Marriage

So, I was meandering about the internet last night when I heard this sound. It came from my bedroom where my husband was sleeping. He was snoring, but that wasn't the sound I heard. What I also heard was:

My husband farting.

In his sleep.

And it wasn't a small little quilt ruffle, it echoed!

This got me to thinking about all the things I didn't know about being married, specifically the living together aspect of the relationship. I mean, I've lived with my family and with roommates, but living with my husband is SO different! So, here is a list (I LOVE lists!) of the things that I wish I somebody had told me about before I got married. (Not that it would have changed things, but it would have been super nice to know!!)

1. "My" and "Your" stuff, space, time and life CEASE to exist! Everything becomes "our," "we," and "us." I find myself writing in the proverbial "we" all the time in regards to making plans - but it's not proverbial anymore. I really mean that I have to check "our" calendar to make sure "we" don't have plans so I can schedule an outing with a friend. I no longer sleep in my own room and every space is now shared space. I never really understood my mom's desperate need for her own room until I didn't have one of my own anymore. The stuff I brought into the relationship is no longer being used by just me. Somebody else is sleeping in my bed, sitting on my couch, using my dishes and freaking SQUISHING MY PILLOWS!

*ahem* Moving on.

2. Boys are really gross. *REALLY* gross. I should know this, I grew up with a boy. My brother's teen years were spent in a room that was dark and smelled weird. His socks were found in interesting places and sometimes I had to forage a path just to get through to my room. But he is my brother. Living with a different boy that I didn't grow up with is weird and gross in an entirely different way. Thankfully my husband doesn't come with the bathroom grossness that some boys come with, and he's pretty tidy when it comes to piles of mail. But the other day, I walked passed the bathroom and he was holding my cuticle scissors up near a pimple. I caught is eye in the mirror, cringed a lot little inside, said, "I DO hope you wash that when you are done. WITH. SOAP." and walked away. He also leaves used tissues everywhere, has potato sized earwax, clips his nails everywhere but over a trash can, puts on clothes that were previously on the floor, uses dirty silverware, doesn't seem to have a problem with dirty dishes piling up for weeks and, if I wasn't there to remind him that it's been a while, he would probably never change the sheets! Oh and the farting thing, he has been known to scare my cats with his farts! And it they just don't stop, even in his sleep!

3. Both of us are from completely different worlds. We may only be two and a half years apart in age and we grew up in the 80's and 90's. However, his 80's and 90's were completely different from mine. He didn't do the same things, listen to the same music or even wear the same type of clothing. He loved high school, I hated it with the furry of a thousand fiery suns!! Okay, a bit dramatic there. Anyway, the only things we bond over from our childhoods are television shows. We are constantly having conversations about our childhoods where we have to stop and explain something to each other that we thought the other one experienced. That book, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, it is so true!

3. Privacy all but disappears. Remember #1 about "your" space being now "our" space? Yeah. That includes places that were very private before, like bathrooms. The husband tried in the beginning to use the bathroom with the door open, I put a stop to that. That door stays CLOSED. No exceptions. No excuses. Except...that it happens. One day, while using the bathroom you will forget that the new package of toilet paper is still in the place where you left it, behind the couch, and not in the bathroom where you ABSOLUTELY need it. And you will have to call for your husband to bring it to you. When that happens, he will see you (DUN DUN DUUUUUUN) on the toilet. And with that, your last private space has been officially invaded.

4. They will see you do your secret single behaviors. Remember in Sex and the City where Carrie talks about eating crackers with jelly over the sink and Charlotte talks about spending hours with the lighted magnifying mirror inspecting her pores? Those were their "secret single behaviors." Things that they would never do in front of another person, ESPECIALLY somebody they are in a relationship with. When you are married, you have a choice, you either can stop these behaviors, or just allow them to be discovered. That other person is going to see your secret single behaviors. There is really no way around this. There is NO more private space, remember?

...Oh, what is *my* secret single behavior? If I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret anymore!

