January Update

It has been about 2 months since I finished classes. I have yet to receive my certificate in the mail that officially declares I graduated with my MBA, but the lack of anxiety from looming tests and projects seems to be good enough evidence to convince me. It's really over.

And life without homework and finals is just as lovely as I remember it. It's also still just as busy! I knew there were things I had been neglecting! Now that I am back to EVERYTHING ELSE, Ben has finally realized the truth about me -- I like to stay busy. What can you do?

But this year comes with lots of things to look forward to. I hope. First, I am hoping it brings a new job. I have had a few interviews already and hope there will be more, one of which will HOPEFULLY turn into a lovely new job. And I'm even more hopeful that said lovely new job will be in another state, within close proximity to someone we're related to. Because the truth is, we get lonely down here in Cincinnati sometimes. And we think 3 years of missing out on spending time with family is sufficient. But, we could always end up staying. So, we'll see what happens. I'll let you know if any big developments come up.

Along with that, I like to daydream about buying a house. Finally. A fixer-upper, actually, because I'm just so picky. And I figure, if I know I'm going to have to redo it anyway, why not start with something that desperately needs redoing? How awesome would THAT be?! I daydreamed about it for the entire car-ride home yesterday. I had 3/4's of the floor plan on the 1st level worked out by the time I rolled into the parking lot.

I am all aglow with the prospects of traveling to Europe as well. Either France or England. Or both. I don't know yet. But we're going sometime this summer. And I always love crossing the pond.

These are a few of my dreams for this year. I have more. But I think this list is good enough for sharing for now. Sometimes, I think my life is good just because I like to look forward to things so much. I'm a dreamer, for better or worse. And whether or not they come true, my dreams make me happy all the same.

Has it Really Been That Long?

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. My, how time flies. I am all sorts of nervous right now. This is for a variety of reasons.

1) I have a final due in two days. And, as usual, I have procrastinated working on it. But I anticiipate I will get it done, as I usually do.

2) I had a job interview last week and I am waiting to hear back about it. I'm not sure if I want the job, but I still want them to want me. I'm a bit of a tease that way. Always have been.

3) The dress samples for the dress business are on their way to me and I can't wait to see how they turned out. Hopefully, good!

That's a lot to be nervous about, I think. My GPA, my livelihood and the potential for my little business are all significantly affected. How is a girl supposed to get anything done!?!?

But get things done, I must. I will fill you in on recent happenings, aside from anxiety, later. I gotta get back to my actual job that pays my bills.

I Don't Think I'm Ready

I read an article from the Washington Post today that was linked on Facebook by one of my friends. It was about Mormons. I am, of course, always curious about what kind of attention we're getting. We've been in the news a lot over the last year or so, and it's a cumbersome thing to keep up with our media attention, but I like to try. It's not really a dutiful act. I am just curious. What are people saying about us now?

Well, I think this article was an eerie foreboding of things to come with the ramping up of the presidential race. And I remember a recent NPR interview with Joanna Brookes a week ago Sunday that predicted as much. For the record, I liked the interview. I thought it was very objective and informative. The link to that interview is here.

The Washington Post article, however, wasn't very representative of my experience with the faith or its teachings, which is why I'm not linking to it. It also wasn't flattering in any way -- which is why I didn't like it. It's not so much because the article wasn't true. On the contrary, I'm totally fine with journalists lying about my faith in print. But the general rule about lying is, if you're going to tell a lie, it should be a nice lie. This article was decidedly neither honest nor nice.

It's all probably going to start getting very ugly. And, to be honest, I'm not sure I'm ready for it. I suppose I'll just have to brace myself, as I don't really have an option. Here it comes....

Fasting

I am waiting on some things.

#1 -- for a job interview call
#2 -- that I hope may result in a new job
#3 -- to finish my classes & degree (one month to go. I can do it)
#4 -- to move

And for some reason, this has resulted in fasting. Not food fasting. No, no. I am definitely an eater. Fasting these days includes:

#1 -- shopping fasting. Since July, believe it or not. And I think I will hold out till one of the above things I'm waiting for happens before I break said fast. I even returned my birthday presents, so not even that was given an exception.

#2 -- working out. For some reason, I can't get myself there. It's only been about a week. But even the few weeks before that I only got there once each. I think I'm just too mentally overwhelmed and full of anticipation.

Fast #1 is definitely deliberate. Ben was pretty unpleased when I took birthday items back to the store. But I just don't really want anything. And I want the satisfaction of shopping when I really have some exciting news to shop for. Weird? Perhaps. But it should benefit our bank account. I could do worse.

