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December 31, 2005
New Year's Eve 2005
So The Dude and I had a wonderful Christmas week in Colorado with stops in Kansas. We are now in a motel in Mount Vernon, Illinois, spending the night here and hitting the road again tomorrow morning to get home tomorrow afternoon.
I'm really thankful for the changes 2005 has brought me. For one (most obviously to me) is the Change in Marital Status. Woo Hoo! For another, I've moved. And I'm older. Hopefully wiser.
Well, I didn't sleep well last night in my inlaws' house in the tiny full bed, and I drove 6 hours today, and was driven 4 hours today. I'm tired, and am going to my motel room to draw a bath (The Dude got a room upgrade to get me a super deep bathtub to soak in!) and wait for The Dude to get back from the liquor store with Happy New Year toasting wine (it will also be bathtub-relaxation wine).
Happy New Year, all. Have a blessed 2006, and I'll see you (or blog for you) next year.
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December 22, 2005
I am leaving...
...Tennessee for Christmas. Goin to Colorado, and driving thru Kansas. Will blog later about 1) work and 2) home and 3) Christmas and 4) hubby.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 10:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 17, 2005
Growing Pains
I feel as if, in the last few months, I've been changing from Single Gal to Married Woman. It's tough, going through a big change like that and being dumped into the Married Woman life without exactly knowing how it goes. It doesn't help that the people I know (new and old) tend to treat me like Married Woman even though I don't know how to be Married Woman. It's strange to have a whole new identity instantly foisted on me and not knowing how to navigate in the Married People world.
Well, it's been a few months since I married, and I have a theory: it takes me about 6 months to adjust to new chapters in my life. It's like culture shock, I guess, and I just need to get through the Chaos stage to break through to the other side, where I am myself and everyone is who they are. I might have been Alice through the looking glass, where everything was just a little different (but that coffee table is just a little to the left and dang I keep barking my shin on it!)--different enough to catch me off guard, or make me dizzy (like those fun houses where everything is tilted? ever been in one of those? It looks normal but as soon as you try to move wham! you fall over), or make me knock my shins, or whatever.
I might have been Alice through the looking glass these last few months, but at least now I'm starting to learn why people in Married People World do unintelligible things like put pepper on their baby pigs or play croquet with hedgehogs and flamingos. It's because that's how we do things here in Married People World.
(See? I told you I was one of them. Resistance is futile, after all.)
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A Better Update
So, my job is at a department store. I run a register. So far it's a pretty good job, but it's hard to get used to being on my feet all day...but it's been so busy that I forget that I'm tired of being on my feet.
The Dude took me to dinner (Provino's gives you free dinner on your birthday) and a movie (Pride and Prejudice) on my birthday. It was great. He gave me a book about Narnia, a new journal, a new Bible, and a Christmas ornament which he bought during our honeymoon. He saw me admiring it, and it's so pretty. It's a gold aspen leaf, and it's our first ornament. Yay for a December birthday. It was a wonderful evening, and The Dude is just the most thoughtful man around...a wonderful man to have as a husband.
The treat bags for The Dude's colleagues...mint brownie, peanut butter fudge, and oatmeal cookies. They were yummy. Stay up on this blog for the recipes.
Now, about the random eyelid injury: I was pulling a fleece on, and the neck was zipped up, keeping me from pulling it over my head. So, with it pulled taut, I decided to zip down the neck...catching my right-eyelid skin in the process. It caught on two places: in the fold (it's just bruised there) and right above the lash line (it's bruised pretty bad there). (I could just imagine my manager at The Store listening to me say "and then I zipped down my fleece" and wondering if it's some elaborate story to cover the 'real cause' of the injury. Hah, sometimes anti-marriage, anti-conservative-values people are so cynical. What's so hard to believe about a fleece-zipper injury?)
