would have been (and I sadly believe that) and that the outcome would have been far worse (and I believe that, too).
Instead the outcome is merely temporary (again, a very relative time term) frustrations shuffled in with the (increasingly plentiful) good times. Hubby and I both believe there was a greater purpose for us to have stumbled across each other when we did. And I'm so grateful, and I do believe, that when he said "I love you" that was never a lie.
Friday, July 3, 2009
My Inner Nerd Released!
So, the Super Nerd in me had her day today! Hubby and I went to the Science and Industry Museum!
The reason for the trip - The Harry Potter Exhibit! But, if you go, buy your ticket online before hand. Even though we got there 15 minutes after the museum opened (aka 9:45 am), the earliest entry time was 1:20 pm. Um, that's a lot of time to kill in a place that's not huge. However, we were quite lucky to meet the lovely British gent who let us in 2 hours early ("On you way" he said with a smile. He was awesome. And British. Which upped the awesome factor because he had that accent.). Unfortunately, they do not allow photography in the Harry Potter exhibit. (Otherwise I would have had pictures of hippogryphs, centuars, house elves, and all sorts of other amazing things.) But trust me, IT'S SO COOL.
This is The Smart House. It's completely green and eco-friendly. And although it sounded really awesome and we would have liked to go in and get ideas for our own home, we in fact did not go in because they wanted more money for that and we'd already paid enough to get in the museum and the Harry Potter exhibit. Looking was just fine. (And Hubby bought a really cool t-shirt, so that's something, I guess.)
Now, the Science and Industry Museum is also home of the Henry Crown Space Center. And I am a super-mega-huge space flight dork. As you will see.....
Nerd alert! This is the actual Mercury capsule that Scott Carpenter piloted (Aurora 7, in case you didn't know). He made 3 orbits of Earth on May 24, 1962. It took just under 5 hours.
Very tight quarters inside the craft. The Mercury astronauts did not get to enjoy the zero G conditions of space flight as they were strapped into seats that were literally molded for them. (Yes, I am a walking, talking nerd encyclopedia of space flight history.)
Close up on the instrument panel. How COOL is that? How not reliable (by today's standards) does this look? But it was totally cutting edge.
Super Duper Nerd Alert! This is the actual Apollo 8 capsule, which I might have gotten a bit misty over. But it's beautiful! This was the craft that took Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders on the first ever manned mission to orbit the moon. They broadcast live to Earth on Christmas Eve of 1968, reading from Genesis. (Yup, big huge nerd. That's me.)
Some close up detail of the outer door. I even think this is beautiful! Because I am a raging nerd.
This is the outside of the craft, which still bears the scars of it's journey to and from the moon, as well as it's insanely fiery re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. And I think it's beautiful.
Frank Borman's seat inside Apollo 8. (He would have been, technically, lying on his back, with the instrument panel over his head.) While it looks tight for three men, once the astronauts were on their way, the seats were collapsed and stored, thereby creating more room to move. It's not like they were going to sit in zero G. Since, you know, you can't sit in zero G. There's, you know, nothing to hold you down.
Frank Borman's suit from the Apollo 8 flight, which was the first manned flight to the moon. Ever. (Did I mention that?) Note the mission patch, which creates an 8 around the Earth and the moon. Cool, huh?
The reason for the trip - The Harry Potter Exhibit! But, if you go, buy your ticket online before hand. Even though we got there 15 minutes after the museum opened (aka 9:45 am), the earliest entry time was 1:20 pm. Um, that's a lot of time to kill in a place that's not huge. However, we were quite lucky to meet the lovely British gent who let us in 2 hours early ("On you way" he said with a smile. He was awesome. And British. Which upped the awesome factor because he had that accent.). Unfortunately, they do not allow photography in the Harry Potter exhibit. (Otherwise I would have had pictures of hippogryphs, centuars, house elves, and all sorts of other amazing things.) But trust me, IT'S SO COOL.
This is The Smart House. It's completely green and eco-friendly. And although it sounded really awesome and we would have liked to go in and get ideas for our own home, we in fact did not go in because they wanted more money for that and we'd already paid enough to get in the museum and the Harry Potter exhibit. Looking was just fine. (And Hubby bought a really cool t-shirt, so that's something, I guess.)
Now, the Science and Industry Museum is also home of the Henry Crown Space Center. And I am a super-mega-huge space flight dork. As you will see.....
