Holding Hands

There is nothing sweeter than two people holding hands.  It shows security and intimacy and love and friendship and support all at the same time.  Watching an elderly couple hold hands is about as sweet as it gets.

In my daily perusal through the interwebs (which is very exciting), I came across this hysterical link about how to hold hands.  I just had to share it because it is the perfect mix of ridiculously funny and amazingly sweet at the same time.  Like yogurt covered pretzels.

The adorable factor is pretty high because you can imagine some awkward preteen acne-faced boy thinking about holding hands with some cute but shy girl he has a crush on.  Funny in that there are tips like “Try not to hold hands with someone you like when you are freezing, because cold hands can be a major turn-off.” and “Visualize how it will feel. If you are nervous, think of how good it will feel if the other person holds back.”  I’m pretty sure they mean if the other person squeezes back instead of “holds back”.  Poor kids.

Then they include the video of otters who demonstrate the hand holding methods previously described.  Tip: Watch the video all the way through.  If it doesn’t melt your heart, then you’ve had a pretty tough day and you probably needed this.  And if you need an extra added dose of cuteness, this is one of my go to websites for making me smile.  Yeah, even though I’m not a cutesy, fluffy over-the-top animal lover, I can’t help but have my heart warmed by these photos.  But who am I kidding, I read it for the articles.

Time to reflect on what is good in life, folks.

Thanks Aunt Bonnie!

A few weeks ago, Aunt Bonnie and I went to Ikea, Home Depot and Best Buy for some kitchen shopping.  (AB is my aunt who lives in Rockville, MD that I always talk about and some of you have met.)  We always have fun together, especially at Ikea where both of us like to dream and think of creative uses for odd things they sell.  She is a master of storage as evidenced by her Craft Cave of Marvels, a mid-sized and neatly organized basement room that houses all of her stamping materials from floor to ceiling.  It’s so much fun to get lost and explore and create down there.

I was telling AB about my plans to build a half wall to separate the entry from the rest of the room.  I was planning something quite elaborate in my head – a built-in with shelves, painted the same color as the wall, with white molding and possibly a column to really differentiate the spaces.  We found this nice piece instead and it’s so much easier than building a wall! Thanks so much AB!  I promised her photos and I don’t want to disappoint.

The very clean living room, Sept 2010

The not-as-clean living room, April 2011

Looks like a cozy entry way

So organized! Or at least appears that way!

I like the simplicity of the black square piece, and it can be used in other parts of the house easily in the future.  It also works as a purse holder or an end table for that side of the sofa.  The baskets handle our mail and extra stuff very well.  Corey and I now have a system!  And it looks great.  Plus, my coats aren’t all over the dining room chairs, and that’s an added bonus.  The traditional coat hooks are perfect for the space and match the molding detail beautifully.  Of course I get this up in spring when coats aren’t such a big deal, but it’s still working.  Thanks for helping, Corey.

Thanks to AB for the great gift!  It was closer to her birthday, and I got the present!

Cheater Post

Every time I write a post, it takes me a long time to finish, so I don’t, thus making it more difficult the next time to write a post because there is even more to say.  (With sentences like that, no wonder it takes me so long to write a post!)  Today, I’m taking a short-cut and just posting something from a blog I find inspirational to best describe where I am right now.  From Advanced Riskology, “You Know That Shit You Hate?” post:

“What if you just quit today? What if, all of a sudden, you made the snap decision to quit doing everything you don’t care about and started doing only what’s truly important to you?

What would life be like if you finally pulled the trigger? I think that’s a question worth asking yourself.”

This post best describes where I am right now with my job hunt and my life.  I get to ask myself these questions and seriously try to answer them!  How fun is that?  It really doesn’t get any better than that when you can finally give yourself the freedom to dream and imagine what life could be like.  Every day I have a few things I want or need to get done, but beyond that…I am only doing what is truly important to me, in that moment.   This is an amazing way to live, and I wish everyone could experience it just once.

Letting Go

As you read last week, I was surprisingly let go from my job on Tuesday.  I have been very busy since then getting everything situated after my vacation and catching up with people.  Plus, I took a mini-staycation Wednesday through tonight to just relax and get back to DC speed.

A few good things have come out of this so far, mainly yet another way to appreciate my awesome friends and support system.  I received calls and emails from all sorts of people (some of which I haven’t returned yet, and I’m sorry).  It has been so wonderful hearing from all of you and knowing that I am loved!  Thank you so much.