So, I got home from Orientation at The Store on Wednesday, and The Dude had spent the time while I was at orientation buying birthday gifts, birthday paper, birthday balloons, and a birthday sign--and decorating the apartment so it would be nice when I walked in. What a nice fellow. He certainly has "kindness" from the Fruit of the Spirit list down. Also, we were lying in bed visiting, and it got to be past midnight, and I called my parents. They live in CO, in Mountain Time, and were surprised to hear from me. They sang me the Latvian Happy Birthday-Good Morning Song I've heard instead of my alarm clock every birthday morning while living with them, and it was nice. I miss them. Plus, that way they didn't have to get up super early (remember the time difference!) to call me and sing to me. So, I celebrated all day!
And about Pride and Prejudice...like I said, why are people so snobby about it? Jane Austen did not write a romantic comedy. They weren't what you did back then. But why can someone not interpret it romance-comedically? People, relax, and enjoy the dang movie! It's a good job, and so what if the Mr. Darcy-through-the-fog-during-sunrise-and-violin-soundtrack was cliche? It's still beautuful. Hunh, maybe I'm being gauche...who cares? I like it, and a little cliche every now and then certainly will not kill us.
And one more thing: The Dude made me a birthday cake! He never made a cake before (!), not even a cake mix, but he was intrepid and made a little sheet cake, iced it, and decorated it. He bought enough candles, lit them all, and sang to me. Aaaaaaww. What a kind man, eh?
Posted by The Newest Worker at 11:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 16, 2005
A Quick Update
Hey, I have a job. I'll tell you where it is if you call or email, because I'll be discussing and analyzing it here.
I had my birthday yesterday, and The Dude gave me a lovely day.
I made treat bags for The Dude's colleagues et al, and they are yummy.
Just wait till you hear about my random eyelid injury. Yes, eyelid. I told you it was random.
My birthday celebration started Wednesday, even. Wow, The Dude is so nice.
I don't know why people are so snobby about the new P&P movie. I liked it. It's like they're afraid of a romantic comedy take on "my beloved P&P."
I have to go get ready for work (yay!), or I'd tell more.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 09:13 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 13, 2005
Some of the Best Insight/Advice I Ever Got
Hey, does anybody remember David Gray? Not the singer--the Covenant student, Catacombian, martial artist, poet, Star Trek fan, funny cancer victim? I do. I think of him often.
I met him when we sat next to each other in Voskuil's Contemporary Global History. A few weeks into the semester he asked me to take notes for him because he was going for a pelvis x-ray...and the rest just seemed to happen. It's a sad story and I don't want to tell it. Ask someone else if you don't know it.
Anyway, I kept in touch with him for the next few years. I would call, he'd tell me about his illness, and I would tell him about my roommate woes and pressure from college deadlines.
During one phone call, he asked me how things were going for me, and I told him my little challenged really didn't matter much--what were roommate woes and college deadlines compared to facing death and growing faith in immortality?
Please read what he said:
"Jesus has us each where he wants us. It does no good to compare. Jesus has you right where he wants you, and he will grow your faith in his own time in his own way."
I've thought of that many times since then, and have especially taken it out of its sacred memory-storage-unit in times of woe. Often, my times of woe come when I compare. Jesus, why don't I have that car? Why can ___ have a husband and not me? Why is the relationship with ___ so tough? Now that I am married, why can't I just settle down and be a good, responsible wife? Why do I provoke so many fights with him? I want a job, too! Why can't I be as pretty/skinny/graceful/smart/kind as ___? The problem is that I compare.
Oh, I hate platitudes. But that doesn't mean that they are not truthful. So -- as a reminder to myself and encouragement to you -- don't compare. That's where the trouble comes. You are right where Jesus wants you, and he is growing your faith in his own time and in his own way. Trust him. He provided each day's manna daily for his children in the desert, and he daily provides grace for today for each of us. Trust him. Rest in him.
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On Letting Others' Blessings Become Curses to You
But, O! how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes.Update: I posted this for you, Jeep. I see you found it. See, The Bard himself understood.