Nerd alert! This is the actual Mercury capsule that Scott Carpenter piloted (Aurora 7, in case you didn't know). He made 3 orbits of Earth on May 24, 1962. It took just under 5 hours.
Very tight quarters inside the craft. The Mercury astronauts did not get to enjoy the zero G conditions of space flight as they were strapped into seats that were literally molded for them. (Yes, I am a walking, talking nerd encyclopedia of space flight history.)
Close up on the instrument panel. How COOL is that? How not reliable (by today's standards) does this look? But it was totally cutting edge.
Super Duper Nerd Alert! This is the actual Apollo 8 capsule, which I might have gotten a bit misty over. But it's beautiful! This was the craft that took Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders on the first ever manned mission to orbit the moon. They broadcast live to Earth on Christmas Eve of 1968, reading from Genesis. (Yup, big huge nerd. That's me.)
Some close up detail of the outer door. I even think this is beautiful! Because I am a raging nerd.This is the outside of the craft, which still bears the scars of it's journey to and from the moon, as well as it's insanely fiery re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. And I think it's beautiful.
Frank Borman's seat inside Apollo 8. (He would have been, technically, lying on his back, with the instrument panel over his head.) While it looks tight for three men, once the astronauts were on their way, the seats were collapsed and stored, thereby creating more room to move. It's not like they were going to sit in zero G. Since, you know, you can't sit in zero G. There's, you know, nothing to hold you down.
Frank Borman's suit from the Apollo 8 flight, which was the first manned flight to the moon. Ever. (Did I mention that?) Note the mission patch, which creates an 8 around the Earth and the moon. Cool, huh?
So that was my Super Awesome Nerd Adventure. It was capped by and impromptu trip to one of our favorite places to eat. But that's another story for another day.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
You Capture - Photographer's Choice
Beth's challenge this week was photographer's choice. There are lots of lovely choices to see. My choice was a face......
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Random Ramblings
So, I am currently wandering aimlessly about my house. This is where I settled, so I figured I'd ramble a bit. I'm good at that. I am a touch blue and trying to make myself feel better.
Sister in Law in expecting twins. I am happy for her. They've been trying for awhile. It's very happy, exciting news. And it just further points out that I will not be pregnant with anything. I'm usually (mostly) okay with that. But sometimes I get a little down about it. Like now.
Hey Ladies by the Beastie Boys just shuffled in. That makes me feel a bit better....
I am wearing jeans today. I really do not like how I look in jeans. I'm more of a skirt girl. Because it hides things like thighs. Jeans do not. But I just didn't want to have to sit properly in a skirt today. I want to sit like a lazy slob and read books, then bake cookies. So I'm wearing jeans. (I have high hopes for the cookies. They'll be chocolate fudge dough with dark chocolate covered peanuts and almonds. )
My digestive system is being very sluggish these days. Which I'm sure you were wondering about and really curious to know. I have IBS, so some days are all fine and dandy. Some days are not. It's a "not" time right now. And I haven't really been making the best of food choices to help myself out, either. Like the spaghetti I had for dinner last night. I can't eat much pasta, but I LOVE IT. And it sounded so, so, so, so good. Just regular old spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatless balls (Insert your own joke here.), sprinkled with blue cheese. YUM!!! And today I'm paying for it. So what am I going to do? Um, that would be make cookies. (And like I'm going to make them and not eat any. I have no will power.) My genius can be astounding.
I'm a raging hypochondriac. Every ache, pain, bruise, pimple, sneeze, etc. I'm sure is something awful. Even though it's not. Any suggestions on how to overcome this? It really adds to my stress level (which I have been told by multiple sources, both medical and not, that I really need to lower). And I react to stress physically. Do you see my problem there?
I just drank this tea that smelled just like prepubescent sweaty children coming in from recess on a hot day. Which I sadly have a vast knowledge of. It pretty much tasted like sweat, too. It was vile. But it's supposed to be "good" for me. Does it really do anything at all? Could I have had the strawberry vanilla tea and gotten the exact same (apparently non-existent) results?
Now Mellowship Slinky in B Minor by Red Hot Chili Peppers shuffled in. When Anthony Kiedis sings "kiss me right here on my tattoo" I just can't help but think "um... okay!"
I must think of things to lift my mood now.....
Okay!
