Notes From Suburbia

Well, it seems March was the month of the blogging break. Well, that's not entirely accurate. I did some food blogging over at Jerbecca and that has been fun. I don't expect that I'll become the next big thing in the food blogging world, but it's a nice exercise and fuels my dreams of one day turning the memoir genre upside down with my fabulous literary genius. Or not.

Most of the break was due to our vacation. We had been planning to take a long weekend off to celebrate the anniversary of the day we met but were faced with a fortuitous schedule change which led to a fun trip. Jer was sent by his employer (which he describes as a "small" local tech company based in Redmond) down to Vegas for a conference, so I followed him down and we relaxed in a fabulous suite, took in the sites, and just enjoyed each other's company. It was a wonderful break.

What was slightly surreal was that we spent five days apart while he was at the conference and I was stuck at work in Seattle, the first time we had been apart since the wedding. Suddenly I was back to life as a single girl, just as I was before I met my fabulous man. I went dancing, cooked for myself only, drank a lot of coffee, woke up alone. I even spent time with my former roommate at the house I lived in last March, which only reinforced the deja vu.

I hated it.

I know some folks enjoy their solitude and freedom, and certainly Jer and I build some alone time for each other into our schedules, but I just about went nuts without him. Wandering about our suburban house north of everyone, alone in the kitchen with a cauliflower, I bemoaned the separation and tossed and turned in our big bed. I tell you, it is so much easier to wake up in the morning when there is someone there to give you a kiss and brew you some java.

But life now is back to normal, and we are waking up together bright and early (very difficult after we were able to indulge our night owl tendencies on vacation) and trying to get back into a schedule that involves working out and completing all those goals we set at the beginning of the year. Jer has promised to help with those darn thank you cards I have piled up, and I've started going to the chiropractor with him in order to reduce some of the back and neck pain that has been preventing me from working out regularly. Progress is being made, and my life is full and contented. Every day I look at my husband and am overcome with gratitude and love for him. Like the song says, we're better together.

I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no, combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing
We're better together.

Jack Johnson, Better Together

Wait, what? It's March?

There seems to be a theme running through most of my blogs on Google Reader today: "What the heck happened to February?!?"

Seriously, it's March? I thought perhaps it was just this weekend that was a blur, but I find that it was in fact the entire month. I know February is shorter than most, but those two days shouldn't make all that much of a difference.

A lot of our month was swallowed up in doctor's appointments related to Jer's tendonitis. Our wonderful schedule went kaboom and neither of us spent much time working out or having good gameplaying/reading/blogging time. As a way to help with commuting and provide Jer with a car during the day to get to appointments, I have been driving with him to Bellevue and then taking the bus over to Seattle, adding time to my commute and eliminating a lot of my evening free time. It does give us more time together in the morning, and it's the best way to handle evening car needs, but it doesn't fit with our big schedule plan at all.

So I would have to say that my goals for February went kaput. There were a couple of opportunities to hang out with friends, and we went on a couple of double dates, but my grand ideas of weekly coffee dates with girlfriends, working out five times a week, and making significant progress on cleaning my office or completing thank you cards scurried off to wherever the rest of February disappeared to.

One thing I do remember quite clearly though is Valentine's Day weekend. It was our first V day together, and whether it's a cultural excuse for materialistic excess and denigration of singlehood or not, my romantic self wanted it to be special. With our budget focus, Jer had to restrain his generous tendencies and stop himself from buying a (quite beautiful) necklace and settle for a lot of fabulous chocolate and flowers. But being as it is him, he was not content to simply give me a Russell Stover chocolate heart on Sunday morning. He ordered several kinds of chocolate from La Maison du Chocolat, a Parisian chocolate boutique, and stealthily stashed them around the house throughout the weekend. The first small box showed up on Thursday evening. Then I found chocolate in my purse. And on my pillow. In the kitchen. In my office. Each one a different flavor, including the best hot chocolate ever. And then on Sunday afternoon a big bouquet of tulips and irises showed up at the door. It was a fabulous weekend.

(I would tell you what I got Jer for Valentine's Day, but that would be TMI. Let me just say, he was a happy husband.)

So, despite the month being sucked up by doctor's appointments and the premarital class that we are taking (yes, we know, it's a little late, but there wasn't one available before the wedding!) there are some good memories. And now here is March, and we are planning a fun vacation to celebrate the anniversary of that fateful evening that we first met. I keep hoping that life might slow down one of these days, but I somewhat doubt it.

I will say though, that I have one small accomplishment for February. I have now completed two-count 'em, two!-thank you cards. Two down, a hundred to go. Hey, it's progress.