5. Other people are weird. I know what you are saying, I'm just now figuring this out?! I have known this for a while now, but living with somebody really brings things into perspective. My husband does some weird stuff! His idea of doing the dishes is to stack the dirty dishes in neat piles on the counter, right in front of the microwave. He gets frustrated when the mail pile is not straight, neat and tidy but will ignore a messy bathroom for like ever. He doesn't see the problem with putting on clothes that were just recently on the floor, "What? I only wore them one day! I think..." He can't remember the type of cat food we buy and often brought the wrong kind home - until I sent him pictures of the food. Oh, and when he takes something apart that is being held together by hardware, he puts the hardware "somewhere safe." However, when it's time to put the thing back together, the hardware is lost. I can't tell you how many times this has happened! Eventually I got rid of anything that could be taken apart. No more flimsy shelving units for this family. Oh, and things don't get put away in logical places. Wires for things get put in the first empty space he can find. "Honey, where's the charger for the Kindle?" "Oh, it's in the closet in the living room." "How about the charger for your blue tooth thing?" "Oh, that's in the cabinet in the hallway." What? Seriously?! Why can't all chords just go in one container or space?!

And lastly:

6. When he is gone, I miss him. Like, a lot. Nobody told me that another person would be able to weasel his way into my life and my heart like this. When he's gone, for like more then just work or school, I feel like a puppy who's favorite person has just left the room. It physically hurts. Like I misplaced something very important and I can't find it. I spent 27 years of my life (mostly) single and happy- then he came along and ruined everything!

*sniff*

Stupid love.

Sewing Music

 I am sitting on the floor of my sewing room trying to work up the courage and creative energy to cut into some fabric and sew some blocks together for my quilt guild's Block of the Month club, which I am months behind. I figured that now that it's summer and I have time, I should be able to catch up on the blocks. However, I find that mustering up creative energy when I have been without it for so long is difficult.

Today, like yesterday, I have nervous energy inside me, I guess to go with the VERY windy weather outside. I feel like I need to travel, to go places, see new sights, meet new people. Maybe this is because I've been moving every year for the past three years. Right about now is about the time of the year when I would pack up and relocate - but that's not happening this year, or any year in the near future. I'm done packing, moving and unpacking. I'm forcing roots!

Anyway, back to the Block of the Month club. I think the problem with this project is that I don't feel a connection to it yet. It's food themed, which isn't helping because I have trouble relating food describing words to quilts, fabrics, blocks, or anything other than food for that matter. Fabric is not "yummy" to me. I can't eat it, I can't lick it, or taste it. Well, I mean, I can - it's just not "yummy." It is, however, beautiful, moving, pretty, and so on. There are food fabrics, which I looked at. I don't really like literal food pictures of food on fabric either. I guess I picky. I did get some great fabrics though.

My problem could be that I'm alone, and it's quiet in my apartment. My husband is currently at school and won't be back for an hour or so. Many people find solace in the quiet and actually get more done, like my husband. But, I grew up in a small house with three other people. Wherever you where in the house, you could hear the TV, people talking to each other and other house noises. I find it unnerving to be by myself sometimes. It's just too quiet! So what do I have to turn to for noise? Either Netflix or Pandora. I have Pandora on right now...but I'm not sure it's sewing music. I mean, I love No Doubt and Queen, but they aren't really inspiring creativity in me today. I guess I'll try Netflix next.

PS - Those blocks are blocks I've done, but they aren't for the Block of the Month. I just thought I'd try posting them for inspiration. :)

Finally! A Post!

I was helping my mom with her blog the other day and I realized that I haven't blogged here in almost a year. When I started this blog, it was a way to connect with my family and friends who lived so far away. A way to share everyday happenings with them. Now that I'm closer to family, this blog has taken a back seat. Time to rectify that!

Anyway, a lot has happened in the past year. I'm still on the never-ending, or at least it feels this way, quest for a teaching position in elementary education. I have my feelers out for this upcoming school year, but haven't heard back from anybody yet. In the mean time, I obtained a position as an Independent Study Teacher for a local high school. I really love this job, I mean A LOT! I think I could be happy doing this job for the rest of my life actually. I'm excited about this because I don't think I've ever felt this way about a job - at least not in a long time. I'm not sure what's going to happen next year as the Independent Study curriculum is going to be online, but I'm so looking forward to the challenge. :)

I also obtained a position in an elementary school as a Kindergarten Teacher Tutor. This position was fun! I got to work with two Kinder classes and pretty much got paid to play! We went on two field trips, went to the park next to the school, painted, colored, counted, added, subtracted, read, played, ate lunch, told stories, learned sight words, and just had a ball! I am hoping to continue this position next year, but these positions are filled in some interesting way that's based on funding and school politics that I'm not all together sure of. We'll see. If this position doesn't pan out, I'm already planning to substitute again. I also love to substitute, so it's a win-win for me!