Today is the official start of the U2 360 tour! It opens in Barcelona. And granted, I'm not in Spain to see it or anything, but hey, the tour is on! And now I'll be able to see set lists, and footage, and all kinds of fun stuff like that as I eagerly await their arrival in Chicago.
The new Pete Yorn album, Back & Fourth, came out last Tuesday. It's fantastic. And as if on cue, Pete just shuffled in. But it's Just Another which is from his (equally amazing) first album musicforthemorningafter. If you don't know Pete, you really should give him a listen. He's an amazing singer/songwriter. Kind of in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen. In fact, Social Development Dance (from the new album) is very, very Springsteenesque. And made me a little teary, but that's besides the point, I suppose. So, yeah, check out Pete.
For dinner tonight, I am making sandwiches, which is one of my favorite foods ever. I have green leaf lettuce, olive oil mayo, Havarti cheese (a.k.a. the best cheese EVER!), tofurkey, sweet potato chips (Hubby will eat his jalapeno Cheetos, and trust me they are all his....), and I'm going to brew some orange tangerine iced tea (It's Celestial Seasonings, which is awesome stuff. Did you know that because they do not have string, tags, staples, or individual wrappers on their tea bags, they save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year? That rocks.) So dinner will be yummy.
The live version of REM's Leaving New York just shuffled in. Michael Stipe's voice lifts me. Always. I heart you, Michael Stipe.
I bought the Inkheart DVD when I was at Target. Because Dustfinger takes off his shirt and plays with fire. Yes, I can use it for work and it was a good movie and blah blah blah. But really, it's because Dustfinger takes off his shirt and plays with fire.
Hubby will be home from work stuff soon. That will be good. Maybe I can get him to take off his shirt and play with fire.....
I'm actually feeling a bit better now! Thank you for helping me with that!
I think I'll make some not gross tea and finish my book before cookie making.....
Sister in Law in expecting twins. I am happy for her. They've been trying for awhile. It's very happy, exciting news. And it just further points out that I will not be pregnant with anything. I'm usually (mostly) okay with that. But sometimes I get a little down about it. Like now.
Hey Ladies by the Beastie Boys just shuffled in. That makes me feel a bit better....
I am wearing jeans today. I really do not like how I look in jeans. I'm more of a skirt girl. Because it hides things like thighs. Jeans do not. But I just didn't want to have to sit properly in a skirt today. I want to sit like a lazy slob and read books, then bake cookies. So I'm wearing jeans. (I have high hopes for the cookies. They'll be chocolate fudge dough with dark chocolate covered peanuts and almonds. )
My digestive system is being very sluggish these days. Which I'm sure you were wondering about and really curious to know. I have IBS, so some days are all fine and dandy. Some days are not. It's a "not" time right now. And I haven't really been making the best of food choices to help myself out, either. Like the spaghetti I had for dinner last night. I can't eat much pasta, but I LOVE IT. And it sounded so, so, so, so good. Just regular old spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatless balls (Insert your own joke here.), sprinkled with blue cheese. YUM!!! And today I'm paying for it. So what am I going to do? Um, that would be make cookies. (And like I'm going to make them and not eat any. I have no will power.) My genius can be astounding.
I'm a raging hypochondriac. Every ache, pain, bruise, pimple, sneeze, etc. I'm sure is something awful. Even though it's not. Any suggestions on how to overcome this? It really adds to my stress level (which I have been told by multiple sources, both medical and not, that I really need to lower). And I react to stress physically. Do you see my problem there?
I just drank this tea that smelled just like prepubescent sweaty children coming in from recess on a hot day. Which I sadly have a vast knowledge of. It pretty much tasted like sweat, too. It was vile. But it's supposed to be "good" for me. Does it really do anything at all? Could I have had the strawberry vanilla tea and gotten the exact same (apparently non-existent) results?
Now Mellowship Slinky in B Minor by Red Hot Chili Peppers shuffled in. When Anthony Kiedis sings "kiss me right here on my tattoo" I just can't help but think "um... okay!"
I must think of things to lift my mood now.....
Okay!
Today is the official start of the U2 360 tour! It opens in Barcelona. And granted, I'm not in Spain to see it or anything, but hey, the tour is on! And now I'll be able to see set lists, and footage, and all kinds of fun stuff like that as I eagerly await their arrival in Chicago.
