I’m going away for a while but I’ll be back. It’s time to recharge.
Off the Grid
In which I sometimes neglect to mention important things
As I post throughout the year of course I run into days featuring important events - birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, weddings, homecomings, the times we have bacon…a lineup of special days and celebrations scattered across my calendar. I don’t always mention them here for several reasons including: (a) I forgot; (b) I didn’t post on that day and going back to say “By the way, happy belated _________” seems rather desperate; (c) I don’t want this blog to turn into one long Hallmark card; or (d) I sometimes write about weird stuff and wishing my mom a happy birthday and then telling about the time I almost didn’t make it to the bathroom just feels wrong. But there is one important thing that happened recently I’ve been meaning to write about and haven’t. Because I’ve just been too busy whining about blisters and all that. You guys, Dan and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last month! 15!! I remember feeling like a jaded old married couple on our fifth anniversary and then again on our tenth. And now here we are at 15 and I can scarcely believe it. In only a few more years I will have been married more than half my life - and I’ll bet it feels much longer sometimes to Dan (ka-pwing!). I make fun of him sometimes but I have an awesomely wonderful husband. Not just for these reasons, but here are a few: Of course we have problems and conflicts just like any other married couple. There are times when we want to slap each other and sometimes we are both really good at playing ostrich. But I’m grateful every day that even during that lowest point of all several years ago, we decided staying together was the right choice for us. Happy anniversary, hon. I love you.
Mean Shoes
** Warning, this post contains a picture of something yucky ** I am not normally a shoe person. I like them but I don’t like like them and I’ve never spent more than about $75 for a pair in my life. Even then I felt guilty for weeks and I’d stare at the shoes and wonder if I should take them back. You cost SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS . . . SEVEN, FIVE! I’d accuse the shoes. And I was afraid to wear them because they’re shoes - I’m going to scuff them and scrape them and maybe step in gum. And they were expensive. I know, not really expensive at all in comparison, but expensive to me. So mostly I wear flip flops or tennies or something practical in black leather because it wears the best and goes with the most outfits. But then I found these last week… Aren’t they cute? It’s not the best picture but hopefully you can see that they have a little black bow at the toe but the leopard print keeps them from being too precious. And they’re a little bit furry, which I think is AWESOME. They’re Vera Wang shoes! I’ve never, ever bought anything designer before but I found these on sale and couldn’t resist. Normal price is $77 - guess how much I paid? $14!!!! So I wore them to church last week and the teenage girls were complimenting me on my shoes. You know something’s cute when a teenager will give you a compliment, right? So I was very proud of myself. But these shoes have a dark side. They’re mean. They’re leather so I knew they’d take a little breaking in but by the end of church I was it total and complete agony! Every step became a nightmare of endurance and I could hardly hobble out to the car. My mean shoes did this . . . (I have cropped this as much as possible to spare you the horror of my ugly, unexfoliated heels.) And there are three more just like it. Huge blisters on both sides of both my ankles. Why, mean shoes? Why? I have only wanted to love you. So now I don’t dare wear them because my feet sob and beg for mercy. But…they’re cute! And I’ve never owned such cute shoes before. I want to wear them and soak up compliments like a sponge and maybe just for a little while, feel cool. But I’m afraid. Today for church I wore my sturdy black boots that are well broken in and do not (do not!) hurt my poor ankles. And the whole time I was wishing I had my cute shoes because I love them almost as much as I fear them. Almost.
Wii will, Wii will mock you
There’s no brand of brutal honesty quite like that of your children creating your likeness on the Wii. Ouch.
We are sick - send soup
Allergies or colds - does it really matter? The important thing is that Adam and I are both miserable with stuffy noses, red eyes, sore throats, and enough mucus to choke a horse…or at least a fairly good sized cat. Is it time for the good drugs yet? (Nyquil, I’m looking at you.)