Unraveled No More?

(not my photo)

I am a procrastinator. There, I've said it. And because of this character trait, I tend to accumulate a variety of loose ends until my life looks like a metaphorical fringed poncho...all encompassing, and seriously un-cute.

Thus, I have dubbed this Loose Ends Month! and I am swiftly tying off as many of those little frayed edges as possible. It's amazing how satisfying it is to check off even the smallest "to do" from my list. So far I've taken Ollie to the vet, returned days later to drop off his stool sample (lovely, I know), returned a stack of library books and paid my late fees, sent out a lot of emails and made some phone calls I've been meaning to, washed all our cloth grocery bags, mailed a sweater back to a friend, sent off our last two wedding gift thank you cards, scheduled a BYOB painting class, re-filled the sugar canister, cleaned out the inside of my car, procured my new married-name social security card and drivers license, and took care of a LOT of name-change hullabaloo with bank accounts, credit cards, car insurance, etc.

I still need to take a huge load of boxes to the recycling center, make doctor, dentist, and haircut appointments, finish a DIY project, get my bike tuned up, take a stack of clothes to get tailored and/or dry-cleaned, figure out our taxes, make some more phone calls to catch up with friends, sand down the door of our china cabinet so it opens and closes easier, and finally remove the stickers that came on our bathroom cabinet and have stayed there long after putting it together. Seeing as I have only two more days left in the month (darn you, February, for being condensed!) I will probably have some leftover fringe.

And because I seem to accumulate new loose ends as fast as I can tie off the old ones, I figure every month for the rest of my life will be Loose Ends Month. But whose isn't? As long as I'm steadily snipping away at everything, I feel a little less frazzled and a little more pulled together.

What are some of the random to-do's that you've been avoiding? You know, all those little (or big) things you walk past and notice twelve times a day without actually addressing. Please let me know that I'm not the only one!  :)

Cheers,
Sarah

Mommy's Little (okay, big) Fluffernutter

Snuggle time!

According to our veterinarian, my sweet Ollie boy needs to shed about ten pounds. I guess it's time to get off the couch and get moving! I took him for a nice long walk the other day, in order to jumpstart his new healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, he had a limp for the next two days.

He's just not the youngest pup in the pound anymore :(

What we need is a little low-impact strength training. Downward dog, anyone?

What The Movie 'Outbreak' Has To Do With My Marriage

Evolutionary-wise, and on a purely chemical level, people have always sought out mates with very different immune systems than their own. The perceived benefit is that their offspring will take the good stuff from each parents' immune system, giving them wider coverage against the gamut of diseases, thus making them healthier and more likely to survive and continue reproducing. If that is the case, I've won the genetic jackpot. The Hubs could swim through a lake of parasite-contaminated water, get bit by a rabid raccoon, and then spend a fortnight sleeping outside in the cold, totally unprotected from the elements. And he wouldn't even sneeze. Me, however, he has affectionately dubbed his "little ebola monkey," because if there is a crazy sickness to be caught, I will surely catch it.

I try to live as healthfully as possible. I take my vitamins, I watch what I eat, I exercise (though not as much as I should). And I'm not allergic to any foods or medicines. I just seem to be allergic to everything in the natural environment: dust, dirt, pollen, pet hair, grass, the sun...yes, even the sun. I now get a bumpy itchy rash when I'm in the sun too long. As a result, I develop frequent sinus infections along with whatever cold or flu happens to be going around.

Having three pets--along with all the dust, dirt, pollen, and hair they come with--is not particularly helpful for my immune system. Our air filter probably clogged with gunk the first day we installed it. Keeping the house clean is a constant battle. And when school and work and life in general gets too busy, it becomes harder and harder to keep ahead of the dust and dirt.

And that's when our house starts attacking me.

And that's when my allergies go haywire and I get sick.

And that's when The Hubs stays home and spends 5 hours vacuuming and mopping and scrubbing and dusting and tidying to get the house as clean as possible so I can breathe a little easier. He even makes me dinner, and then tea, and then turns on the heated blanket so I can snuggle up and go to bed early.

I didn't just win the genetic jackpot with that one--I won every jackpot there is.

Suspicious Activity

It looks like someone tried to steal my base pass off my windshield. Anyone ever had this problem? It's really creepy to think about someone trying to sneak onto base illicitly...good thing they're not easy to peel off!

Just Say Yes

Recently I've been seeing a lot of articles and discussion board posts about how to find friends and get connected when you move around often. While there are many military-related mixers and social groups and networking opportunities for us milspouses, the best advice I have comes from my friend Keekes who is not a military spouse at all. She is, however, a former full-blown Manhattan-ite now thriving in South Carolina (she's even taken to saying "y'all"), so clearly she knows what she's talking about when it comes to making friends in a new town and feeling at home. Her advice is this:

Say yes. To Everything.

If you follow this dogma, you will most likely find yourself in some very odd situations, eating some very odd food, and talking to some very odd people. Hey, at least you will end up with some great stories. And at some points along the way, you will undoubtedly find the gold nuggets of awesomeness that will be likely become very central to your life. I tried to adopt this attitude before I even met Keekes, but as someone who has always been shy and somewhat of a homebody, who has had the same friends for twenty years, and felt extremely awkward in networking situations, I usually retreated back into my hole.

When I first moved to South Carolina, I applied to grad school and was working part time from home, not meeting anyone or doing much of anything besides sitting at home waiting for The Hubs to come home from work. Then I took the first couple of steps of making meetings with the head of my graduate program and my advisor. And they were so nice and helpful! And I reached out to the only other person I knew in South Carolina, whom I had actually known since kindergarten but hadn't spoken to in years. Very out of character for me, but another success! We had a great time and through her connections I met just about all of the other friends that I now have down here, including Keekes. But Keekes was the one who reaffirmed the Say Yes path to enlightenment, and lit a fire under my bum to make more of an effort and take more joy out of life.