Will Shakespeare, As You Like It, V.ii. 16
Posted by The Newest Worker at 12:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 12, 2005
Answer to Prayer
Hey, I got a job offer! Call me for details. Pray for Christmas travel-timing to mesh with the vacation days I will be permitted to take.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 06:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New Nickname
Instead of calling him "Husband," I've decided that here, I'm calling him Dude.
The Dude is very cute. Shockingly handsome.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 06:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 09, 2005
Wonderful Eggs
I'm eating really excellent eggs. I just threw a quiche together to use up some ham I had in the fridge, and sauteed onions to go into it. I cooked my eggs in this oniony skillet (without washing it of course), and that just made them wonderful.
I had a handful of ham left from the quiche, and threw it in the oniony skillet. I cracked my last two eggs, whipped them a little, threw in salt and fresh ground pepper and just a little (about 1 T.) heavy cream (again, from the quiche. I hadn't put it back in the frig yet), and about 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. I left the burner on low (about level 3), put the egg mixture in the oniony skillet that had ham in it, and let it cook.
I let it go a little longer because I was reading blogs, and it got toasty without getting burned. Oh man, these were delicious eggs! I wish I could share them but 1) they're gone and 2) this is the internet, and Wonka-vision is only fantasy.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 02:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 08, 2005
Little Things
I'm really surprised at how the little things clue me in on his mental/emotional state. Like, the other night, he finally got in bed and he was actually shivering...but it wasn't cold-shivers. It was destressing-shivers. I can tell the difference. Isn't that great?
Last night he was up till 2, working on his final, and I had fallen asleep but woke again when he got in bed. He told me this morning that I commented on how much warmer the bed was when he got in it. And it really is...so much heat pours off his body that I am never cold anymore in bed, even on really chilly nights.
His face looks amazing in the pale light coming in our window at night. (It's a streetlight filtered through vertical blinds.) He looks like Adonis, or Apollo. He's so handsome. He's shockingly handsome.
This morning I dragged out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen to make his lunch (pbj x 2) and went back to the bathroom to do bathroomy-things when he was done doing bathroomy-things. While I was brushing teeth and hair and makeuping and all that mirror and sink stuff, he kissed my shoulder.
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December 07, 2005
Pride
The lust to be served, honored, and noticed is nothing less than the lust to be treated like God. This monumental arrogance never can be satisfied; we will never become God. That's why pride always leaves the aftertaste of frustration.
Thomas, Gary L. "Downward Mobility." Discipleship Journal July/Aug 2005 p. 35.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 09:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 06, 2005
Seven Sevens
I admit, I'm a meme addict. So here's one I found over at TulipGirl:
Continue reading "Seven Sevens"
Posted by The Newest Worker at 06:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 05, 2005
Weekend Thoughts
At Saturday's party, I got the chance to talk to two other young wives. It is nice to know I'm not crazy. And I'm not the only one who's felt this way (both good and bad).
Continue reading "Weekend Thoughts"
Posted by The Newest Worker at 10:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What got me irritated and upset last night
So I recorded last week's Christmas/"Holiday" edition of the Funniest Home-taped Videos of America, because I thought Husband would like it. He did; it was mindless humor, and some clips were really funny. (There was this cat who was investigating a miniature motion-sensitive singing Christmas tree; when the tree sprang to life, the cat did a back flip. No joke!)
(I haven't enjoyed that show in a long time; I always empathize way too much with the victims of the jokes--how would I feel if I were taped and humiliated on national television during one of my innocent-mistake moments?)
I was really revolted by one joke, though. Disturbingly enough, that tape was one of the three finalists and ended up winning the $10 thousand prize! (Enjoy your humiliation money, you terrible parents.) Here's the scoop: a mom is taping her two-year-old daughter. She asks little Janey "where's your shadow?" Janey spots her shadow and panics! She starts screaming with terror and fear, calling out "Mommy! Help me!" All the while Mommy is filming Janey, saying, "What's wrong? It's just your shadow! Stop crying!" Janey is literally frozen with fear, facing her shadow, just terrified. Crying and screaming. And Mommy keeps filming. (Grrr.)
