Because Enough With The Damn Shoes Already

I don't know what why, but ever since the wedding, I've had a hard time maintaining any semblance of consistency with this blog. I went from hourly posts in the days leading up to Luke's and my nuptials to semi-weekly paragraphs about whether or not to converse with coworkers when I pee. I love to write here. I want to write here. For some reason, though, it's hard to sit in front of the computer screen and arrange words in a way that best represent what I'm feeling. Thanks for continuing to bear with me.

So it's been one week. A lot has happened in just one week. For example, last Friday the two of us embarked on a three-day, two-night camping trip to Indiana Dunes State Park, part of the state's national lakeshore, with Samantha and Dan, where we hiked, smored, swam, and slept. Well, they slept. That first night I spotted two Daddy Long Legs at the foot of our sleeping bag and thought I would pass out from the fear that one of them would crawl into my mouth if I dared to shut my eyes. The next morning, I woke to find a spider tangled in my blanket. I actually shouted "Eeek!" loud enough to pull a few chuckles from the campers next to our site.

That night, I was so paranoid about letting in more of God's creatures that I refused to leave the tent, even to use the Port-A-Potty twenty feet away. The pain in my bladder was so strong that it thankfully knocked me out into uncomfortable slumber.

(On a side note, while everyone ELSE was snoozing away, I did manage to devour eighty pages of Not Without My Daughter, a paperback my sister likes to make out with every couple of years or so and I'm assuming keeps stashed in her Buick Park Avenue in case she's ever stuck in traffic as a passenger in her own car. I ended up taking the book home and finishing it by Monday night.)

In other "me" happenings, I've been reading a lot again, as evidenced by my devouring a four-hundred-and-twenty page book in the span of two days. I've read all the Christopher Pike books I found at the half-priced bookstore, a Sweet Valley High Christmas special, and on a lighter note, some thoughtful religious debate. Two Mondays ago I delved into another nonfiction piece, Morgan Spurlock's Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America, penned by the guy who digested one month's worth of "McFood" and lived to bring his tale to the big screen. The timing seemed about right, considering my latest attempts at healthy living, and when I checked out the book at the local library, I was feeling pretty confident about all things nuitritional.

Today I'm in the midst of chapter ten and pretty much want to throw up. A delightful excerpt follows:

Beef factories are models of waste-not want-not efficiency. Filthy, disgusting, and disease-ridden, maybe, but terribly efficient. Very little of one of these cows is discarded. Leftover bits and pieces are scooped up, ground together, and fed back to the cows. And then those cows are ground up and fed to you.

Other fun facts about the dangers of current American eating habits:

• By 1996, boys and girls consumed twice as much soda as milk. As of September 2004, nine million American kids between the ages of six and eighteen were obese.
• Obesity-related illnesses will kill around 400,000 Americans this year--almost the same as smoking.
• Diet and obesity have been linked to increased risk for breast, colon, endometrial, esophageal, and kidney cancer.

Read this book. It'll change your life. At the very least, you'll glean new insights into the case of the old woman who won a mega-bucks lawsuit against the Golden Arches by claiming her coffee was too hot. (Turns out it really was!)

Finally, I suppose there's one more piece of news you ought to know about. A piece of news that is about to change our lives. A piece of news that will eventually mean savings and houses and babies and maybe even a new Web site.

Luke has a new job. He starts next Wednesday.

He's not disclosing much detail on his own blog, so I'm going to respect his wishes and keep the jobspeak to a minimum. Know it's a very good job, full time, in his field, with room for advancement, and he actually had TWO positions to choose from because he's just that good. And this opportunity couldn't have come at a better time, as we were literally *thisclose* to charging next month's car insurance renewal to our Visa card.

It's been a long time coming, and he so deserves this. I'm so thankful God thinks we deserve this. Or maybe we don't. Maybe it's like what Lost A Sock said when revealing her own husband's new career move, "When your prayers begin to be answered you know that you must be damn lucky, because there are lots and lots of people with the same prayers and the same work ethic. And you have to keep yourself in check, and go above and beyond your norm to pay it forward, because experiencing good times comes with the responsibility of sharing."

