A 1800's social movement, not a baby's name

“Every child begins the world again.”
-Henry David Thoreau

Temperance Cael. That’s the name of my husband’s cousin’s new baby. You think I’m kidding. Oh how I wish! I can’t even think it, much less say it without literally laughing out loud.

It seems to me that if you choose to raise a child against all the odds, you’d at least give the poor baby a normal name to give her a fighting chance.

Rob’s opinion… they should ask you your top three name choices in the hospital, and if they don’t make the cut… then you don’t get to take the baby home. That might solve a lot of the world's problems.

Our new nest

“A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul.”
-Phillip Moffitt

After the longest closing in my history (granted, this is the only one I’ve been to!), Rob and I are now homeowners. More pics and projects to follow in the next few weeks, but I left the camera at home today.

oh the excitement

"An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing."
-Samuel Smiles

Tomorrow's the big day! Tomorrow at one o'clock to be exact!!

Here a quirk, there a quirk

“Quirky is sexy, like scars or chipped teeth. I also like tattoos - they're rebellious.”
-Jennifer Aniston

He’s got some quirks. Some are easier to overlook than others. In fact, some are quite endearing.

On Friday, my fish Scooter died. It had been a long time coming, but I told Rob over the phone in our nightly “I’m headed home” call that I would need him to dump him in the toilet. I just couldn’t do that. So when he got home, he told me he had to make a secret phone call and went outside. I was confused, but whatever… When he came back in, he handed me the phone—he had gotten his friend Mark to play “Taps” on the trumpet as we flushed Scooter away to his home in the sky.

Then later in the night, he asked to help me as I collected No. 2 pencils and erasers for my teaching certification test the next morning. We sat down on the couch as we went through our pencil box, carefully weighing the pros and cons of each style and brand. I walked away with four different pencils: one of which was stolen in Rob’s junior high brush with the “law” and one which advertised Paula’s Educational Store in Shreveport. Keeping my fingers crossed that they were lucky!!

A little bit of "outgoing" showing through

“Guys don't expect you to be as ambitious and outgoing as I am.”
-Ebele Ifedigbo

In real life…. I’m usually quiet. I’d rather listen than talk. I hate crowds. Sometimes I get tongue-tied. I’ve been known to be a wallflower at social events. There is nothing I hate worse than confrontation. You could call me an introvert.

However, sometimes I surprise even myself. Yesterday evening I went to an information session about alternative routes to teacher certification. It was very informative and the speakers were very enthusiastic about new teachers (btw… enthusiasm/enthusiastic are my favorite words this week!) I had a list of questions that I needed answered, and I was the first one in the group to break the ice and start asking questions. I was the first to introduce myself and tell my background story, which set the tone for everyone else.

If you were at that meeting yesterday, you would have thought I was an extrovert.

Oh, and by the way… the meeting itself was awesome and confirmed once again that teaching is the right path for me to be on.

Spelling Bee loser

“If Al Gore invented the Internet, I invented spell check.”
-Dan Quayle

Clemsongirl, this one's for you!

I love a good metaphor

“The ideal life is in our blood and never will be still. Sad will be the day for any man when he becomes contented with the thoughts he is thinking and the deeds he is doing - where there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger; which he knows he was meant and made to do.”
-Phillip Brooks

This morning I had a metaphor epiphany, as I was getting ready for work. In the midst of getting dressed, I got distracted and found myself walking around the apartment without a shirt on.

And… ah ha! That’s a wonderful metaphor for how I’m walking in the world right now. Walking around without a shirt on. In my own house, mind you, not in public—I’m not talking about humiliation and lack of self-esteem here.

But something is missing, and although sometimes I’m not aware of it, sometimes I just can’t help but notice.

I’ve already got my pants on, my foundation—I’m probably not going to change that, but I’m stressing over how I will complement that foundation with my unique personality. Which direction will I pursue? What image will I project? Who will I be?

I haven’t picked out a shirt yet because I don’t know what the temperature is like outside, and I don’t know exactly what to be prepared for.
I could choose to wear a shirt with a message or a picture on the front, but I haven’t decided exactly what message I want to live. And, I’m not even sure that my closet contains the right message.
Do I want to be professional, uptight, and organized? Or do I lean towards casual, bohemian, and relaxed? I see people on either side of the continuum that I admire and want to emulate—but is that really me?
And, also, I’m just plain tired of the options hanging in my closet. I wish I had the resources to start over, but just like reality, I can only move forward from where I am today.

