Saturday, June 13, 2009

That Woman

I have officially become that woman. But before I give too much away, let me first explain.

This weekend Matt had a super exciting estate planning and real estate conference to go to in Spokane. Because it was 1. an opportunity to stay at my favorite hotel - the Davenport, 2. an opportunity to do some shopping at stores I don't normally get to frequent, 3. an opportunity to hang out somewhere other than Wenatchee, and 4. an opportunity to spend time with my husband before I leave next week for Young Women's camp, I opted to come along.

I've been looking at my apparel of late noticing a disturbing trend of endless t-shirts paired with anything from skirts to jeans. I like my t-shirts, especially for tooling around the Wenatch but decided it may be time to reinvest in something a little less casual and a bit more up with the times.

So I came to Spokane with the goal of picking out a few dressier tops for summer. I started at my usual stores but couldn't find anything remotely attractive on me that both sported sleeves and was opaque. I was quickly becoming frustrated at modest shopping when I finally gave in and walked in Nordstrom determined to peer at the sales rack and walk out again when I didn't find anything remotely in my price range.

But that's when I met Kailey, one of Nordstrom's many excellent sales staff. I told her what I was looking for and she directed me to the changing room wherein she proceeded to laden me with a plethora of choices meeting my specifications, many of which, gratefully, were on sale. They were a stretch for my generally conservative/boring clothing fare but I actually came out of the dressing room with a renewed faith in shopping, a love for Kailey and the realization that I've become that woman.

That woman who goes with her husband to conferences and then spends all day in the mall. Matt's grandmother is that woman. This woman can spend days at a time perusing Nordstrom et al. She buys much, wears little, and then ends up giving her granddaughters (comme moi) the rest. I only managed an hour and a half. But even still, I feel a little young to have become that woman. Let's just be thankful Matt doesn't have too many conferences and we don't have enough money to allow for such extravagances.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Potential Purchase

Matthew thinks I'm crazy, and maybe it's just summer fever, but I have this silly notion that instead of having two cars we don't really use, why not sell one and buy this cute little scooter? Our cars are both paid off and Matt says he'd allow me to buy this sweet piece o' ride on top of it but I feel guilty having two cars and a scooter. So, I'm thinking I might sell my car and use the proceeds to buy this it, among other things.

So what I need from you is rational reasons why I should not go through with this hair-brained scheme, because right now I am not thinking clearly. My head is all a buzz with the glory of riding around town on Greta (I've named her already). But first let me give you a few bits of information to keep in mind as you tell me why I shouldn't do this. 1. Currently Matt's car sits at home all day while he goes to work (he walks), and when we do eventually move to a less walking-friendly distance he says he will just ride his bike. 2. There are few times when we both need to be driving a car. 3. He says for the few times a year I leave town without him, as long as I don't get too girly a color he can either take the scooter or ride his bike. I would of course take the car since driving to Portland going max 40 miles/hour would be both deadly and painfully slow. 4. My car is a stick shift and Matt doesn't know/doesn't want to know how to drive it. 5. Wenatchee weather is night and day different than Seattle. It wouldn't be a feasible mode of operation during the winter but during the summer I would be able to drive it 90% of the time. (Thanks Lizzie and Michael for your comments so far!!)

Okay, I think that's it. Go to and be my reason for me since I can't seem to do the job myself.

And thanks.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Ah to be a Teenager Again

In the past few weeks since the weather has improved I have started walking over to the high school for my afternoon tutoring. One of the boys in the group lives close to me and also walks so we have started walking home together. During these trips we talk about whatever is going on in his world. Sometimes we talk about the abundance of fruit available at his father's house. Sometimes we talk about bike riding. And other times we talk about what it's like to be a teenager. Let's remember he is a sophomore and just barely turned 16. During one such conversation he told me about a girl from a neighboring town who he had "dated" for a few weeks before letting it peter out. He commented that this petering had left him once again single. Now that may not seem so strange to you but I was amused to find this 16 year-old boy using the word "single" to describe himself. The phrase "I am single," in my mind, should only be used by people old enough to be married, not by young boys not yet shaving. So after laughing at the absurdity of the situation, I calmly explained that he doesn't need to worry about his relationship status until once he's at least done with high school.

On another note, one of the girls I tutor has a one-year old son and the other kids talk about how they know of other 14-year old girls getting pregnant. I realize this is nothing new, but I've been closed off from the reality of it until now. Which makes me think about my own high school experience. When I was 14, I wanted boys to like me just like any other 14-year old would, but sex was the farthest thing from my mind. I mean egads!!

This thought process leads me to be oh so thankful to be done with that phase of my life and to have struggled through it in a much more sterile environment. I'm thankful that my biggest confrontation in high school was standing against the use of profanity on my senior T-shirt. I'm thankful that the constant pressure to not be single did not wake me up an hour before I already had to get up for seminary just so I could spend thirty minutes on my hair and another thirty minutes on my make up to look just so for school. Thank you extended innocence and thank you Sherwood, Oregon.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Quilting Practice

A few months ago I was bored with little to no work to do. To pass the time I decided to make a baby blanket. They are an easy two or three day activity and I already had the material (look familiar Claudia?). So I finished the top and then anxiously waited for my quilting class at our local quilt store to teach me how to use their fancy-dancy machine. The whole process was way overwhelming but a few days ago I had the chance to go in for a few hours by myself to practice. Thankfully someone at the store helped me remember everything I had already learned and in a couple hours I came out with the following product. Felt on the top and that really cozy, cuddle-friendly micro-fleece on the bottom. I don't know if you can tell that the quilting is a loopy star design. The stars were definitely not made by a professional but I'm still proud of the finished product.
With that in mind I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize for not being a better friend/sister to everyone who have had babies. I.e. not making/buying something for your sweet newborn. I promise I love you, I just show my love in other ways. Please forgive me.