Learning Experience

Today I took a big step in my marriage; I cut my husband's hair. To be fair, he did ask me to do so. I was a little nervous on account of I had never done it before anyway, but being that it was all supposed to be one length, how hard could it be? Well I started snipping along with the clippers and a snap on plastic guide to keep me from shearing his brain off. Things were going well until the EARS...


So for anyone who has never cut hair before, the ears on a man are like ankles on a woman; treacherous and wrought with potential doom. The don't look that scary, but they are sure curvy. I figured, hey I can use this nifty piece included in the kit, "ear guides" (there was even one for the left and for the right sides). Well, I used them in the appropriate direction, but some how my husband ended up with funky gouges of hair missing on either sides of his head, suspiciously close to the ears... In the future when I do this again (probably in 4-6 weeks) I will ONLY use the #2 guides, and maybe hand trim the ears...

The sucky part is that the man I never thought about being vain is going to stay in until things even out. That totally sucks because no joints are bothering him, and yet I found some way to make him not want to go do stuff. He said he forgives me, but I still feel kind of crappy about the whole thing.

Time for me to go make a grocery list, so I can go to the store alone... Stupid ear guides!

The Weather Outside is Frightful....

I am writing during the middle of an all day snow shower... storm... not a blizzard, but just constant snow all day long. I call people back in Florida and they say it is 80 degrees, like I am supposed to be jealous or something. I find it kind of funny that I am really not. The only thing that I miss, being here instead of Florida is my friends. I had really great friends there, here that isn't the case. I have one really good friend, but she lives much too far away (200+ miles).

I'm just not that attached to the "face of the sun" weather pattern that I lived in for most of my life. Yes, when I go somewhere up here, I have to brush off the car (sometimes dig it out first), and bundle up like an Eskimo, but it really isn't that horrible. I made my first snow angel last week, and I am hoping to make my first snow man soon.

I don't think about the people that I miss in terms of wanting to go backwards. I don't think about what my life would have been like if I hadn't moved so far away. There are just too many variables to try and back-track through. It was something that was bound to happen in my life; change. I got married, of course all my other relationships would change with the addition of that one. I think I am lucky that the miles between my old friends and me helped me to not fight the change. I do miss them, but it's not as painful as it used to be.

Will I ever go back to where I started? I am not sure. I have a lot of family that hopes I will. I do make a really good effort to visit them when I can though. Someday, I will take a vacation that doesn't take me back to Florida. I think that will be a vacation to remember, a first real vacation. That will be just another step in growing up. Right now, I'd say I am a college kid: living away from family, going home to visit when I get the chance.

My first vacation to just go somewhere... I'm going somewhere great...

when you don't feel like doing anything...

I have come to know through a series of circumstances that I am not good alone. Some people can be hermits and that works just fine for them, but I will never make it as a hermit. I've been working in a fairly low contact lab for a few weeks, and the lack of people is starting to get to me. Also the lack of girlfriends within go-out-to-lunch vicinity is wearing on me a little bit too. It's funny the things you figure out when you've got little else to do besides think and put beer on the floor. (technically it isn't all beer, but we'll pretend that covers all manor of liquids destined to become beer.)

The good news is there are things that help; supportive spouse (he's gone above and beyond in this department), pictures of the friends you miss, phone and email. Making new friends would probably help out too, but so far the only people my age are the ones I see wandering around the grocery store at midnight (that was when I went to buy M&Ms for cookies on the way home from work last week).

Life is entertaining though; I get a new niece or nephew this spring, I have a few visits home planned, I am finding new reasons to love my husband every day, and I hear that it might snow this weekend. People up here laugh at me for being excited about snow. I am excited about making snow balls, and snowmen, and finding a good hill to sled down. I also like to snuggle down in my feather duvet with a book and my hubby (he's probably got a book too, otherwise I am not going to get much reading done).

All and all though, I have found that when you are laying about and having a crappy day, the best thing to do is to get up and start doing something. Then you start to feel better. At least us non-hermit types do.

Opportunity Cost

Opportunity Cost... Think back to your last econ class to remember what the term means. It means the cost of what ever choice you make is determined by the worth of the option you didn't choose. I've been thinking lately about the things I didn't choose, and what was the actual cost of not choosing them. I don't think of them in terms of things I have lost or missed out on. They are more of a fleeting thought, a reminder that life is full of choices. The important thing is to own the choices you make, not to be owned by them.