Whether due to grace, grunt work, or chance, we're more than willing to share.

Comments

[Mrs. S]

Glad you had a great time camping - I haven't been in years, so it was nice to live it through you vicariously... though next time you should bring some chestnuts and keep them in your tent (just loose on the floor or in the corners) 'cause they ward off spiders. I'm not even kidding, they work so great! Then you'd be able to go to the port-a-potty in peace.

I've already said congrats to Luke on his blog, but congrats to you, too, because you're 'one' with him now and you worked hard to help him get the new and wonderful job.

Clearly, you both rule muchly.

[daddy d]

Everything is together. The both of you have a wonderful life. The new job will only addd to the quality of life. I am impressed with 420 pages of reading in a short time frame. Wow. I thought that my biggest effort to date (216 pages) was good.

[butterflygirl]

I'm not big on camping. You were defnitely brave. The weather was definitely perfect!

Congrats to Luke!

[bdogg_mcgee]

Congrats, Luke!

[PaintingChef]

CONGRATULATIONS LUKE!!! That is really great and exciting news for the two of you!!

[Silly Hily]

Eeeeew, spiders! I wouldn't have been able to sleep either.
Congratulations to Luke! That's wonderful news.
And that book, I need to check it out. Seriously. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Lost A Sock]

Again, a big huge congrats. You guys deserve it.

That last picture of you two is adorable.

And finally, I have a few books for you if you'll trade me the Supersize book?

[Lauren]

Wonderful news! I know from experience how much the unemployment of one's spouse totally sucks ass. Congrats to both of you!

[Number Twelve]

Yay yay yay!!! Congrats, and really, can you guys get any cuter?

See you manana!

[Liz]

Christopher Pike! I remember some of those. What was that series of three that he wrote... Final Friends? (I have no idea where I pulled that from...)

I believe that Not Without My Daughter was made into a movie about 10 years ago, starring Sally Field. Very good movie.

[Elizabeth]

Gosh, look at your cute curls! I would only hope mine could aspire to as cute as yours.
Glad you had fun camping. And that the weather was nice. We went camping in September once: COLD! at night. Also with the spiders: ick!

[Sambo V.]

What a great post! I love your description of the spider. ;) Anywho, glad to hear you're reading more and that you finished one of my favorite books! ;)

[Britt]

You and Luke are the cutest couple! Awwwww! Congrats on the new job.

Very good quote by Lost a Sock.

[Um Ibrahim]

Since you read the book Not without my daughter perhaps Samantha will lend you the book The Kite Runner. God willing if you have a son someday, spiders will be the least of your fears. They have a tendency to bring in and share with you every creepy crawly thing they find. Ugh!!!

[Fraulein N]

Congrats to Luke on the new job! Although I'm too much of a wussy city girl to actually go camping, it sounds like it was fun.

Also, please feel free to write more shoe posts, so I can live vicariously through pictures of your collection.

[New Mezger]

GIRL! You have some hair! I absolutely love your curls! I'm very very envious.

[Emily]

That is such awesome news. Congratulations! And? You have the world's cutest hair. All windswept and adorable... does it totally sound like I'm hitting on you? Sorry.

Anyways, congrats!!

[mjd]

Lost a Sock is one smart lady. If we all spent more time paying it forward instead of paying someone back, the world would be a better place. Knowing the two of you, you will continue to share as you have in the past.

The picture of you and Luke is especially nice; you both look so happy.

[Lizzy in the City]

love the picture of the two of you...you look so happy and blissed out! don't ever let that go!
congratultions to luke, well earned, i'm sure.
and i'm with you on the spiders. i love to camp, but i DO NOT love the critters. things that go rustle in the night leave me feeling angsty and twitchy!

[Boutros]

I wish I could get all my Christopher Pike books back. Chain Letter was AWESOME and the true root of I Know What You Did Last Summer. His books ruled.

[Isabel]

GREAT POST. Too much good stuff to comment on.

(Sorry I haven't visited for a while. Stupid work and their stupid "no internet" rules.)