2013 to 2014

champagne with frozen pineapple

 new year's eve was delightful. i drank too much "champagne," meaning i drank too much barefoot bubbly.  i love their sparkling pinot gris. i especially love it with frozen pineapple. it becomes insanely cold, and then you have sweet chunks of fruit to eat at the end.  it's a win win WIN.  my husband made this insane-o spread of nibbles, that included chips and dips, a giant crudité tray, fresh ceviche and salsa, cheese and crackers, salami and paté.  it was amazing. 

last selfie of 2013 in a ridiculous sweater

 i wore this ridiculous sweater i found at forever 21 with the girlchild.  boxy sweaters are a fat-girl's friend at places like forever 21! (this forever 21 doesn't carry the plus line, but they should.)  i blurred the bottom of the photo out because there is an awful lot of toothpaste on my bathroom mirror. 

crazy quilting in action

 i started working on a crazy quilt top for a pillow i've had laying around.  i've really been enjoying my new sewing machine.  i have a few projects that i'm hoping to finish this year that i started last year, or even back in 2012.  hooray for long-lasting projects!

my first big thing of 2014 was that i had my very first surgery today.  i think getting to 36 without going under any knife is pretty good, don't you think?  i mean, i had my wisdom teeth taken out, but this was a real, operating room surgery.  about two months ago i noticed a hard lump on my neck, about the size and shape of an olive pit.  it was weird and it stuck out and it made me nervous. a visit to the doctor and an ultrasound confirmed it was a rogue lymph node.  now, since my dad had lymphoma, i'm kind of cautious with my own nodes.  the doctor's thought this was pretty reasonable. we watched it for a bit, then i had to decide if i would have a biopsy or just have it removed.  the node was only about a centimeter and a half long; a biopsy might not have gotten enough tissue. plus, i'd still have the weird lump on my neck that made me self-conscious.  removing it seemed like a better idea, as we'd know then exactly what it was, and either way, no lump on me. 

i've included a photo after the jump, which is just a bit of bloody steri-strip. you can skip it if you want!

more sewing

remember how i said a while ago i thought D wouldn't be stoked with all the sewing going on?  i was totally wrong. he's even talked about putting up a table in our bedroom just for fabric cutting, so i don't have to do it on the iron.  i mean, the ironing board is an okay place to cut small pieces, but it's a bit wibbly-wobbly and sometimes the lines aren't as straight as i'd like. i thought it was really nice of him to accommodate me like that, and he said he just likes how happy i am when i'm sewing.  plus, he thinks i'm good at it.  i love that man.  moreover, i love living in a home where this kid of stuff, making things, is so appreciated and encouraged.  we're our own arts and crafts studio over here.  i need to have people over more for making stuff! 

this really just happened

the boychik and i are going to emerald city comicon this year!  we've wanted to go for a while, and this year i finally bit the bullet and bought tickets.  it's something i talked about with D before i did, so he would know that in january i would be spending money on that.  last friday, i bought the tickets.  i told D and he asked if i booked the hotel room too.  i said, no, i was going to do it later.  he actually said, "you should do that now, because all the hotels are going to get booked up."  so today i found a hotel about a mile away from the convention center, for only $100 a night, so i booked our room.  the conversation that followed tonight in the car went as followed:

me: i booked our hotel room today!  it had an indoor pool, and was only $99 a night. 
him: oh yeah?
me: yeah, i figured you were right i should do it sooner rather than later.
him: or you could pay me back for your half of the new computer.