My sister mentioned that this is one of life’s bucket list situations that you can look back on and be grateful for the experience.  I completely agree.  Getting fired isn’t as bad as it sounds.  The actual meeting wasn’t terrible and I lived, so I’m certain I could live through it again if I needed to!  What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?

Of course, I didn’t know what to do when sitting there as they told me about their change to my future.  I took it like a woman with my head held high…not much I could have said to change their mind.  I was happy they waited until after the vacation to tell me so I didn’t freak out about spending money while away.   They told me around 3:15 on 3/15 and I found a weird rhythm to that.

They said I could have the office for the rest of the week to clean out my stuff and that I could leave at that moment if I felt like it.  I wanted to stay for the rest of the day but when I tried to sign the documents and I was shaky all over, I knew I had to go home then.  What else was I supposed to do?

I returned the next afternoon to get my things.  Boy,  I had so much stuff in my office I must have thought I was permanently settled there!  It may take me awhile to get to a point that I feel safe enough to have that much crap at work again.  Anyway, my biggest concern was what to wear to get my stuff?  I couldn’t wear all black because I wasn’t in mourning.  It had to be something somewhat nice but able to move things around.  Ugh, do you see what I mean?

The worst part was the reactions from my colleagues.  Some just didn’t know what to say so they avoided me and avoided any eye contact.  I felt so weird…no one wants to be in this position, the least you can do is make eye contact!  Most people were pretty cool and would tell me they were sorry.  I had some good conversations with the bosses who got a further opportunity to explain themselves.  I would have probably done the same thing to me if I were in their situation so I don’t blame them.  I don’t blame anyone.

Someone mentioned to me not to take it personally.  Funny enough, until that person said it, I hadn’t!  Luckily, I still don’t.  One thing I’ve realized about life outside this blog is that it isn’t about me.  I haven’t cried or moped or whined or complained yet.  It is what it is.  I accept that, and like any good planner, I am looking forward.  I am taking a bit of time to try to envision what that next step looks like.  It certainly is not clear yet, but I know it will work out.  Of this I have absolutely no doubt.  Until now, I have only had situations where I dream of a job, then I go get it.  The tough part this time is dreaming and envisioning what that looks like now.

Wellington Travel Thoughts

As is usually the case when I travel, I get to thinking.  Uh oh. Mostly I think when I’m alone like I was for most of today, unlike when I traveled with my troupe mates these last two weeks.  Today I toured “Windy Wellington” on my own.  I always pay attention when I get a free day so my conscious can see how my subconscious likes to play.  From my travels in Europe, I know I like design museums, but I haven’t run across many of those here.  Now that I think about it, I did pick up a New Zealand design magazine at a coffee shop and read it cover-to-cover while scarfing down a veggie quiche.

Anyway, I had some seriously deep thoughts today, none of which will make any sense or be remotely clear or relevant to anything.  I’ll share nonetheless.  Actually, maybe I’ll share the questions I was toying with and continue to work through them, reporting back later.  It’s pretty late now…

1. If money were absolutely no object, what would I do?  How would I spend my time?  Where?  I know I’ve answered these questions a billion times in my head, but for some reason I took myself seriously today.  Something clicked when I realized I may be selling myself short in some of the dreams and aspirations I have for my future.  That was a strange realization because I consider myself to be a pretty big dreamer and do-er.  I know dreams change as we get older, but today I realized that having success so far has made me less of a dreamer.  WTF?  I know better.

2. What should I do with a free day, and why can’t I do more?  I say this quite frequently: I have only two speeds…super fast and completely stopped.  It’s either/or for me, and that is evident on my vacations, too.  It’s not all bad.  This just means that I walk a ton, see a bunch, then poop out at a cafe and chill for an hour or two and just watch the world go by as I sit.  I do this at home and struggle with it.  I wish I could be the type of person that has one constant speed, but I’m not.  I often wonder how this will work in my future and if this is sustainable as I get older.  I’m also not sure if I should just appreciate it and learn to work with it, or if I should sincerely think about adjusting this behavior.

3. Time to start thinking about going minimalist…again.  Well, that’s not a question, but something weighing on my mind.  Everything I’ve needed for life in the past two weeks I’ve been able to fit in my 14kg carry-on sized bag.  Yeah, I could use a laundry machine about now, too.  But other than that, I really don’t need much.  I love how experiences like spending time with loved ones and exploring new places make me realize that everything else just makes me feel heavy.  I have almost forgotten home, so I wouldn’t miss anything.  I have such a terrible memory and it is tough to recall home other than the feelings of happiness it gives me when I think about it.  I have a few possessions I would like to keep around…like my new bikini because it will be the only suit I can wear this summer thanks to some hideous tan lines after a few days in the sun with a blotched sunscreen job.  Point is, I have an entire closet full of things I don’t wear and the day after vacation is typically a good time to go through it.  If I don’t look forward to wearing it after seeing the same crappy options for two weeks, then I’ll never look forward to wearing it.