I'm hoping my end to fast #2 comes sooner than my end to fast #1, since I don't anticipate any of the items I'm waiting for will bring an end to fast #1 within the next few days. But I'll get there. Whatever funk I'm ever in eventually goes away.

Shew, funk. Shew.

Clothing Conversations

Over the past weekend, Ben and I have had a few comic exchanges in regards to wardrobes. They were too amusing not to share. J

Friday morning, before I am about to leave for work:

Ben: Sharon, you look really nice today.

Sharon: Aw. Thank you.

Ben: Yeah, really nice. Kind of like Christmas.

Sharon: It's September. I'm not supposed to look like Christmas. Maybe I should go change.

Ben: No, no. Really I like it.

(memo: if you want to compliment someone's outfit, steer clear of telling them they remind you of a holiday – especially if it's not that holiday)

Sunday, while watching general conference and the speaker is giving men tips on how to raise daughters:

Sharon: I think we're only going to have girls.

Ben: No, we're only going to have boys. And they're all going to have red boots.

Sharon: Why would we give our boys red boots?

Ben: I don't know.

Sharon: Well, if our sons are getting red boots, I have to have a pair of red boots too.

Ben: **audible groan

(Admittedly, I'm still trying to figure out what possessed Ben to say boys need red boots. Where does he come up with this stuff!?!)

Sunday, when I bring the 3 loads of laundry that I washed last Sunday, but never put away, out to the living room to fold:

Ben: Holy Cow! You have so many clothes!

Sharon: Ah, and yet not enough. It's such a paradox.

(Too true. Too True.)

Growing Up and Getting Married

Ben and I celebrated our THIRD anniversary on Monday. It's not a whole lot of years in the grand scheme of things. But it makes me feel like we're established. When I think about what being married over the past three years has taught me, I would say one of the biggest lessons has been how much we're all really still kids. But I get to act like it again, now that I'm married.

I like to cuddle a lot. And now, I get to be cuddled almost every night. I used to be cuddled a lot when I was little too.

Marriage has caused Ben and I to engage in more tickle fights, wet willy attempts and thumb wrestles than I have waged in all of my previous adult years.

I have to share again. This includes taking turns to kill the spider, wash clothes, eat the last few bites of ice cream or drive to wherever it is we have to go.

There is other sharing too. Decision making over expenditures is no longer an independent choice and I have to check with someone else about my schedule now before I make commitments or tell someone they can come over to play.

What I'm really saying is, most of my adult life was a farce. So, for all the singles out there, you don't really need to try to be such a grown up. Because when you get married, you're just going to be a kid again anyway.

Books

Ben and I have been cleaning house little by little, organizing our paperwork, throwing out things we don't need, and figuring out what we actually have. I took this opportunity to reassess my relationship with my book collection. I don't re-read books very often. And they take up all this space. And things seem to be going digital. Should I? They're so heavy. Do I really want to take them with me when we go?

The Verdict: I got rid of probably 70% of my book collection. I kept the books that I had on display, ones of specific sentimental value, reference books that may be hard to come by at a library, and my school books. That's it. I sent the rest to good will. It's done. I can't go back.

I have now put my boots and other shoes on my book shelves, as my shoes didn't seem to have enough room on the shoe rack. I must say -- my book shelves look so much better now.

First Wart

What a milestone to be having, right? I'm sure my mother would be very proud. Of course, I blame this on Ben, as the hepatitis virus that causes it clearly must have come from him. Otherwise, I'm sure I wouldn't be having my first wart at the fabulously aged prime of 31.

Location of wart: my right pointer finger. Kinda not an ideal location.
Size: small
Discovery: maybe in May or June?

So, I let it sit there for a while. It wasn't incredibly noticeable. it wasn't painful. But it was there, and warts are supposed to be gross. So I thought maybe I should get rid of it. I got some wart remover stuff at the store -- it's an ointment you squeeze onto the wart. Then you let it dry and stay there all day and it's supposed to kill "it". It says to use the ointment for up to 12 weeks.

I DID initially think 12 weeks was too long. Little did I know how right I was. I got through one week. And then, I looked at my poor finger and thought, " if I continue, I may not have much of a finger left. I think I will stop."

And now, instead of a little, hardly noticeable bump on my finger that, YES, was a wart (ew), I now have a large flesh wound. Said would can be seen here:



I know. Pretty tragic, right? The packaging on the medication said not to use on reddenned skin. I'm pretty sure scarred and lesioned should qualify as well.