One of the many adjustments involved in marriage is getting used to each other's tastes--in decorating, in clothing, in food. For the past two years, I have been amazed at how much pepper Tracy puts on his food. With the exception of sugary foods, he puts a ton of pepper on everything. His plate is usually covered in black.
But excessive pepper isn't the only thing he does that shocked me at first.
Can you guess what this is? (Karen, you aren't allowed to give it away, because you ate this meal with us once! jk.) No, it's not taco salad. No, it's not nachos. It's baked potatoes. Can't see the potatoes? That's because on top of two large potatoes there are several layers of sour cream, cheese, (both pretty standard) ham, olives, and salsa. Yep, salsa.
By the time he's done designing this masterpiece, it weighs about a pound or a pound and a half--no joke. I admit that I have implemented olives and ham into my normal sour cream and cheese baked potato routine, but my potatoes weigh probably half or three-quarters (at most) as much as his do.
He swears that salsa is what makes baked potatoes delicious, so the brave-hearted and hearty-stomached can try this combination if you wish. I'm perfectly content with my baked potatoes how they are.
By now I'm used to it, and I set the salsa out for him. The pepper is sometimes still shocking though. I feel that it will take many years of marriage to adjust to that.
This December I'll be a college graduate for one year. It doesn't seem that it has been that long. Don't get me wrong, we've done a ton since last December, but I feel that I have never left school.
At work, all three jobs of work, students ask me about my homework load, my classes, my major, my graduation date, and all the other normal college small talk starters. Instead of explaining everything (I'm actually done, my husband is a student, and I'm just working) and dealing with all the funny looks people give me, often I just say, "My major is English. My class load isn't too bad. And yours?" Is it lying? I suppose technically, but do people really want to know my whole life's story? No, not really.
I am taking a non-credit class, and I attend a political science class as part of being a professor's writing assistant. I carry a backpack around with all my notebooks, novels, and planners. That makes me a student, right?
I do miss the lectures and class discussions, I'll admit, but it's nice coming home with little to do. Lately, though, I've a lot of papers to comment on, presentations to plan, and other outside-work planning. I feel like a strange student-teacher combination.
When Tracy is finally done with his master's degree in a year and a half, I'll feel like I have truly graduated, because we will probably not live in a college town.
So, I have another year and a half to my graduation, too. haha.
While Tracy is out in the wilderness, hiking the Oklahoman terrain, looking at rocks, taking vigorous notes for a thorough Dr. Pope, and laboring geologically from 6 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m., I have the house to myself. Whoa! What should I do? Perhaps the question should be what can't I do?
So far I have watched You've Got Mail, one of my all-time favorite chick flicks, and eaten pizza. (Don't worry. I didn't eat it all. I had to save room for candy and Oreos. Only somewhat JK.) While I watched, I painted a first coat on two shelves and a small sign. Yay!!!
What should I do today? I'll apply a second coat of paint to the shelves. I'm going to a baby shower this afternoon. I'll probably finish off the pizza and try to avoid all the other junk food we have somehow accrued these past couple of weeks. (Dang it!) I'll probably watch a few more chick flicks or musicals, because Tracy gets most of the airtime with football when he's here. I have to take advantage of this opportunity. Hello Dolly, Phantom of the Opera, or Sense and Sensibility?
I have missed him though. I hate going to bed alone and being the only one in the house. It's scary. But it has been nice having the house to myself and doing those girly things that I occasionally want to do, although the only girly thing I've done really is watch girly movies. haha Tracy gets back tomorrow night, and I can't wait to see him!!
Yes, I am wearing socks with my flip-flops. It looks more Japanese, don't you think? He hates pictures of himself.
I have to say that I'm rather disappointed in myself this Halloween. My costume wasn't that impressive and we didn't really do anything with friends. I was Michaelangelo, the orange ninja turtle, and Tracy was a Brazilian cowboy, a gaucho.
I hate scary things. I refuse to watch scary movies, because even the most innocent of movies have given me nightmares. For example, I had several nightmares about the spiders from Jumanji and the carnivores from the Jurassic Park series. So you'd think that I'd hate Halloween. I will never go to a haunted house, go to a cemetery, or, as I said earlier, watch scary movies. But Halloween isn't all that bad. I like dressing up, being silly, and eating disgusting amounts of candy (I like it, but my stomach does not). When I am coming up with my costume ideas, I try to keep two things in mind: humor and ease.
I like to make people laugh at my costumes, even if it's just for a few seconds. I don't want something I have to explain. These two often are at odds with each other. For example, last year I was a "DEAD manuscript." In the editing field, when the editing changes have been input, the marked up manuscript is no longer new or useful, so we put "DEAD" on it to indicate that it is an old copy. For my costume, I wrote black text and marked over it with red permanent marker and stamped "DEAD" on it. My co-workers laughed, my bosses took pictures, my editing professor proudly showed me off to his colleagues, but I had to explain the joke to everyone else, which killed the joke.