Where DOES this lead me??

It is getting late so I’ll stop there.  I will do my best to write down some other thoughts throughout the day so it won”t be a jumble of messiness.  I am happy that I have 24 hours in Los Angeles so I can ease back into the country and talk some of this out with my west coast peeps.  They usually have good perspectives on these type of thoughts since they are not as involved in my day-to-day life as they once were.  Oh, the transition back to reality….I do not long for you yet.

Kernels for Carolina Wrap Up

We had such an amazing time in Lenoir, NC this weekend putting on the Kernels for Carolina show!  Mom and Dad worked so hard to get the house clean, to have people in the audience and to host and feed Subsidized Corn this weekend.  They were wonderful hosts, so a great big Thank You goes to them! They even managed to order the perfect February weather.

A big thank you to F. Futs Cafe and the Main Street Theater for giving us a chance to perform.  We are completely jealous of the wonderful space you have there and wish we had access to a space like that in DC.

The workshop was attended by more than just my family, too!  Lenoir has some amazing talent…probably the most advanced beginners workshop I’ve ever seen.  Thanks to Mom, Dad, Emily, Piatt, Donna, Jeremy, Nicholas, Steve, Cheynne and the German fish farmer (whose name I could not spell correctly if my life depended on it) for coming to the workshop and taking a chance on some random people from out of town!

We put on two shows and we were very pleased, as was the audience.  What an ego boost for Adelaide!  The highest compliment we received was a gentleman that said he felt we were cheating him when we wrapped up the show because he did not want it to end.  Then he looked at his watch and realized we had gone over our time!  That’s good stuff.  The absolute kicker was that all the audience suggestions in the paper game fell right into place.  Either my mom’s prayers that we don’t bomb in front of her friends were answered or all that practice was actually paying off.  How uncanny was that line about Willard?  Come on, that’s pure genius.

The road trip portion was also so much fun!  Normally I have to beg people to play car games with me, but Subsidized Corn is just so easy.  They were counting cows before I could even explain the rules!  And we totally worked our improv games into the car to create “group think,” which is probably why our shows were so awesome.  And here’s a tip, if someone tells you the magic number is 24, don’t believe them because it’s really 32.  Stick with it.

Photos are on Facebook if you haven’t seen them.  We’ll have some killer videos for you soon, hopefully.  Needless to say, we do some crazy things around video cameras!  But here is one to tie you over until then…

Thank you to everyone who came out to watch.  We had so much fun performing for you and hope we can do it again soon.  But only if my mom promises to do her British accent for us.  That was the only thing lacking this time around.

In other Subsidized Corn news, a huge welcome to our newest baby kernel, Evan Kendall Blanco Kachadorian, new baby boy to Steve and his wife Nancy.  We can’t wait to meet the widdle guy!

Your Valentine’s Day Thoughts, Part IV

Thanks for sticking around, readers!  Here is Part IV for your Valentine’s Day pleasure…

“Considering the fact that the first commercial valentines in America were produced in my home city during the 19th century, one would think that I would “love” it. However any holiday that attempts to humiliate men into the supporting the floral and greeting card industries is a SHAM. I love you every day. I don’t love you more today. Let me give you something when it isn’t expected or an obligation. Plus, all the valentine’s day stuff frequently thwarts my birthday festivities, so call me a Valentine Grinch if you must…xo” ~P.D.

“As I said two Valentine’s Days ago (during my impromptu wedding vows)…more than simply being in love with my valentine, “in case of zombie apocalypse, I feel like I picked the right guy.” Nothing says love like being prepared for the (inevitable?) zombie apocalypse. Happy Valentine’s Day!” ~C.Z.

“I’ve spent this day sharing a bed with a boyfriend that I knew was totally and completely wrong for me. His snoring only compounded my feelings of being trapped and slowly suffocating. This left me feeling inexplicably lonely.

I’ve spent this day sharing my cozy bed with my dog, talking on the phone to a friend that was freezing cold, dodging rats in a DC alley. She was fighting with her boyfriend who was mad that she had shared his gift of chocolate with her single girlfriends. This left me feeling grateful that I wasn’t in the wrong relationship.