I’m comfortable where I am, without my shirt, but I’m not fully dressed yet. And in fact, putting on a shirt might actually be less comfortable than going without. I can just hope that I don’t pick out a shirt that’s too small, too warm, or too revealing, because then I will regret it for the rest of the day.

I love Lomo

“In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.”
-Alfred Stieglitz

[Continuing the day’s theme of “things that rhyme with ‘omo’”]

I’ve been admiring the over-saturated, shadow-filled photos that all the rage these days. You can purchase a Lomo or Holga camera reproduction for pretty cheap, but something about having to deal with film and processing just does not appeal to me. I mean, it’s the 21st century, I want to be able to review my photos and delete the bad ones before they’re printed—on the other hand... why even print them?

So I found a way to get the best of both worlds… Photoshop. You may be seeing more of this style around here.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Momo!

I love you, and I miss you!
-Your granddaughter, J

Heart in a box

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
-Aaron Siskind

I struggled over what to get/make/do for Rob for our first anniversary. With a house on the horizon, there’s not a whole lot of money to spend. But I hated not doing anything, especially on the “Year of Paper,” quite appropriate for budgeting newlyweds. I could think of so many paper crafts that a girl like me would swoon over, but my “macho” man… not so much.

Until I searched the archives of some of my favorite creative blogs and ran across Dan’s anniversary present to Marta last October…

Here’s my interpretation with photos that capture our first year of marriage, from the holidays and honeymoon to our favorite restaurants and retreats. All wrapped up in a decoupage box and tied with a bow. A box full of love and memories that he can open to relive the simple and wonderful moments from this year.

Sweet love of mine

“Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.”
-Katharine Lee Bates

One year ago, on October 6th, Rob and I were married in front of our friends and family on the campus of our alma mater. The weather was beautiful, and it was wonderful to have everybody that we love, together in one place. The day went off without any major hitch, and the next day, I proceeded to wave goodbye to my new husband as he drove away for a 3-week long training session for work.

A little deja vu this year, as Rob left Monday for another leadership workshop. This time it was only two days though, so the first thing Rob said to me last night when he arrived home was, “Can we eat our cake now?”

Here’s our beautiful wedding cake from 10/06/07...
And here it was last night--our anniversary dinner (I simply couldn't resist the celebratory candle!)...

To sleep, perchance to dream

"Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night."
-William Blake

I've been yawning all afternoon. I thought it was due to my late nights this week, finishing Rob's anniversary present, while he's out of town. But everyone in my office seems afflicted. One person was asking for an ice cream break at 1:30, another person left for a coffee break at 3:00, and yet another went for a Diet Coke at 4:00.
I think it's just one of those days. Dark, dreary, and wet. But at least it's getting cool outside.

Moving On...

“The best way to make a good deal is to have the ability to walk away from it.”
-Brian Koslow

On Sunday afternoon, we put an offer on a house that we had no business even looking at in the first place. We wasted an afternoon of time, energy, and emotions. And I spent the night worrying that “Omigosh, what if they did actually accept our offer? What in the world would we do then?” Somebody somewhere is going to get a hell of a deal, but this deal just wasn’t for us.

Moving on to Plan B...

Crisis Averted

“There cannot be a crisis today; my schedule is already full”
-Henry Kissinger

So last night I learned (or was reminded) just how poorly my husband handles crisis. [Probably a characteristic one should look for in a soulmate, but hell, I gotta make life interesting.]

As we were going through our nightly routine, he noticed that one of the drawers in the bathroom wasn’t sliding correctly on its track. I bent down to look for the cause and discovered that not only had the track broken off from the back wall, but we also had an inch deep lake sitting in our bottom of our cabinet.

So here I go, pulling everything out of the cabinet, gathering towels to sop up the water, deciding there is way too much water for towels, running to the kitchen for a bowl, and pushing the water out into the bowl.

And where’s Rob in all of this? He had escaped to the kitchen to do the dishes, of all things. His chore--but he certainly was planning to go to bed last night without having done. He just couldn’t handle the bathroom crisis up close.

Surprisingly though, this morning when I turned on my car and there was an awful dashboard light and even more awful beeping noise, Rob was actually very helpful with my predicament. He interrupted his meeting to help me decide what to do and whether to take it to the dealership or not. [I did, and it turned out to be just low tire pressure from the temperature change :) ]

Maybe he just needs to be 50 miles away from the crisis epicenter.