The Sound of Settling

Will someone please tell me why, oh why, do people stay in relationships that are anything less than amazing?
Okay, fine, you’re right, I know why. People are afraid to be by themselves, they’re afraid of change, they’re afraid of the unknown, they’re afraid they’ll never find anyone else.
Fear.
Some folks (and we all know them) are allowing fear to dictate their lives.
Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been there. I was married to a great guy for 4 years. Two of them were happy, two were not. And we were both too afraid to make the necessary changes to ourselves and/or our lives even though we were both miserable.
It’s so strange that fear is stronger and more powerful than sadness.
Now that I’m in such an incredible relationship with the love of my life (yeah, I’m sappy), I finally *get it*. I understand how it’s supposed to be. And I cannot for the life of me imagine why I would have settled for anything less than perfect. And he is. Well, not perfect. But perfect for me.
If you think you might be settling, you probably are.

A world without Libras

This morning, as I do every morning, I opened up the Seattle Times to read my horoscope. Now, I’m not one of those people who put a ton of stock in astrology. But still. I enjoy having a little heads up of what my day might look like.

Today, February 24, I did not have a horoscope. There was no prediction for Libra. Went straight from Virgo to Scorpio without any mention of the scales. It’s like we Librans do not even exist. I feel that this does not bode well for my day.

I will be your cowgirl

So I went to this bar called Little Red Hen last night for Ben's birthday party. Let me tell you, picking this bar was a pretty darkhorse move on Ben's part as it's a country western bar. He even created an Evite for it.
"Men don't send Evites!" I say to Tim.
"Apparently, Ben does," Tim says, ever observant.
Anyway, the Evite tell us to go to Little Red Hen on Thursday night. Make sure you've got your boots and your hat and a mustache. I am unsure if I can grow a mustache by Thursday, and I don't have a hat. I do, however, bust out the boots and some cute pigtails.
When we arrive, Ben has thoughtfully provided mustaches for all of us. Tim's looked a little too realistic. With his plaid shirt with snaps and the mustache, he could definitely pass for the Marlboro man. Or maybe a cop from Reno 911.
We get there around 8p, and our group makes up most of the people in there. About an hour later though, the place was packed and the band was ready to play. I am seriously astounded by how many people were in this joint, and ALL of them know the dance moves. Older couples, young fratty-looking guys, girls and guys on dates. Everyone is up and dancing, doing the two-step and some other line dances that seem easy but are actually kinda complicated.
You'll never believe this, but I actually got Tim on the dancefloor. Yes, THAT'S how infectious the vibe was.
We honestly had a really great time. The drinks were strong and cheap. People were friendly and didn't seem to mind that we were all wearing fake mustaches. Everyone was smiling. Hell, the band was good. They even wished Ben happy birthday and played a song for him. We're still not sure how they knew it was his birthday. I think maybe the bourbons made our voices carry.
Yeah, I'm going back to Little Red Hen. I think I want to be a cowgirl when I grow up.

Sushi Love

So Tim and I pretty much rock at making sushi. He bought me a sushi-making kit for Christmas, and we've sliced and rolled together three times now. The first couple times were all right, mostly just about getting the knife skills right and making sure the fillings don't ooze out of the sides of the rolls. But this time, well, this time was another thing entirely. We started with the basics: salmon nigiri, tuna roll. But after we were all warmed up, we decided we had advanced enought to get a little creative. We successfully attempted both a spicy tuna roll AND spicy scallop battleship sushi. And they were both incredible. I do the slicing and dicing, and Tim is the primary roller. Oh, and we bought some bluefin tuna for the very first time for nigiri, and wow, melt in your mouth, to die for. I blame all of of the not-so-perfectly cut pieces on crappy knives. Definitely NOT my knife skills.
Yeah, I expect that we will be opening up a restaurant in the ID very, very soon. Keep your eyes peeled. Now we just need a name....

The Mountain

I've lived in Seattle a little over two years, but I am still completely blown away when The Mountain is out, towering over the city. (The Mountain = Mount Rainier)
In the morning, driving to work, there's a certain bend I come around on I-5. And in the winter, The Mountain is mostly absent. But not this morning. It was out, looming in all of its glory. Honestly, it's breathtaking. I don't know if it's because it's not always visible or really if it's just the sheer size of The Mountain, but it is an astounding sight. Every time.
Ask me again after I've lived here 10 years. I bet I'll say them same thing.

Yeah, that would hurt....

I just got the Sweetheart compilation, and it has a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s I’m On Fire on it. So I am, of course, reminded of Katie.
Going to my Dad’s wedding when we’re seniors in high school, Katie is driving, and we’re not really sure where we’re going. I’m On Fire is on the radio, and I’m singing along. I’m also trying to navigate, but I’m not doing a very good job because, well, I’m not a very good navigator. I would yell, “That’s it!” And she would start to make a turn, and I would realize, “Oh wait. That’s not it.” And she would abruptly swerve back to the main road. This happened three or four times. And then the last time, immediately after saying, “Oh wait...” I realized that “Oh crap. That WAS it.” And she had to u-turn in the middle of the road. She was understandably irritated at my poor directional skills. And I was still singing along to the Boss. For anyone that has heard my singing voice, you will know that it would be annoying as well.
Bruce and I sing, “Sometimes it’s like someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull, and cut a six inch valley in the middle of my.....” But I stop cause I’m confused.
“Is it ‘soul’ or ‘skull’”? I ask Katie.
“What?” she says, trying to not get us killed as she u-turns.
“Does he say ‘soul’ or ‘skull’ right there?”
“I don’t know, Emily. I think it’s toe.”
“WHAT?!” I shriek, laughing already. “You think he’s got a six inch valley in the middle of his toe?!”
“Yes,” says Katie. “That’s why he’s on fire. Cause his toe hurts so bad.” She’s very matter-of-fact about the whole thing.
Yep, that’s why he’s on fire, all right. Cause he toe hurts so bad. Katie is so deep.
I love my best friend.

The Benefits of Book Club

Had Book Club last night. Very, very fun, I must say. Now what you’ve got to realize is that Book Club is really just a reason for the girls to get together, hang out, and drink wine. For some reason, we need a reason for that to happen. I mean, Book Club is great because it challenges us to read stuff we might not otherwise. And all of the ladies are well-educated, intelligent, big voices and opinions, lots to offer. That makes for good conversation. But really, truly, the reason we’re all there is the girl time. It’s weird, you know, as we get older, we don’t spend the same kind of time with our friends. We’re all busy with our lives, work, families. Friends just don’t take priority like they did when we were younger. We actually have to set aside that time, that book club or knitting group (well, for some of us) or happy hour, and schedule an hour or two for friends. I am trying to get better about it though. It’s been harder since I moved to Seattle since I don’t have the same super close, tight knit group of girls that I have in MI. It’s not quite that way out here. But I’m working on it. And I can’t wait for the next Book Club.