Sunday, October 31, 2010

my weekend

Yesterday was a home game.
Today was a primary program.
'Nuff said.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

what I learned today

I learned that...

my triglycerides are high.
my cholesterol is low...including the good kind.
if I leave the house by 7:10, I get to work before 7:40.
I don't like the Guess Who as much as I had heretofore assumed.
many people at work are idiots, others are not.
sleeping alone scares me sometimes, so I have taken to leaving my lamp on and snuggling with Raphael.
going grocery shopping at 5:00 is an in-and-out experience.
getting out of the parking lot, however, is more difficult.

Next up, I will learn which of several recipes for salad dressing I like best.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

family

I absolutely adore my nieces and nephew. What I love best is how very distinct their individual personalities are.

Owen is full of vim and vigor. He is dramatic and adventurous, yet strangely shy. It takes a really good game of spinning to win him over. He loves his Bompa.

Penny is hilarious. She is content to explore on her own, but she is also extremely playful, mimicking faces and singing along with music. She thinks tongues are hilarious.

Abby is sweet and demure. Perhaps it is her age, but she is quiet and calm. Unlike her older cousin and brother, Abby is very cuddly when held. She nuzzles.

I loved seeing them all, and I loved, LOVED visiting with my siblings. Jason, Jamie and Joyce occupy a nice spot in my heart that is reserved for family. I felt at home when I was there, seeing them, hugging them, talking to them and laughing with them. I look forward to seeing them again for a real full-length vacation.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

surprise

I had a nice surprise tonight as I left Audrei's house. Kevin called from Europe in the middle of the night. He makes me incredibly happy.

Monday, October 25, 2010

baking bread

I called in sick to work today. And, yes, I was legitimately ill. I picked up some stomach virus, the effects of which began while traveling home yesterday. That was fun.

I knew I had to go grocery shopping today, but the task held little appeal. For one, I didn't know how I would handle being so far from a bathroom, and secondly, I didn't like to put that distance between myself and my couch. Ah, blessed couch. Hulu and Waitress have kept me company today.

I looked around the kitchen to decide what I absolutely had to buy. It came down to bread. Just bread. Everything else could wait. And I really didn't want to leave the house.

So, I baked. The bread is rising right now.

Sure, it might seem like the harder way to go about things, but I found it preferable to grocery stores and check out lines. I'd go so far as to call it therapeutic.

And that's how I spent my summer vacation.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

on the plus side

I am sick of my own whining.
I am an optimist. I always have been. And I am not willing to give that up, to surrender it to fear.
So here is what I am looking forward to when Kevin is gone.

Sleep:
I will have a queen sized bed to myself. I will not stay up later than 9:30 to spend time with Kevin, the night owl. I won't wake up to him sneaking into bed.

Writing:
I cannot write from the seat in the living room. I need a desk. And I never use it, because it is in the next room. The coffee table may work, as well; I will have to experiment. Also, to write, I need to spend hours at one go, uninterrupted. I need to re-read my recent pages to refocus myself, and I tend to do much revising before I am captured with the moment and begin to write unhindered. It takes work, and I can dedicate time to that in a quiet apartment.

Scripture Study:
I have only occasionally studied well since we've been married. Mostly, because I have not managed to wake up before six or, usually, six thirty. But I used to get up at five thirty and spread my several books and pencils over the entire kitchen table and study for half an hour. Now, I stumble out of bed too late to do so. And table space is at a premium. But I will leave my mess out for 29 straight days, go to bed earlier and study in the mornings.

Driving:
I will have total access to the car for the entire month. I will leave for work at the same time, get there earlier and leave there earlier and be home by five fifteen. Not only does that give me an entire hour and fifteen minutes extra time every evening, but I will also be able to take an entire hour at lunch time, instead of the measly half. With all that time, I think I will write. Or sleep.

Music:
I can play my music in the car, in the apartment, never ending music and singing. I will have the apartment to myself, so nobody will be bothered. I will not be tethered by headphones to the couch. And I can sing without embarrassment.

Emailing:
I express myself best in writing. Turns out, it uses a different part of the brain than speaking. Kevin and I have often communicated by email over the course of our relationship, and I treasure those letters. I have been sad that living together has decreased the necessity to write to one another. I am glad to have that chance again, to express in words things that I assume are implied and understood when we see each other daily.

For four solid weeks, I will get to focus myself entirely on me. Maybe I will find that some things work better that way, and others will be lacking for Kevin's absence. But it is not the end of the world, and Kevin will come back to me at the end of it.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

because I said I would

Nora has issued a challenge, and we're going to help each other write short daily blog posts. Because today is a good day (in the sense that it is not a bad day), I am going to take her up on the challenge.

The news for today is that Kevin is going to Europe for the month of November. At least, that was the original plan. Yesterday we were told that he is actually leaving Sunday. This Sunday. Five days from now. While we're on vacation in Utah.

I did not handle the news well. Of course, I handle very little with equanimity these days. Unless "equanimity" has come to mean sobbing into one's sweater in the back corner of the warehouse, periodically throughout the work day. I do not know what I will do with him gone. I mean that literally (my schedule and habitual activities will be affected) but more truthfully in the quite dramatic, LeAnne Rimes, "How Do I Live?", there'd-be-no-sun-in-my-sky way.

I feel lost thinking about it.

If Kevin were in favor of the idea, I would leave my job and spend the next 4-5 weeks touring Europe while he audits Dell factories. But I am not rational, and Kevin is. He'd never let me quit my job and spend ridiculous amounts of money, just like that, on a whim. And I suppose he is right.

But I am going to miss him very, very badly.