The new Pete Yorn album, Back & Fourth, came out last Tuesday. It's fantastic. And as if on cue, Pete just shuffled in. But it's Just Another which is from his (equally amazing) first album musicforthemorningafter. If you don't know Pete, you really should give him a listen. He's an amazing singer/songwriter. Kind of in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen. In fact, Social Development Dance (from the new album) is very, very Springsteenesque. And made me a little teary, but that's besides the point, I suppose. So, yeah, check out Pete.
For dinner tonight, I am making sandwiches, which is one of my favorite foods ever. I have green leaf lettuce, olive oil mayo, Havarti cheese (a.k.a. the best cheese EVER!), tofurkey, sweet potato chips (Hubby will eat his jalapeno Cheetos, and trust me they are all his....), and I'm going to brew some orange tangerine iced tea (It's Celestial Seasonings, which is awesome stuff. Did you know that because they do not have string, tags, staples, or individual wrappers on their tea bags, they save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year? That rocks.) So dinner will be yummy.
The live version of REM's Leaving New York just shuffled in. Michael Stipe's voice lifts me. Always. I heart you, Michael Stipe.
I bought the Inkheart DVD when I was at Target. Because Dustfinger takes off his shirt and plays with fire. Yes, I can use it for work and it was a good movie and blah blah blah. But really, it's because Dustfinger takes off his shirt and plays with fire.
Hubby will be home from work stuff soon. That will be good. Maybe I can get him to take off his shirt and play with fire.....
I'm actually feeling a bit better now! Thank you for helping me with that!
I think I'll make some not gross tea and finish my book before cookie making.....
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Happy Days
So, sometimes the fun just comes to you. This week has been like that, in unexpected ways.
Hubby works from home and his supervisor was visiting on Monday (on super short notice), so for several reasons, I needed to spend the day out of the house. I went from wondering how I was going to fill eight hours to enjoying the time on my own. I took my book and sat at a cafe with some tea reading for a few hours. (This was, like the trail race, a little step outside my comfort zone. I've always thought I'd like to take a book to such a place and sip a warm beverage while reading, but I've never done it. I was afraid I'd feel like a loser who had to sit by herself because she's a total pathetic friendless loser. But, turns out I wasn't a self-conscious loser at all! I actually liked it a whole, whole lot! Maybe someone else thought I was a loser, but um, oh well. I liked it.) I did a little shopping (Slightly decadent stuff like new towels. Do you know how wonderful new towels are? They're a bamboo / cotton blend. Fabulous.). I hung out with Mom for awhile. It was lovely.
Tuesday was the total opposite. Hubby was gone doing work things with Supervisor all day long. (Even shorter notice) He had to be on his way at 8:00 A.M.. And I had the house all to myself. This never, ever, ever happens. Ever. (Because Hubby works from home.) It was fantastic! I finished my book (It was the third of the Wicked Lovely series. It's all about the world of faerie. Apparently faeries are not cute and sweet, like Tinkerbell. They're naughty. Very naughty.). I cranked up my ipod and baked cookies (With regular chocolate chips AND mini morsels. I love mini morsels.) while singing and dancing. (Did you know that I sound just like Cher? I do. Really. It's uncanny. Cher is a goddess, by the way.) I also did mundane things like put the laundry away and washed the dishes. But I did them in an empty house. All by myself. While singing and dancing. (Because it's not often that I can bust out my Proud Mary moves. And I know the whole routine. Because as a child, when people asked what I wanted to be when I "grow up," I said "Tina Turner." Okay, I still want to be Tina when I grow up. She, too, is a goddess.)
Wednesday it just so happened I had multiple things scheduled that I find rather fun and relaxing. Like acupuncture. Which is awesome enough, but Acupuncturist also decided I need some cupping and gua sha. (My qi was stagnating. It tends to stagnate in my shoulders a lot. Cupping and gua sha releases it. And leaves big red marks, but I feel so much better afterward that it doesn't even matter.) Then I headed off for a pedicure. I hadn't had a pedicure in a long time. I actually can't remember my last pedicure. It was heavenly! Plus I got to catch up on useless celebrity gossip as I flipped through back issues of People Magazine, which is good fun in and of itself.
Now today, I had a Pirate Adventure with Work Friend. How much fun was that?! I love pirates! We touched actual pirate treasure. We got to experience what it was like on a pirate ship. We saw lots of way cool pirate artifacts. Oh, it was awesome..... Doesn't this just say it all?
It's been such a week! And there's still Friday ahead of me!
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