They were kids that I once knew

A few hours of sunshine snapped on the way to work.

I don't have much to talk about these days, which is why things have been really quiet for me.  Work is fine, good. I've made friends with a really nice girl I work with. Life is life, the kind of stuff that's important but personal so I don't really want to put it on here- lots and lots of marriage discussions (not discussions about marriage, just the kind of important talks that married people have with each other) important, but boring to outsiders. We are on a desperate apartment search. We've looked at two, both at each end of the niceness and money spectrum. The first was amazing, but too expensive. The second was extremely small and underwhelming but more affordable than the first, but probably overpriced for what it was. And number three. Oh, number three, how I love thee. We've only seen pictures of it online, but it looks even nicer than the first one, similar size, but more affordable. We are seeing it tonight and I can't wait. Apart from that, it's just a matter of counting our pennies and making sure we can do this.
And then doing it anyway.
That's pretty much what is consuming our time and thoughts around here. Also the ridiculous pricing of towels. We were at ASDA the other day (UK's Wal-Mart partner) and I saw some towels. I decided to have a look and a feel, knowing that we'll be needing to get some soon. The towels weren't very soft, but they were £5 each. For cheap, scratchy towels. That's like, $7.50! I couldn't believe it! And my father-in-law's girlfriend said the nice big bath sheets you can get at the good department store are £22! Is this normal? Or is it just an England thing because I can't handle it right now. But I guess that's what Argos is for. I found a bundle of 6 towels for £12, go me.
Yeah, sorry for all the towel talk- these are the mundane things that occupy my mind lately!
Mick and I are doing well. We've had some time recently to sit down and really talk, an activity that life hasn't given us the chance to do lately. We walked away from a very open and honest conversation feeling closer than we have for a long time, and a bit more full of one another's love. And I think that's something we've both really needed lately.

The other day I walked to work, listening to a song I discovered recently. It's called "Dead Hearts" by Star. It was cool, not cold (it's been a very mild winter), and I had my headphones on and nearly skipped to work in the sunshine. Yes, sunshine. Since moving to Kent in October, I haven't seen a lot of sun. In Sussex during the summer there was loads of it. For a minute, I really missed Arizona and the endless blue skies. There was a day early last week (Monday?) and a girl I work with and I were upstairs taking down all the Christmas decorations and it just started to pour. Angry rain, people. And the wind was pushing it in these clouds of water racing across rooftops. I felt like the windows were going to break. And then it stopped... and got sunny for an hour. And then the rain started again, then stopped... it was pretty crazy.
Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

The Daily Shoot- Cucumbers and Crackers

My husband is a pusher- sometimes the good kind, sometimes the bad kind. Just what kind he is mostly depends on my mood. You see, I am not a pusher. I'm one of those people that needs to be pushed. I like to think of him as a little cattle dog biting at my ankles, trying to get me to go, go, go! Because, I'm a bit slow out of the gate. Once I get started with something and force myself to do it for a while, it eventually becomes habit, and I do well with it. But starting is always the hard part, and that's why it's a good thing I married Mick.

Lately he's been pushing me to do more with my photography. Homesickness is pretty ugly right now, and his sage advice is to do the things I can do that make me happy. And since I'm far from the people I love and miss, this means hobbies. I've always had a creative streak, going back to 4th grade when I wrote my first short story because my awesome teacher really pushed (see? pushing) us to write. We had a glorious silent half hour every morning where we could write anything we wanted. I took advantage of this, and my first story was a scattered conglomeration of the macabre- mummies, werewolves, spiderwebs, etc. Then I wrote my first poem at age 10, something that I've tried to stick with. But as I mentioned the other day, photography makes me feel really good about myself, and that's something I really need right now.

So this afternoon I sat down to my laptop and started looking for photography groups online. I found one called The Daily Shoot. Basically, this guy gives you an assignment every day and you take your photos and then share them on twitter to @dailyshoot. Now, I include my twitter feed on this page, so you should be able to see my name. If not, it's @aindrealm. I think this is a great idea, and today I completed my first assignment. It was technically yesterday's assignment, but it's okay if I'm a bit late, right? Like I said. I'm slow out of the gates.

September 28th, 2011(Day 682) Assignment-

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Make a photograph of a yummy part of one of your meals today.

My selection- snack of cucumber and Cracked Pepper Ryvita cracker. I love the way the sun shines through the skin of the cucumber on the left, the texture of the cracker, and the way you can even see where the serrations on the knife left indentations on the flesh of the cucumber.

So there you have it. I may not do this every single day, but I plan to do it several times a week and I'll try to share them all with you. If I forget to, just check my twitter feed on the right side of this page and you should be able see if I've done any.

See you soon :)

The Philosophies of Mom and Dr. Seuss

Today has been kind of rough. I'm in Kent for the weekend with Mick's mom for wedding planning while he's having a boy's weekend back home with his buddy Gus. I'm not so silly as to miss him already, but being without him makes me suddenly realize how very far away from home I am. Since he was able to spend six months with me in America, it felt like, with him, I had a bit of America here with me. Familiarity, someone who knows my family and has grown to care for them. Now I feel very much on my own. It made me feel rather homesick. It's a weird psychological thing. Bottom line is, I'm fine, just a little low.
This evening after dinner I came up to the room I'm staying in at the house in Kent and called my mom. I told her of my worries with money (I'm not working but I still have expenses. I have savings, but those don't last forever!) and just that I was feeling bummed out. It was nice to hear her talk about normal, every day stuff that she's been doing around the house. It made me feel like I was there. She told me she found our old copy of Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. She listened to my worries and said "I'm going to read this to you."
"You're going to read me a story?" I chuckled through tears.
"Yes, it's story time."

And it was amazing how much that book corresponds with what I'm going through. Here is the story, complete with my wonderfully silly mother's commentary in red....

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go. (You decided to go to England!)
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air. (Yeah, you're out there in the wide open!)

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. (He has such poor grammar!) A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Sometimes, you just need mom. And Dr. Seuss.