Working midnights is a weird thing, to be awake from 12-8 is a strange thing. About 5 in the morning it really hits me that still being awake is more work than fun. I can sleep during the day okay, but it's not quite the same. I don't really know when to eat breakfast anymore. I do like not getting up early though.

The weather is getting colder here. It's getting colder a lot faster than I am used to, and I am actually looking forward to the snow...

the gianormous pillow sham

I am writing this as I sit on my couch, my not itchy couch! "But wait!" you might say, "I haven't gotten a thank you note yet!" Well, it is true that I haven't finished the thank you notes yet, but I will explain.

See I was at the store and I bought a king size sheet to drape over the couch until I could slip cover the couch the way I want. However, when I started tucking the sheet around the cushions I realized that I could probably sew it together and wrap all the way around. So I did it, I made a pouch that is a lot like a giant pillow sham. And now I am happy that the couch isn't so itchy and my husband can't pull off the cover no matter how much he wiggles about.

And I got a bike yesterday too. We'll see if I am able to develop a good ridding habit with my spiffy new bike and helmet.

my first quarter update

It has occurred to me today that I am approaching nearly 3 months of being married, and yet I am still not pregnant. There were many naysayers claiming that sooner than later, I would expecting... and yet even though I have been married now for 1/4th of a year, the only crochet projects I have taken on are for a bathmat.

After I finish the bathmat and thank you notes, I plan to start working on a slipcover for our couch. It is an impressively long couch, but the upholstery is a pink and yellow floral in a very itchy textile. If nothing else, a slip cover will make the couch more enjoyable to sit on. I would buy a slipcover, but the length of the couch thwarts that approach.

So I must whip out my new sewing machine (thanks mom-in-law, it was an awesome gift!) and practice on muslin to make a mock-up before I dive into the real fabric. Otherwise, work is fine, it seems like my hubby is on the road to knee repair, and although I still miss my friends, I am liking life. Now if only they would put on another Kayaking Basics course so we could go... (the first one was full when I called)

do what you want to do

Okay, so yes I don't "blog" as often as people would like me to (if any one is paying attention that is), but I need a reason to blog.

So here is a good one. I am going to take ice skating lessons while I am in New York! I have been ice skating enough in Florida (that would be twice) to know that I could really benefit from lessons. And after deciding to take lessons, I realized something; I am big on doing things you want to do.

Now simmer down, I don't mean doing what ever you want to do, that can be selfish and sometimes destructive in several different ways. I am talking about doing things that you want to do, that you have thought about for a while (days, weeks, years, since you were little...). Because once you actually do something that you have "always wanted to do", there is a feeling of really cool gratification. I think more people should start crossing stuff off the "what I would like to do before I die list" instead of just making the list.

It doesn't even have to be big stuff either, I'll tell you about mine to get you started thinking.
These are in a random order (since that is how they seem to occur), so ranking isn't really important for this process.
1. learn to throw on a potter's wheel (did it in college for 2 semesters)
2. learn ballet (did it from age 17-20, and will probably do it again someday)
3. ride a horse (did it on my honeymoon, an excellent surprise from my hubby!)
4. learn a foreign language fluently (haven't done it yet)
5. learn to sew (made my first dress with zipper 2 years ago, couch slipcover here I come!)
6. learn to crochet ( did it the summer after high school graduation from a book while on a road trip)
7. go to Ireland (some day)
8. become a Mom (not for a LONG time)
9. learn to juggle (at age 15, but I think it is time I learned to juggle clubs too)
10. learn to ride a unicycle (the summer before I got married)
11. go to Australia (another day)
12. learn to play the cello (it just looks so darn cool, and I have a song in mind to play)
13. learn to drive (at age 19 I finally did, to the relief of many)
14. own and operate my own cotton candy making machine (I like it warm and on a paper cone best! an excellent hostess gift I am sure)
15. go kayaking (I have a thing for kayaks)
and now I add
16. learn to ice skate (I want to spin in a circle and be able to skate backwards!)

I just think it is tough transitioning into being an adult and leaving behind the kid stuff. I mean heck, if you don't have kids yet, it's hard to define sometimes why you aren't still one. Some people delve into their work, and their jobs become that defining thing. I think work is a means, and I should get to pick the ends I want to use it for.