Friends and Facebook

   Facebook is such a double-edged sword.  One on hand, it's a great way to keep in touch with people.  Not so long ago, if a work buddy or an acquaintance moved or even changed their phone number, it was questionable if you'll ever see them again.  "Whatever happened to ole so-and-so?!  She was so fun!"  "I think she moved to Boston.  Becca saw her a last year and said she looked great!"  And I can't even begin to imagine how new parents ever used to maintain relationships with friends before facebook.  "Whatever happened to those two?"  "Well, you know after they had that baby she stopped returning my phone calls and I wasn't going to beg to be her friend anymore."    

  

My Galapagos

   Starting a new career is frightening.  I was more than apprehensive in sharing my new venture with friends and family.  I had been thinking about it for months before I even told my husband.  After years of struggling to climb in my last career, muddled with heartbreak and failed relationships, the list of people who have earned my trust is short.  The lovely and invigorating Maya Angelou permanently altered my perception with one sentence, "The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them."  The first time.  Preach.

Maya Angelou, my inspiration

To the mattresses...errr, the produce section.

   My husband and I have had our fair share of arguments.  Over the years, I have learned to do a better job at picking my battles and he has learned to pay more attention to the battles I pick.  Some make us laugh, "Pouring an old drink out in a parking lot is NOT littering," and some make us cry, "No one listens to me, and no one cares if I'm happy, so what am I doing here?!"  In the process of picking battles, some topics are never brought up to avoid conflict. 

   Whether it's because he is part of two large families (one at the fire station and ours at home) who need to make many grocery trips, or because of the "men are hunters and women are gatherers" theory, my husband does not enjoy going to grocery stores.  In fact, he completely despises them and avoids them at all costs.  This is good news for me because that means I have complete control over something in our household.  As a stay-at-home-mom with memories of jet-setting, expensive restaurants, and luxurious hotels, any small freedom is a welcomed gift.  Rolling in the occasional hair product or my favorite passion-orange-guava juice to the grocery total without question or discussion was lovely.  I was able to satisfy a little part of me that still needs to be bad, without doing anything particularly harmful.  I say "was" because one of my dirty little grocery store habits has been exposed.  Well, I don't know if I should call it dirty, or clean, or...let me explain.

I call.

   This week I actually had to call my own bluff, a couple times.  I have been a smoker since 2002.  Yes, I smoked prior to that (a little in high school on the bike trail behind the public pool during the summer, and I might have been known to carry some on me at times), but I assure you it was only to impress the upper-echelon of sophistication when you're 16- the seniors.  However, it was never an addiction until about 10 years ago.  I was living on my own and experiencing freedom for the first time while working in an industry that barely batted an eye at cigarettes.  In fact, some of the funniest memories in my career happened on a smoke break.

My Time for Enlightenment

   I'm happily married with two healthy little girls and we just moved into a new house.  Who knew it would take 30 years of blood, sweat, and tears to write that sentence?  More specifically, the last five years of my life have been an absolute whirlwind.