Thursday, December 29, 2011

Compare/Contrast

We live with my parents, aka Santa and Mrs. Claus.  My dad grew a beard, I think mostly so that as he continues to gray he will resemble the jolly man more and more.  So now we will compare and contrast the decorating prowess of the Claus couple with our own.  Pardon the blurry pictures.  Photography is not my forte.

The house were we live:












 
The decor in our two rooms:


Yup, vase with ornaments and berry things.  Don't worry, we have big plans for the house that is yet-to-be-purchased.  S bought a spool of lights on clearance.  You heard me right - a spool!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

We built a tiny house

To prepare for our regular-size house, S and I built a tiny house.  My family loves Christmas, I will show how much sometime this week, but in all my Christmasy childhood I never made a gingerbread house.  Never ever ever ever.  S bought me a gingerbread house kit and he got a gazillion points.

See how it looks just like the picture on the box?

Totally just like the box.

Well, sorta.

I gave the gingerbread woman a little handbag.  
Then she kept falling over and we noticed that it looks like she's drinking an alcoholic beverage.  
Then we realized that her gingerbread husband has a leprechaun hat 
and all of a sudden we had an Irish pub themed gingerbread house.  
Until I said "IT'S A HANDBAG NOT A BEER!"

I will eat you tiny gingerbread people!

Never mind, Buddy and I will just take a nap.

Monday, December 19, 2011

That's right, I'm sporty

I'm not sporty, but being married to a natural athlete has helped me develop an interest in being more sporty.  In fact, since moving back to Oklahoma I am missing the hiking, hills, and mountains of north Georgia and the outdoorsy activities that used to be right outside our front door.  I've pledged to try rock climbing with S and our long-term goal is to live somewhere that we can be active every day of the year outside.

So yes, now that you mention it, I am sporty.  Well, not today.  Today I am in my pajamas.  But maybe tomorrow.  Or after Christmas. 

In the meantime, while I might not be actively sporty, I do want to shop for equipment!  I LOVE equipment!  Kitchen equipment, power tools, craft supplies, sports equipment - I really love to be prepared.  So you can understand why today I was really excited to learn about LeftLane Sports.  Did you know about this site???  It's like Ideeli or Gilt or One Kings Lane or Joss & Main but for sports stuff!  Apparel, gear, shoes....yippee!

This is a great site for 3-day gear - hydration packs and gear - most for 50% off.  I haven't actually purchased anything yet, but I'm excited enough to write about it so hopefully it will live up to my expectations.  Right now I want some of those freaky FiveFingers shoes!  So, you know, if you haven't gotten me anything for Christmas yet...they're half off...

Friday, December 16, 2011

Love/Hate

I'm developing a love/hate relationship with Facebook, heavy on the hate.  Maybe you guys have developed a healthy relationship with this social experience but I have not.  Perhaps the things I describe are exactly how you interact with folks and it works for you and leaves you feeling more connected to the people in your life.  That's a great thing.  This is only about my inability to maintain healthy relationships through The Book, not an indictment of others.  And maybe you have similar experiences and can offer suggestions on how to stay "connected" while maintaining authentic connections.

I spend way too much time looking at other people's lives instead of living my own.  I often think, "how narcissistic can people be to think that their lives are this interesting?" and then I realize that I'm reading what they wrote and spending a portion of my life thinking about it so I guess they were right in the first place.  I realized before Thanksgiving that I only take pictures if I think they are going to worthy of sharing via social media or the blog.  I used to take pictures of everything all the time!  And I love looking at my old pictures even though most of them wouldn't mean a thing to anyone else.  I talk to my friends rarely because it's expected that I'll learn about what's going on in their lives via their posts when all I'm really getting is a sanitized version of the events of their lives.  I see that friends are pregnant or moved or whatever and they look lovely and happy and perfect but I don't know how they feel about these things.  I don't know if they are scared or disappointed or questioning or excited about something silly or need to recommend a flavor of frozen yogurt.  And they don't know those things about me because we don't actually talk.  I hate that.


If I don't care about how you are dealing with the big events in your life, then we are not really friends and I shouldn't be investing time and energy into thinking about your vacation in the first place.