In this spirit I've found myself cleaning up the debri in a stranger's yard, waking up at the crack of dawn to go on group runs, calling up a girl that I had never met before to have lunch and hang out, going to a new church by myself, helping out with the children's programming at that church, reading books and acting out stories to large groups of kids alongside a big mascot, being an extra on Army Wives, going to a Martina McBride concert at the spur of the moment, pitching in to help with a student organization, and--the ultimate test--attending a mentor match night that was basically speed dating, only instead of potential dinner dates I networked with about twenty successful alumni. A couple years ago, I would never have imagined that I would go to something like that (actually I never would have imagined that I would be here at all), but it was fantastic and I totally rocked it!

Tonight I'm supposed to hang out with a group of girls from school who I don't know at all. We're going to see The Vagina Monologues and then out for drinks. And why not? It will probably be odd, but probably also fun and you never know what kind of a role these girls might end up playing in my life. I have more plans on the horizon to do more volunteering, with Relay For Life, with various literacy outreach projects, and participating in the Patchwork Storytelling Festival. I've even considered going to the library at Fort Jackson to participate in their Victory Crafters group. They knit blankets for soldiers, and I don't even know how to knit. But why not? Every time I say yes I meet new people and add another enriching experience to my life. So I will reiterate the key to making yourself at home no matter where you are or how many people you know. Let's all say it together now:

Say Yes To Everything!

Thanks, Keekes. You are a true gold nugget of awesomeness in my life, and the originator of many random and wonderful experiences. Feel free to comment and share with the readers some of the crazy things you've gotten yourself into by living the Say Yes life. Here's a smattering of mine:

Brain Delay

This morning I woke up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, did my makeup, dressed for work, let the dogs in and out, made breakfast, packed my lunch, poured my coffee, walked out of the house, locked the door, got into the car and then finally realized that--hey wait a minute, I can't see anything! Why? Because I never put my glasses on. And then suddenly all the stumbling around and dropping things and tripping over hazy inanimate objects (or possibly animate...how would I know?) finally made sense. It was a good thing I needed to sit with the defroster running for a while this morning, otherwise I could have killed someone just trying to pull out of the driveway.

I guess it's like when you have the same commute every day until habit finally takes over and you can make it home while only paying attention with half a brain cell. Scary, but it happens. But when it does happens, I am usually at least wearing my corrective eyewear.

'Doh!
Sarah

p.s. Don't ask how my hair and makeup looked.

Smells Like Grandma

The Hubs and I found an awesome antique mall here in Columbia. We got a personal tour and a great deal on a mid-century modern china cabinet (among a lot of other things we just couldn't resist) thanks to lovely Reading Rooster herself. Once we got home I spent hours organizing and loading everything into the cabinet, and am extremely happy with the results. We planned on painting it, but the odd yellow-brown color doesn't even look as offensive now thanks to the new rug I found that ties everything together.

There's just one problem.

When you open the doors of our lovely cabinet, you are assulted by a heady aroma that brings to mind moth balls and White Diamonds perfume. And I've got sinus issues, so you know it's gotta be bad for people with normal sniffers. Anyone know how to get "old people" smell out of wood furniture, so my dining room no longer smells like date night at an assisted living facility?

I'll be (un)patiently awaiting all of your suggestions. But in the meantime...who wants a shot of Geritol?

Cheers,
Sarah

Crazy Cat Lady

I used to think that in order to qualify as a true Crazy Cat Lady one needed to own lots and lots of cats. But recently I realized that it's all about attitude, and a surrendering of oneself to what the cats have known all along--they are here to be worshipped, and do as they please. I always considered myself more of a dog person, and for a few days after we got our cat I just wasn't sure if I could actually love him as much as our two dogs. Then I found myself wearing him as a neck warmer while reading in bed, and letting him cuddle up on my lap while I'm on the toilet.

Time to get down, Ziggy. Mommy has to wipe.

Sure he drives me bat shit crazy sometimes, when he hauls all of my used tissues out of the trash can and sprinkles them throughout the house, and when he jumps up on the sink and rubs up against the toothbrushes (shudder), and especially when he gets the crazy eyes and engages in a full-scale attack on my head. But I always, always, go back for more. So I've concluded that if you own a cat at all, you are automatically a Crazy Cat Lady. It's inevitable.

Meow,
Sarah

Don't Fear the Anchovy

Do you ever notice how picky eaters always think that they really aren't all that picky, but that the pickier they are, the more they protest being labeled as a picky eater? Yeah, The Hubs is one of those. My life would be a lot easier if he didn't mind eating whatever kooky thing I come up with. Kooky as in spinach, or mushrooms, or sour cream, or (gasp!) any kind of syrup other than Mrs. Butterworths. He eats pizza sauce and marinara sauce and ketchup and salsa and chili containing cans and cans of stewed and diced tomatoes, but still he insists that he does not like tomatoes. But I guess that's what marriage is all about, right? Compromises and accommodations of your loved one's quirks. Or as I prefer...stealth-like strategery!

Little does he know (until he actually reads this), that tonight The Hubs ate a big plate full of fresh homemade pasta with an olive oil, garlic, and anchovy sauce. And he loved it! (But he, of course, HATES anchovies). Insert evil laughter here.

So of course it's a mental block, rather than an actual tastebud issue. Even so, am I doomed to a life of hiding ingredients in the back of the cupboard until he's not looking?

Very sneakily yours,
Sarah