Several reasons this disturbed me:
1) Mommy should have soothed her Janey. There's no reason to be scared of a shadow, but the little child's fear is real to her. Mommy can soothe Janey then explain that it's just a shadow....everyone's got one....even objects have them....it's because of the sunshine....etcetera.
2) What did Mommy teach Janey about asking Mommy for help in a moment of terror? She taught Janey that Mommy does nothing to soothe Janey, except for telling her to calm down. (Oh, that's a really big help to an irrational, undisciplined toddler, Mommy. She doesn't have the level of cognitive development you have, lady; she needs you to help her learn to calm herself down and manage her fear.)
3) (Ok, so maybe Mommy didn't know and made a mistake. That happens to parents and it doesn't make them bad parents.) But....WHY send this tape to the nationally-broadcast show? Make a quick buck off your kid's fear? Show the world what a dummy your kid is for being afraid of her shadow? What gives? Are you proud of yourself, lady?
4) Why did the studio audience laugh at the girl's terror? Why is that funny?
5) Why did the studio audience vote this clip the big winner? Ok, the competition was not very stiff: another little girl toddling into the living room from the potty with her pants still down (oh wait, that's sick humor, too) and a little boy telling Santa he has bad breath (bad manners, oh haha). But surely humiliation and bad manners are not the pinnacle of humor? Surely? Please tell me we have not sunk this low.
And another thing...if parents are there to teach by example what kind of caregiver God Himself is, then what kind of god does that Mommy know? One who laughs at her instead of comforting her when she fears the future, or rejection, or poverty, or losing her children or husband? Honestly, doesn't the whole thing inspire you to pity the Mommy and her little girl? It does me, after the anger at the nationally-syndicated humiliation wears off.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 01, 2005
Bedtime Reading
Since college, and the dark day in my freshman year when I actually questioned my decision to be an English teacher, I decided to read for pleasure a little every day. I started doing that in bed, just before I shut my bed lamp off to go to sleep. I still have that as part of my night-night routine, even though I'm a married woman now...cause we both are readers. It's a nice way to unplug at the end of the day.
I've been reading Christian Historical Fiction lately, along with humorous nonfiction, some travel magazines, and Serious Challenging Fiction. You know, the stuff that makes you Think or Cry or Rething Your Christian Walk.
Well, I pulled Anne of the Island off the shelf last night and started it, and I forgot about Lucy Maud Montgomery's wit. She's so funny; there are some conversations and descriptions that are so ironical they just make you giggle. Yay for books that make you giggle!
Posted by The Newest Worker at 04:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Weekend Schedule
Tonight: Set recorder to record Survivor. CSI looks like a rerun, so we'll skip that. Then have dinner with a friend (Larbo) at Lupi's. Yay, I love to catch up with old friends.
Tomorrow: Interview at a local department store for a job there. Then prep and primp for Mad-ri-gals (woohoo) with Husband, SisterInLaw, and SIL's roommate. Pick corsages up then pick Husband up. This is subject to change...I may be picking him up from school early so we can primp together in our apartment.
Saturday: Covenant Alumni Choir rehearsal at Covenant at 10:00 (or is it 10:30? I'd better check my notes from rehearsal). SIL has a dress fitting at David's Bridal at 2. We have a Christmas party at Beth and Eddie's house in the evening.
Sunday: Church, potluck at the church, then up the mountain to Covenant at 3:30 to prep for the choir concert at 4 in the chapel. Though we (the Cov alum choir) are a small group, and only two or three of us are actually professionally trained, we have grown a lot and we'll be good. You could come. You should come. We'll be good.
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