Stories

I've got a good one for you, in the vein of some popular children's literature: (*eh hem*)

Choose Your Poison Adventure
(Courtesy of your daytime cold meds)

1. Wake up, attempt to work a miracle with your makeup you look like a human being, and sneeze your way to the office .

2. Very Important Choice:
(a) Eat (breakfast of champions)first Proceed to step 4.
(b) Take cold meds because you can't stand feeling miserable for another second. Proceed to step 3.

3. Experience some "tummy distress"(not so cutesy wording: nausea) pray while you wait to proceed to step 5.

4, Wait for brekkie to digest, take cold medicine with plenty of H20. Proceed to Step 5.

5. Feel insanely better ...... and intensely sleepy. Fight hard against the desire to put head down on desk and take a nap. FAIL. Proceed to step 6.

6. Wake yourself up, and focus on keeping moving. Moving = AWAKE, right?! Realize you need to adjust your movents so that you are neither moving quickly nor bending over. Head is now feeling uber woozy. Sigh and confine yourself to desk chair. Begin counting down the minutes hours remaining in the work day. Proceed to step 7.

7. Suddenly realize that it has been 4+ hours since you began this ordeal began this adventure took any medicine, and you can feel that it has worn off. Return to step 2 and begin again.



....Yeah. Funny as this is now, unfortunately, it was my day today (but aren't the funniest quips and observations so because we have been there?!) I am happy to say that (for the most part) my head is feeling completely normal ... although I did have a glass or two of sparkling wine with dinner to celebrate with J....

What are we celebrating, you might ask? Well, yesterday, J and I CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE!!! I am a HOMEOWNER!!! (...or, as our oh-so-practical friend Cole would say: "Whelp... now the BANK owns our house, and we're in debt for the next 30 years." I prefer to view it the better MY way :)

To be honest with you, the actual "closing process" was rather anti-climactic. I was nervous about it (haha, I even practiced signing my name so that I wouldn't get too excited in the heat of the moment and sign my maiden name...), and apparently I was hyping it up quite a bit.... because really it was just a lot of paper signing and then all of a sudden: it was over.

I was kind of expecting to feel something you know?! In truth (as I lamented to J later) all I really felt was the strong desire for my evil but slightly effective so I was giving it my best shot, dang it! cold medicine to kick in. (It didn't. )

Not to say that I'm not excited-- because, oh-my-goodness we ARE.We are so excited to move forward to the next step of our life together, and build our home. I think I especially am ready to move into this house (Next Thursday!!! *AHHHHH* ... once again, angels singing, rather than the scream noise :) because, after all my co-ops and moving around during college, I'm ready to settle down. I'm ready to stay in one place for years at a time, work my land (garden and yard work... call me crazy but, yes, I AM looking forward to this!) and anchor my memories (and my childrens' memories) to this house. HOME is such a cozy feeling word, and I am so excited to make our dream home a reality.


Anyway... obviously that's been the big excitement around here (will post pictures soon, I promise!), and, understandably that has pretty much been the first thing on my mind lately. As far as the rest of the week goes: the house is our after 6 pm on Thursday, and we are planning on spending our first night in the house complete with air mattress, pizza and champagne :) (Awww.)Then tons of packing, painting, cleaning, lock changing, etc. before the move next Thursday!

Otherwise (haha... because outside of house=y stuff, life has been trucking right along ....) I have been pushing forward. I haven't made too many "resolution/ life goal advances" in the past week, but I figure, one step at a time, right? :) And I am quite happy. I was just thinking today ("the day job" was getting a wee bit hairy... lots of firefighting today) that it is a real blessing to be able to realize -- in the middle of a stressful situation -- that reguardless of what is happening at-this-second, life is good.


I have been thinking a lot lately about Identity. (Like, I typed out a "half-post" early last week that never quite made it up... that's how much I've been thinking about it.) And, how for something that seems so crucial to our existence, it is a terribly hard concept to define. It's so intangible, I believe, because there are so many different ways to approach the idea. During the tough times, I take immeasurable comfort in the fact that, at the end of my life, who I am is not defined by my mistakes, the positions I've held, or the status I've earned. I like to think that my identity-- who I truly am -- is more dependent on the dreams in my heart and the love in my arms than in the figures in my bank account or the titles on my resumee.

That said, I am still keeping my eyes and ears open, as I continue to discover who and what I am going to be 'when I grow up'. ... A lot of words for... still nothing new, but I am staying hopeful :) I have found that, reguardless of what I know lies ahead of me, I cannot help but be cheerful in the morning. Mornings give me a lot of hope, and I revel in the promise of the new day during my morning drive. I almost think I might be a little sad to have a shorter commute starting 2 Mondays from now.
....
... Nah.


Anywho, this is starting to get lengthy (a casualty of not blogging in over a week, bad Amy) so I'll wrap things up with a list or two:

Good List

1. J. Oh, how I love that man. I am completely, disgustingly head-over-heels for him.
2. COFFEE. (don't worry, I am still honoring my 2 cup a day rule. ... Err, unless I said I'd only drink 1 cup. In which case, FAIL.)
3. Mornings. I am very definitely a morning person :)
4. Hostessing parties for wonderful people. I had a tiny party (5 people-- which, quite frankly, was probably perfect for our apartment!) on Monday evening, and it was a blast. I love, Love LOVE having people over! Once we move into the house, I will have even more of an excuse to do so :)
5. Puffs (c) A total necessity this past weekend.
6. Gracie Lou, who continues to light up my heart and my life every.single.day.
7. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: "'Everything bagels' with veggie cream cheese rock my world."
8. Spaghetti dinners. My all-time favorite comfort food.
9. Sunshine. (Thank you, thank you, thank you. Keep it coming :)
10. “Happiness is not a destination, it is a method of life” – Burton Hills


Dream Jobs:
(Disclaimer: I am by no means saying I would be any good at these jobs..... just that I've always thought they would be an awesome way to spend my 9-5.)

• A DJ. Seriously, how fun would that be-- you get to be surrounded by music all day!
• A preschool teacher. Playing is your job! You also get to run around, sing, and eat snacks. Sign me up!
• A singer. Ultimate dream :)
• A foster cat-mother.
• A handbag designer. O.M.Gee. Yes, Yes, Yes! The smell of leather is intoxicating to me-- I think I would be in heaven.
• Similarly: a running shoe designer. (cough, or tester.)
• The person who picks out background songs/soundtrack music for movies.
• The designated "story teller" for story hour at the library.
• A novelist-- I could spend all day in my own little world (which, I pretty much do anyway... so it would be pretty great to get paid for it :)
• And finally (haha... and I can't for the life of me think of a tactful way to say this, so I'll just spit it out...) I would have absolutely no problem with just magically becoming independantly wealthy :-D

Question for you: What is your dream job? Has it changed from what it used to be when you were growing up? Are you working in (or toward) your dream job today?

Have a great one, friends. I'll be back soon with PICTURES!