SERIOUSLY?  i pointed out the conversation we had last friday, and his response was "huh, yeah."  AAARGH. 

in any case, we're going to comicon!!!  D will have to wait for my half of the computer money until next payday.  this post should make up for yesterday's extra-schmoopy one.   

love letter lists

i've been with my husband for four years now.  i know that's not a long time, by any stretch of the imagination, although it is the longest i've been with anyone.  i think anyone in any kind of long-term relationship, who made a deal in front of their whole family to stick it out until death, worries about getting bored, or worse.  all relationships have their ups and down, their crazy face smashing, tonsil hockey moments, the terminally annoyed stretches, and the whatever times.  i might be feeling a bit more romantic than usual lately because i got to spend some alone time wiht my husband for the first time in a long time this weekend.  24 hours of just the two of us!  here's my list of the things that made me happy about that:

• we both want to make a secret door to somewhere in our house. 
• he picked up a subscription to instructables!
• we were watching a movie and did the same laughing bark of "ha!" at the same time.
• he brought me home a big bag of quinoa, even though it's not his favorite thing to eat.
• afternoon delight. yeah, i said it!
• garden planning, and spending time together going through seed catalogs. 

i don't think the importance of spending a little alone time with your partner, just hanging out and talking, can ever be over-estimated.  more than anything, it feels good, and i think that's reason enough to pencil some in sometimes. 

four years

i meant to write this post yesterday, because four years ago yesterday, i had what would end up being the best, and last, date of my life.

i know, i know, i'm ridiculous, but seriously, the date i had with D four years ago was awesome.  he made chili verde, we drank wine, we both wore stripey shirts, and we made out in the kitchen.  don't try to argue with the math with that.  wine + porky goodness + kissing in the kitchen = grow up and get married. true story.

today, four years ago, i met my kids.  they sat on one couch while D and i sat on another, and they played their DS's and gave us sidelong glances, and there was a lot of giggling and happy times. i had literally thought for all of five minutes about being step-parent before that, and while i was not sure i could do it, i knew that day how much i liked them, and that if i already felt that way, then we'd probably be okay.

meeting them right before the holidays was a good thing. i remember that first christmas, after i'd met them, and mom making fun of me because my chin was all pink from making out (!), and making furtive calls outside to tell him how much i missed him, and how much fun we had on new year's eve.  to me, my beginning of my family will always be tied up in happy holiday memories, with us goofing in the kitchen and buying each other presents and having that doofy, newly in love feeling.  shy and happy and spending a lot of time together.  i never forget how lucky i am, how happy i am, how at home i feel with these three amazing people who made me part of their family.  

my favorite halloween costume

a few years ago, when i was working at the grocery store and dating a certain man who lived on the ocean, i went to work as a bearded lady. 

it was a silly costume; not even a full beard but more of pretty goatee with braids, some fake tattoos, and a tiara.  i won a $15 gift card for 2nd place, and was feeling pretty good about myself.

what makes that costume so special though, is this: while the guy i was dating thought the costume was so-so, and didn't get why i thought it was so rad, the man i would end up marrying and his kids came into work that day and were the only people who laughed with me and told me how great my outfit was.  i remember seeing them walk in the front doors, turn toward the deli, and instantly light up with grins.  it sounds so insane, but they looked so happy to see me, so pleased, and i felt so glad that they got the joke. 

D and i would go out on our first date over a year after that day, but that still remains my favorite halloween costume.  the moral of my story is, even if you don't realize it, you might just run into your family in the strangest place, and have a funny story for later.

marriage secret

unsure if your husband is crabby or just not feeling good? start telling him how crabby he is.  when he protests, point out all the crabby things he's said.  he might not feel good as well, but by this time all the crabby talk should have made him crabby, so at least you'll be sort of right. 

radio, radio

i grew up with the radio always on.  my parents loved public radio, and i literally don't think anything in the whole wide world has made my mother prouder than one of my stories (read by me) being on a npr show.  it was the first thing i heard in the morning, a murmur under my parents having coffee at the kitchen table and my mother blow drying her hair out there.  it was on when i got home, having been left to play for our dog to keep her company.  it was the soundtrack to every sunday i can recall.

i love that i married a man who loves public radio, who listens to it daily, who thinks sending money to them is important.  it also cracks me up how he talks back to the radio, sometimes yelling at it, like my pop used to do.  we all have those moments when we realize we married one of our parents, and that's one of mine.

