This week David and I will celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. My dad would say jokingly that the key to a successful marriage is two words "yes dear." My mom might say "coffee and a kiss from my dad every morning."
David and I both agree our first year felt like much longer than 365 days. I could spend this post writing about the woes of our first year, but instead I would write about what we did that allowed us to come out stronger relationally. And while I could say its duck tape and an electric screw driver to put me back together or put back a screw that was loose, in truth it was Faith, Laughter and Dancing.
Faith in the goodness of people, in neighbors that rescued our dog that got out 3 times in the first 2 weeks of work. Faith that I would be provided with employment, where I could be supported, molded and heaven help me appreciated into the damn good social worker I always knew I was. Faith that no matter what situation was thrown our direction, David and I could make it through because we had each other and a spiritual understanding why things happened the way they do and because of that it was easier to wait and accept. (notice how I said easier not easy).
This year we learned to laugh. I can't say that life was funnier, because it wasn't. But we learned to laugh at the situations because at some point they were comical as we couldn't believe that despite our best efforts everything we touched went wrong. Yet our laughter came from watching our dog instead of reality TV, 3 dollar Thursday night dates at Costco for hot dog and soda at the dog park with Potter, text messages filled with lines from the Muppet's, Winnie the pooh, dancing soda from McDonald's and the occasional sesame street reference. This combined with our new found love for the Jimmy Fallon show and Big Bang Theory made for a lot more laughter over this past year. In our life Laughter was the best medicine.
Finally, David and I danced. My grandpa Witkowski used to say "why thank you , remind me and I will dance at your wedding." It is a phrase my dad picked up as well. David and I didn't have a first dance at our wedding however, at least once a week we put out a vinyl record and play a tune. We'll slow dance to the love songs of old. If you could peek into our home some nights you can see us dancing, so in love, so off beat, so out of tune. Yet so happy.
When David and I got married I told him I wanted to be there when he no longer saw life as a Picasso, but instead as beautiful as a Monet. Our life can still be seen very much as a Picasso, crazy , unpredictable and hard to understand. However, every once in a while if we hold still, stand back and stair we see glimpses of Monet. I like to think they stand out most when we have faith, laughter and when we dance.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Desktop computers truly need a desk top to be ergonomically correct.
I live in a house with David and Potter. Its a small studio apartment whose main room is 11 x 16. And yes for those of you quick at math that's 176 square feet. Tack on a very small entrance, the kitchen and a bathroom with a standard tub and we might be pushing 250 square feet total. About every 6 weeks I spend countless hours on the Internet looking up "designing for small spaces" and take all of my furniture and re-arrange it. Thinking that "this time it will satisfy my needs". I have a "space" for my bedroom, living and dinning area. But what there is no room for is an office.
I am a messy person, organized in a way that no one else can understand. In a small house, messy and unorganized equals countless hours of tearing the whole place apart looking for one receipt or a set of heirloom recipes on cards I could have sworn I put in a safe place. It is very frustrating at first, then comical, and then maddening when after spending hours I still can't find what I have been looking for and I have to clean up the whole place. I would give my left arm for space to make an office.
I even went as far as putting out desk to on a window ledge 14 inches deep next to our bed in homes that sitting propped up by pillows would some how make typing easier. But as you can see by the fact that I have not blogged, nor written a long email since doing so, it didn't work either. Sitting on a bed with the desk top on a window ledge is not ergonomically correct and would have the people at workers comp. cringing.
Enter the last "space" in my studio I have not mentioned. The walk in closet. For the past year this has been designated as David's sleeping space. A place that is quiet and dark and a twin bed inside. Seriously I think its bigger than my kitchen. But out of respect for a guy who works nights and doesn't get much sleep, I have never dared to touch it. Until today.
Last night David and I go the giggles as I was trying to sleep and he was sitting up next to me with the cords from Google Mars, and I wake up in the middle of the night sudden, this could not be a good thing, suddenly having images of a computer falling on my head. He looks at me and said "Christina, no body keeps their computer on the window ledge, tomorrow make my room into an office."
This morning, I popped off the hinges to the door of the closet. Just the visual of having 10 more feet of width was helpful. I put up to TV trays (of course miss matching) made it so one could still sleep if needed and installed another light and fan so that the computer user would be comfortable by all the rest of the part sleeps.
"you should blog about this." David told me before he left for the day.
My friend Katherine told me once, Christina you are going to look back on your first year of marriage and laugh, "Hey David, you remember the years we lived in that tiny studio when we had way to much stuff, you re-arranged the furniture all the time and you didn't have a real kitchen but made gourmet meals any way." And I will smile. Yep, I will reply, we learned to laugh more, enjoy small things and never take for granted any space, not even a closet.
Pictures to follow when I am done. I just wanted to blog, now that the computer is comfortable again and I am sitting on a chair and the keyboard in on a proper table.
I am a messy person, organized in a way that no one else can understand. In a small house, messy and unorganized equals countless hours of tearing the whole place apart looking for one receipt or a set of heirloom recipes on cards I could have sworn I put in a safe place. It is very frustrating at first, then comical, and then maddening when after spending hours I still can't find what I have been looking for and I have to clean up the whole place. I would give my left arm for space to make an office.
I even went as far as putting out desk to on a window ledge 14 inches deep next to our bed in homes that sitting propped up by pillows would some how make typing easier. But as you can see by the fact that I have not blogged, nor written a long email since doing so, it didn't work either. Sitting on a bed with the desk top on a window ledge is not ergonomically correct and would have the people at workers comp. cringing.
Enter the last "space" in my studio I have not mentioned. The walk in closet. For the past year this has been designated as David's sleeping space. A place that is quiet and dark and a twin bed inside. Seriously I think its bigger than my kitchen. But out of respect for a guy who works nights and doesn't get much sleep, I have never dared to touch it. Until today.
Last night David and I go the giggles as I was trying to sleep and he was sitting up next to me with the cords from Google Mars, and I wake up in the middle of the night sudden, this could not be a good thing, suddenly having images of a computer falling on my head. He looks at me and said "Christina, no body keeps their computer on the window ledge, tomorrow make my room into an office."
This morning, I popped off the hinges to the door of the closet. Just the visual of having 10 more feet of width was helpful. I put up to TV trays (of course miss matching) made it so one could still sleep if needed and installed another light and fan so that the computer user would be comfortable by all the rest of the part sleeps.
"you should blog about this." David told me before he left for the day.
My friend Katherine told me once, Christina you are going to look back on your first year of marriage and laugh, "Hey David, you remember the years we lived in that tiny studio when we had way to much stuff, you re-arranged the furniture all the time and you didn't have a real kitchen but made gourmet meals any way." And I will smile. Yep, I will reply, we learned to laugh more, enjoy small things and never take for granted any space, not even a closet.
Pictures to follow when I am done. I just wanted to blog, now that the computer is comfortable again and I am sitting on a chair and the keyboard in on a proper table.
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