I’ve spent this day laughing till my sides hurt, surrounded by my “urban tribe” of close friends, secure in the knowledge that these folks truly love me. This left me feeling so blessed for having the right kind of relationships in my life.

This year I will spend the day celebrating all the different kinds of love I have in my life, enjoying each person for the blessing that they are to my journey.

Thanks for giving me this opportunity to think through my thoughts about VD day. It used to throw me for a loop, especially the one’s when I was single. But now, I like to celebrate the day because it reminds me that love isn’t just between me and a guy. I’m surrounded everyday by folks that love and support me. Which makes my life pretty effing awesome, even when I’m a single lady on VD day!” ~A.H.

“I’m totally not above being incredibly sappy and making big romantic gestures. And I remember liking Valentine’s Day. But these days, really, what I mostly find myself thinking about Valentine’s is, “Just don’t fuck this up… just don’t fuck this up.”" ~J.W.

“When you’re single, Valentine’s Day is an excuse to buy chocolate for yourself. When you’re in a relationship, but not with the right person, Valentine’s Day is an excuse to ask someone else to buy chocolate for you. But when you’re in a relationship with someone you love, and who loves you back, Valentine’s Day is an excuse to make someone you care for feel extra special (with or without chocolate). And that doesn’t suck one bit. Happy Valentine’s Day!” ~P.H.

This is the last of them! What a great message from P.H. to leave us with.  So, go out and make someone you care about feel extra special today, tomorrow and any day.  And remember to keep it simple.

If anyone wants to add your own, feel free to do so in the comments below.  Thanks to all who participated!  This was a ton of fun, and I learned a bit about each of you…a closet cupid, a virgin deflowered, and a zombie apocalypse partner.  Now that’s what I call a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Your Valentine’s Day Thoughts, Part III

This beautiful and poignant comment from my sister deserved it’s own segment…

“As most of Megan’s readers know, Jacob and I lost our beautiful little baby boy, Leo on December 16th. So this Valentine’s Day is very hard for me. Valentine’s Day is all about love and, needless to say, I’ve learned new things about love in the past eight weeks.

People around me (family, friends, and even strangers) have risen up and reminded me how much love and support I have. No one has shown me the love and support I’ve desperately needed more than my wonderful husband. To say he is the bee’s knees in an understatement. He is better than free chicken sandwich day at Chick-fil-a, better than the “hot now” sign flashing at Krispy Kreme, and ten times better than scoring great tickets to a musical you have been dying to see at the half price ticket booth (seeing Fame in London – worst show, thus making it the best show, for around $10 is an example)…you get the picture of how wonderful he is (and SUPER cute to boot)! I know what it feels like to find your heart’s match. For me, Jacob fulfills that longing that we all have to find our “someone”—he is my everything. So the sad part: It breaks my heart that little Leo’s soul mate will never have the opportunity to meet Leo. She (or he) will either never find love or will have to settle for less than his or her perfect match. The idea of this breaks my heart even more than it already is broken.

Right now, during the most painful period of my life, “love,” to me, looks something like this: I still get up in the morning, eat meals, avoid bottles of wine, write e-mails and texts, update facebook, shower, and attempt to get through the day without totally falling apart on the outside. I go through the motions of life so that my pain won’t hurt the people around me, the people I love. In a way, I’m trying to protect them and right now that is as close to a mother’s love as I can get. Needless to say, Valentine’s Day is going to be extra hard this year. I will need LOTS of chocolate. FYI, I like dark chocolate.

Thanks to all who have shown and continue to show me love everyday. I don’t know how I would get through without you. I love you all.” ~M.B.

Your Valentine’s Day Thoughts, Part II

If you missed the Intro or Part I, feel free to check it out.  Basically, I’m giving some friends and family a chance to comment on their memories, thoughts and feelings about this “holiday.”  Here is Part II….

“Valentine’s Day – well it is certainly a nice way to tell (or remind) someone you love them, but as a holiday it just sucks. And although Hallmark, American Greetings and Whitman might disagree with me… it is right up there with Ground Hog day and Columbus Day (unless you are a federal employee and you get off and paid on Columbus Day!) So, until we turn it over to Disney to market – I guess we will just live with what we have. Happy Valentine Day!” ~ C.C.