Plus, it turns us all into bitchy teenagers.  Maybe not outwardly and maybe not you, but for many, it does, myself included.  Sometimes I think I'm going to whittle my friends list down to the people who I actually see or would speak to on the phone but then I message that guy from high school who's a realtor or that girl I met once who flips houses or that friend of a friend who is a construction manager for suggestions and advice (all happened in the past month) and I think, hmmm, this is kind of handy.


So I think I'm going to extract myself from daily interactions with the Book of Face.  I've removed the shortcut from my browser's toolbar.   I'm going to reset my preferences so that I get emails when I have invitations or messages.  But I'm not going to check it everyday.  When we get our house (fingers still crossed) or, one day, hopefully (prayerfully, impatiently, why isn't this freaking working out) have a baby, I'll share pictures and small updates here and there but I probably won't saturate my wall with photos.  Because I wouldn't be doing it for the right reasons.  The whole world doesn't need to see pictures of my life or know what I did today.  The world does not actually care, no matter how much I wish it would.


I'm going to make a commitment to live my life for myself and for my family and not for anyone else.  I'm making a commitment in 2012 to live in the moment and not for the moment as it will be captured on the internet for all eternity.  If nobody knows about the awesome dinner I made?  That's fine.  If you don't see all the Christmas gifts that I made this year?  No biggie (even thought they are really, REALLY cute!).  If I don't post about how awesome my husband is, that's okay, I probably told him to his face and it really doesn't matter if anyone else knows it.
all illustrations via pinterest.com

Anyway...I'm extracting myself.  Here's what I think I'll share: big announcements, information I think colleagues and friends would find interesting or would make them smile, and requests for help (for example, right now I need a good HVAC person!).  I pledge to check the aforementioned website only once a day, hopefully taking it down to once or twice a week.  The time that I did spend with the website, I am going to try to spend with actual real-life people either in person or on the phone, hearing their actual real-life voice.  If something big happens in your life and you want me to know about it, I would love to talk to you!  If you are feeling low and need to vent, I would love to talk to you.  Let's create real support, real celebration, and real relationships in 2012! 

Monday, December 5, 2011

Today I said...

"I don't know how stupid people buy houses."  Which may not be very nice, but this stuff is challenging!  Granted, our deal has many more strings attached than your average home purchase, but really, it's complicated!  There's also an inherent level of distrust in all the proceedings.  "Why weren't you working during this time period?"  "Why don't these addresses match?"  "Where did you hide the bodies?" I keep wanting to call the bank and tell them, "I'm a good person, I promise!  I'm doing the best I can!  Why don't you like me!?"  Then I remember that it's not their job to like me and I put on my big girl panties and sign a bunch of documents.


Today we met with the first contractor to start finding out how much our repairs and renovations will be.  $30,000 sounds like a huge budget until you start talking to a contractor!


Currently I'm on hold with the gas company trying to get the utilities turned on.  Current wait time is 33 minutes.  My call is very important to them.  I feel like Phoebe.

Rachel: Oh, Phoebe, are you still on hold? I was supposed to call my Dad back like two hours ago.
Phoebe: Oh, yeah, he clipped on, he said call him as soon as you get a chance, he’s at Flimby’s.
Rachel: What’s Flimby’s?
Phoebe: Oh, yeah, that’s the word I use when I can’t remember the real thing.
Rachel: Okay. Hang up! That’s it! Come on!
Phoebe: No! Rachel, that’s what they want me to do. My warranty expires tomorrow, if I don’t get through, they’re not gonna fix my crappy, broken phone for free! We cannot let them win! It’s us versus them!


Monica: (to Phoebe) Here you go. You can wear this. (hands her a sweater)
Phoebe: Thanks!
Monica: Uh-huh.
Phoebe: Okay. (on phone) Ooh, I’m setting the phone down. (does so) But I’m still here! Just don’t go anywhere I’m still here. (starts to put on the sweater) Don’t-don’t switch or anything, ‘cause I’m, I’m right here. (She has pulled the sweater over her head, but her head is stuck in a sleeve.) Just one sec. One sec! One second!! (She is now frantically trying to get the sweater on, as Monica returns from the bathroom.) Wait! One second! Just…
Monica: Phoebe?
Phoebe: What?! Monica, I’m scared!!