I started an urban garden this year! I have many pots and containers out on my balcony. I'm hoping to get tomatoes, bell peppers, mariachi peppers, chocolate mint, lemon balm, rosemary, basil and oregano from my garden this season. I also have plans to grow celery, carrots, lettuce and radishes. Inside, I am growing sprouts in this nifty container I got at a local nursery. I've always been afraid of gardening. I just thought it was too hard to maintain. With containers, though, all I've had to do is plant the plants, remember to water them and then just wait. So far the bell pepper plant is growing two little bell peppers, the tomato plant has flowered and is getting ready to grow tomatoes, the potatoes are growing and the herbs are doing great! With container gardening, there isn't any issue with weeds either. Easy!

For some reason, maybe it's living next to the ocean again, but my craftiness has returned. I've been sewing, and crafting up a storm! The penny ball you see in the garden picture above is illustrated in the picture below. (Speaking of pictures, I've jumped on the Instagram bandwagon! :)

I glued pennies on a bowling ball I found at a thrift store for $3. Then I put it outside. Some of the pennies have come off, but most of them are staying strong. Also, the pennies are no longer shiny and have a worn patina, but that doesn't matter to me. If you recreate this project, and want the pennies to stay shiny, seal it with some kind of top coat to prevent the patina.

Have you heard of Meetup.com?! I joined this year and have never looked back. I LOVE it! I belong to a few meetups, including a craft one. I've even met some really great people and made friends that have lasted outside the meetups. I made the pendant on the left for my mom for Mother's Day at the craft meetup. This took two meetups - one to form the pendent out of polymer clay and the other to do the wire work. The heart, tiled brick I also made at the craft meetup. Eventually this will go out in the garden, but I have it sitting on the windowsill in my sewing room where I can look at it while I sew.

I made this cute teacher gift for one of the teachers I worked with this year. I just printed out the tree and the words on a regular sheet of paper. I then had the kids make thumbprint butterflies. Lastly, I wrote their names really small next to their butterfly. The teacher loved this gift! I thought it came out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! :)

I've started up my wire working again. So far, I've just made this tree of life and some other wire wrapped jewelry that I'm planning on selling at my quilt guild's fundraising boutique this year.

Oh yes! The quilt guild! I also rejoined the SLO Quilters Guild and became their librarian! This is a fun job as I get to play with books. However, the previous librarians left me and my cohort with a tiny mess on our hands with regards to inventory. Some books are in the book boxes, but not on the inventory list, some are gone but on the list, and some are just floating around in the cart with no home. We have two months until the next guild meeting. During this time, I'm going to redo ALL the library cards so they are all uniform. Right now, some of the cards are index cards, some are just card stock, where some are proper library cards. I love organizing and doing things like this, so I really don't mind. I've made a few quilt tops this year too. I don't have all the pictures, but here are a few. The one on the left is called "Birds on a Fence." The one on the right is a wall hanging I completed at a mystery quilt along.

I'm in the process of making two others, one for my husband and one for my mother-in-law. I've also got one more in mind that I hope to start on this summer.

Another thing that changed this year is the way we eat. We've cut out all dairy, a lot of processed foods, and all fast food. We have also been going to the Rutiz Family Farm and getting their Harvest Box of organic fruits and veggies every week. 

Doing this has increased the number of vegetables and fruit we consume as well as forces us to be more creative in the kitchen! We don't get a choice of what is in the box week to week, which is what I love about the box. We've only had a few things spoil on us, but that was when P was away for a week. I just couldn't eat everything by myself before it went bad.

The kitties are doing great. They are thirteen now, and still going strong! They have found the garden on the balcony and love to sniff the plants and relax in the sun. Quixote has succeeded in killing one plant by chewing the leaves off. He also figured out how to get on the railing, which scares me! So now they aren't allowed on the balcony without supervision. I think they are really loving being back in California. They just seem happier and healthier. They are shedding a lot less too!

Anywho, this blog is getting pretty long so I'm going to end it here, with the cute pictures of the boys. :) My summer list includes blogging more, so there will be more updates. I hope everyone is happy and healthy!