“Valentine’s Day is one of those days I used to be ambivalent about. In high school, I anxiously awaited candy-grams in homeroom. In college, it became the occasion for The Vagina Monologues and a low-carb gift basket from my parents. I used to be really bitter around Valentine’s Day because I am never in relationships around that time of year. Actually I am just never in relationships. But I had a co-worker a few years back during a particularly bitter swing (involving an actual sweetheart for once who was out of town for the week of Valentine’s Day. What is my life!!), and she just LOVES Valentine’s Day. To Jenna, what is there NOT to love about a day when people declare/honor/celebrate/hope for love for each other? Honestly, I had never thought about it that way before but it made it a whole lot lovelier. Now I try to think about love in general on Valentine’s Day, so my whole family and friends get something in the mail, a little declaration of my never ending love and appreciation for them. ” ~L.W.

“Favorite memory is when I was 10 years old, I dressed up as Cupid and hid in the closet of my best friend’s twin sister, aiming for a kiss. I failed completely, since she’d already used her closet that day and I got bored…
Least favorite memory was when I was 24. I had just broken up with my first serious girlfriend two weeks earlier and met her in line to get into a singles night dance. We spent a very awkward couple of hours in line, neither of us prepared to back down, before returning home, alone, having failed to get into the club!” ~R.A.

“If you can’t drink well, why pretend on St. Patrick’s Day? If you can’t dress like a slut well, why pretend on Halloween? If you can’t love well, why try on Valentine’s Day?” ~C.H.

“I was unceremoniously dumped by a man who decided overnight that I was no longer attractive to him, what I said was “What can I do to make you love me again?” What I should have said was “Oh yeah, well once a week you bear a striking resemblance to Charlie Brown, not attractive, but then I wake up the next day and you are back to cute.” Love isn’t all squishy and happy all the time. I would love to see a Valentine’s Day that celebrates the ugly side of love. A movie where the leading man meets the sexy wedding planner and acknowledges that he will probably find her less than attractive on some days and remains faithful to his fiance. A romantic comedy that shows my friend’s 85+ year old grandparents and details all the times they almost killed each other. A love story that portrays a beautiful 60 year old woman full of life who stands by her husband with Alzheimer because she loves the man that he used to be. NO MORE INSTANT GRATIFICATION, no one is attractive 100% of the time, unconditional love is for puppies, real love is hard and will not come from kissing a frog.” ~S.H.

“Love is never having to say you’re sorry… for wearing pimple cream.” ~S.A.

Your Valentine’s Day Thoughts, Part I

Let the guest comments begin!!

Bee mine.

“Many years ago, back when being romantic was easy, I planned an elaborate V-day hike/picnic to watch the sun set over the ocean.  Everything was going great, sun was about to set, champagne was uncorked. Then we heard what seemed to be a buzzing sound. And it was getting louder.  Sure enough, within seconds we saw this huge cloud of bees headed up the mountain and about to overtake us.  We ran for our lives, in separate directions!” ~K.R.

“If you love me, tell me. Run your hands through my hair, kiss me softly and remark on how deep in love you are with me. Do not buy me chocolates or fatten me up with a fancy dinner. I do not need flowers that look beautiful for a few days, then wither and die. Do not buy me jewelry, because it is not true that “Every kiss begins with Kay.” Treat me well year-round, and on Valentine’s Day when you take me in your arms and proclaim that you love me, I will say it back. I will mean it and I will show you.

And if you are my mother, please buy me special Valentine’s Day socks forever and ever. When you started this tradition about 10 years ago, I thought it was silly. Now, I can’t wait to receive my special socks and see what crazy pattern you found this year. Yes, Mom, I know you won’t be around forever. But can’t you stockpile the socks and have a pair come to my house every Valentine’s Day? P.S. I Love You-style? If not, know that my Valentine’s Day will never be the same.” ~C.G. from Simply Solo (one of my favorite blogs, and she wrote this specifically for my readers!)

Two IS better than one.

“I lost my virginity on Valentine’s day. Yes this is super hokey, I’m aware. But I was a good catholic school gal, and if I was going to ‘sin’ I was going to make an event out of it. I had taken not one but two buses for a snowy weekend to visit my boyfriend in a tiny New Yawk college town. We had been dating for about 3 years and this event had come with much planning. We went out for a fancy dinner. It was the only restaurant in town and the place was full of professors who had also taken their special someones out for that night as well. And of course, being broke students we walked to the restaurant from his dorm room. It was a long bitter cold walk in a dress and heels, so “warming” me up was double the challenge for this guy. It was an all together awkward (no surprise there) and overly hyped evening on what I think is probably one the most awkward and overly hyped days of the year. I did though have two requests : we are definitely having not one but TWO desserts, and I get to choose the music during the big occasion. I still make those demands no matter the day. ” ~E.N.