I like to use what I have or spend very little in putting a costume together. While store-bought costumes look more authentic, more time and effort obviously goes into making a costume from scratch or from random pieces. One of my co-workers at the bookstore dressed up as a ghostbuster. Other than the flight suit, he made everything himself: the patches and the pack (made out of an egg carton, vacuum hose, and an old lunch box with a light inside and some green sludge). I think Halloween should be more about creativity and fun than scariness.
On to the next holiday!! Thanksgiving doesn't get neglected in our household!
I consider myself a pretty well-rounded person. I play volleyball and some other sports, sing, write and edit, play the piano (a little), make scrapbook-y cards, and cook (albeit grudgingly).
Lately, I've had the urge to branch out in all directions. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt. I want to make ridiculously incredible home decorations and furniture myself. I want to paint on canvas. I want to photograph artistically. I want to be involved in theatre productions. I want to try to write a book. I want to make beautiful flower arrangements. I want to read more books. I want to learn a few other languages. I want to join a city league for volleyball. I want to do anything and everything artistic and fun that I possibly can think of. See my problem?
I've tried to narrow down my list of desired hobbies, but I can't bring myself to get rid of any of them. Tracy recommended keeping all of them on the list but just working on a few at a time. But then I have to decide which ones to do first. I'm being silly and childish, but I really want all of them, and I want them now!! :)
Any suggestions? I'll let you know what I decide to focus on, but it will definitely be a difficult decision.
We Wulfs like to be prepared. We like to have things planned out. I keep my planner updated religiously. But both of us were unprepared for geology grad students applying for internships for next summer just a week or two after the semester started. For next summer! Already?! Seriously?!?
Even though Tracy got a slower start on applications, he interviewed with fifteen companies and come home with tons of free stuff--five water bottles, a flashlight, a toy truck, a coffee thermos, flash drives, a deck of playing cards, office supplies, and a hand lense (for looking closely at rocks). But perhaps the most common free item was food. Tracy got at least free ten dinners for going to information sessions and special dinners. We went to the grocery store and realized that we didn't need too much, because we hadn't really eaten any of our own food for dinners. SWEET!! I love free stuff!!!!
But the biggest piece of news we have to share is that Tracy has accepted an internship with Hess, an oil company that is pretty popular on the East Coast. It has many international locations and, while it is relatively small compared to Exxon or Chevron, it has done well in the recent economic crisis. Tracy will be working for Hess in Houston next summer. We are so excited!!
I really like lists!! I fill notebooks with them. This list was particularly fun to write.
It might seem strange that I’ve compiled a list of things to do before I die. I’m only twenty-two years old for crying out loud! But I’ve learned in the past couple of years that time flies by, and lately I’ve realized that unless I keep these goals of what I want to accomplish in mind, I might never complete them.
Some of these things are things I would like to do, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to. Others I must do before I die (for example, going to Britain). Although I realize that some of these goals are far fetched, I’d like to think none are completely out of my reach. I guess if anything else, this list tells you how imaginative and hopeful I am.
Go to Britain—I must do this!! Did I already say that? I’d like to go for at least two weeks, but I’ll go there for as long as I can. Tracy promised me he’d take me there when we got engaged. I would rather go to Britain than anywhere else on this planet!!
Go to Hawaii or on a cruise (I’ve never experienced this and would like to someday.)
Go to New York City and see a show (or perhaps several) on Broadway (That is, if I can convince Tracy to come and if I bring a pillow for him to sleep on while I watch it.)
Be in another musical (perhaps even be the lead!)
Record my singing on a CD (Obviously it won’t be professionally done and my voice won’t be heard on the radio, but I would like to record my voice on better technology than a twenty-year-old tape recorder.)
Take my kids to Disneyland (or Disneyworld)
Have a garden (both with food and flowers)
Learn French, Latin, Italian and/or Portuguese (I doubt I could learn all of these languages, but I would love to. This list is in order of priority. Since Tracy already knows Portuguese, I figure he can just translate for me. J)
Complete a somewhat impressive visual piece of art (whether a painting or something else) This one might be a little too far out there for my abilities.
Edit for a magazine or book publishing company (even if it’s just for less than a year)
Write a book—not sure whether fiction or nonfiction. I haven’t decided if I actually want to do this. Ironically, I prefer novels written before 1900, mostly from Britain, so it’ll be interesting if I decide to write fiction in America now. A bit hypocritical, huh?
Go to Australia and New Zealand with my brother Todd. (Haha! Right! This is one of those more imaginative ones.)We agreed on this trip years ago—other siblings and family are welcome to come too. This probably won’t really happen, but it would be awesome if it did!
Learn to fence (Not required but again this would be awesome!)
Ride a horse up to a gallop and feel comfortable doing so
Get a master’s degree in English literature and teach (Maybe even a PhD and teach at the college level. This again probably won’t happen, but I’ve thought a little bit about it. Who knows? If this does happen, it will come after my kids are older and I have completed most of the other things I want to do before I die.)
As you can see, I’ve got a lot of work and saving to do to accomplish all this before I die.
I am Lacey: wife, mom of twin toddler boys, editor/writer, infertility survivor, lover of quality books and film and music, sassy redhead, private musician, volleyball and ultimate frisbee player, and hopeful world traveler.