we also cleaned our living room today, which we don't do often enough.  man, when it is tidy, it is amazing in here!  there's so much room for activities.  

i didn't marry your friends

the thing about being married is that once you draw up that invitation list, you've pretty much staked your claim as far as friends go.  you know if your spouse-to-be puts someone on that list, is willing to shell out cash money for their dinner and booze, that they are serious about them.  i know that no one went on my list that i was ho-hum about, and i can say the same for D. 

some of his friends, though, i'm not such a fan of.  there's one in particular that i have tried my hardest to like over the past three years, but when i'm honest with myself, i don't much care for her.  i think she's pompous and flighty and i know she's only nice to me because i married her friend.  that's okay.  i gave it a shot, i went to a bunch of parties and made a lot of awkward small talk, asked her a lot of questions about herself and was asked three in return, and finally realized that in the real world, without my husband involved, i would not be friends with her.  i'm okay with that.  i've mentioned on more than one occasion to D that i'm fairly certain this person tolerates me at best, and he isn't too troubled that we aren't going to be BFF any time soon.  at the same time, when she invites us to yet another shindig and i'm less than enthused, he does get a bit butthurt.  i think it's because i make a face like i just smelled a turd when he mentions her.  i don't even realize i'm making it, i swear! it happens so fast!  of course, i always get caught, feel contrite, and then agree to whatever plan is in place.

not this time though.  the next party on the agenda he can go to with the kids, while i stay home.  or go out with my own friends.  we're going to be married for a while, and he's already been friends with her for longer, so i figure on occasion i can duck out to save my sanity.  i'm not saying that i'll never go to another lame-ass hippie fest at someone's house, where i will hide in a corner drinking organic, gluten free beer and listening to people talk about how they gave up sugar and now only use agave,* but i will go to fewer of them.  and i won't feel bad about it either. 

*this makes me so crazy!!! agave is sugar! it's just sugar from a different source!  you aren't giving up sugar if you are using agave or honey or molasses or whatever.  also, there can't possibly be as many gluten intolerant folks out there as i have been led to believe.  sheesh. 

neurotic families 'r us

i know D loves me, but i think he does not like it when i spend the afternoon with my mother.  it's not that he doesn't like my mom, it's not that he doesn't like me for that matter, but something about our relationship lately turns me into a seriously insecure teenage girl, and then he has to hear about it.  oops!  here is a short list of other things that my husband evidently does not like, but is always so cool about them that i rarely realize how much i'm annoying him;

1. all the painting supplies in the bathroom.  i like to paint things.  specifically, i like make retarded little watercolors, and lately i've taken to slapping acrylic paints on a variety of surfaces (wood and fabric and mailboxes), and all this means is that i use our downstairs bathroom to clean my brushes and tools.  D does not enjoy finding paintbrushes in with his toothbrush, and doesn't understand why i leave the sink spotted blue and red.  does he complain? no.  he likes to ask me what i'm doing though, and then say helpful things like, "don't you think you should do that in the kitchen?" followed with "could you wipe out the sink?" 
2. all of the wall painting supplies in the kitchen.  it's not enough to get watercolors and acrylics all over! no, sometimes i need to paint walls and then do annoying things like leave my rollers on the kitchen counter.  i suck!
3. he's kind about it, but i know for a fact that having a knitting project going on in the living room, an embroidery project in the family room, and a stack of books taking up part of our bed isn't his idea of a good time.  because of that, i am working on making sure that i finish more projects than i start, and at the very least corralling them into a basket when i'm done and putting them out of the way.  

he's never a jerk about this sort of thing, though.  and i hate to say it, but i think he has some good points and thanks to him, i'm trying to be more conscientious about the space i take up in the house.  i was a single, crafty lady for a long time, it's hard for me to keep all my stuff in once place!  i'm getting better, though.  honest!