don't poke the monkey

This morning I accidently got up early with Rebs as he got ready for school. It's always a bit painful as he thinks just because I'm awake & walking around I want to hang out with him. But in reality I NEED him to be very VERY quiet & maybe give me hugs. Hugs & a breakfast burrito. This would be the ideal transition between sleep & wake.  

Yet, today he rejoices saying, "I FINALLY have someone to talk to in the morning. " 

I had to croak out, "No, you don't." 

Now he thinks it's funny to tease me by responding to everything I say in the morningtime with, "NO TALKING!"  

Ha-ha. Little tip: Do not poke the monkey in the morning.

sad reality

is my least favorite kind of reality.

But recently I heard that the elephants living in Bangkok have sad & dangerous lives. After no effort at all I found this.

I'm not sure why I'm so surprised since the 2 other times we saw elephants in Thailand they didn't look like they were living the high life.  Once, outside a temple we saw an elephant in a tiny pen in the hot sun- he looked every unhappy.

When we rode an elephant as part of our trek it was clearly animal cruelty & if we had know what it was going to be like we wouldn't have done it. The elephants kept trying to go off the trail to eat the vegetation & the handlers would pull them back on track with a metal hook in their ear. And again, no shade or water in sight for the poor beasts.

So up with elephants, down with cruelty.

lessons learned

I spoke at the Jesuit Volunteer Corps SW Orientation this week & the following was my introduction. These are the lessons learned, or hyperbolized, or ganked from other JVs.

1. It's not a great idea to introduce your JVC plans to your parents with the line, "Mom, Dad, I'm going to California to be ruined for life!"

2. If one of your housemates says the smell of tuna makes her throw up, I would suggest taking her word for it rather than gathering the casa to conduct what will turn out to be a less that covert experiment.

3. In certain situations 8 people can sleep quite comfortably in a twin bed. Although I suppose some of you already learned this in college.

4. My husband, who spent 2 years with JVI in Micronesia, swears that expiration dates on food are just suggestions, proof of the principle that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

5. If your heat gets turned off during a long holiday weekend one great way to stay warm is to light a bunch of candles & huddle around them while starting your own cottage industry kitting Christmas gifts for every family member you can think of.

6. Specifically for those living in Casa Pedro Arrupe: when drunk frat boys steal a ladder & climb into your second floor windows to check out the "nuns" the priest next door will be quite helpful in getting them to leave.

7. Towards the end of your year you'll start to appreciate retreats for entirely different reasons than you do now, namely the 4 star accommodations: showers without rust, roofs that don't leak, 3 well-cooked meals a day, etc.

8. If this is your first time working full-time it will be important for you to find the local hangout you feel comfortable going to in your pajamas. This serves the duel purpose of not feeling that your social life peaked at 20, & ensuring you don't wake up on Saturday in the same clothes you wore to work on Friday. And again for the Santa Clara folks that location would be the Claren Lounge.

9. There is no good way to respond when, at the end of the day, one of your housemates asks you, "Is this your underwear?" And they're referring to the pair they currently wearing!

a picture

of his hotness. 

Marriage is good.

rebbylove

My lovely & stoic husband who plays Solitaire every night, causing me to fall asleep to the sound of ferocious but tiny clicking noises, said he was fine with me blogging in bed as long as I write about how wonderful he is. Not a problem. He is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

But seriously, I appreciate him for being the kind of guy who uses copious amounts of shower gel on his loofah. Why? Because of the following:

1. It proves his good hygiene habits; something that not every guy in my past has in common.

2. He's a softie! He has a baby blue loofah & he likes bubbles. I think that's adorable.*

3. When I said "I want lots of bubbles." He replied, "So uses lots of bubbles. " The man does not drive himself crazy with the sort of dilemmas I find myself in all the time. I love this new bath gel but if I don't use enough it isn't as nice BUT if I use less it will last longer. So I cut my enjoyment of the previously mentioned bath gel in half to make the less satisfactory experience last months longer apparently forgetting I could just GET MORE bath gel when I run out!

So to sum up that last point: I appreciate Rebby. Because of his inspiration I have now given myself permission to use whatever dang amount of bath gel I want. So there.

* A related conversation from a bunch of boys from my past:

A: I hope you guys don't think I'm a girl for having a loofah.

B: No, I think you're a girl for calling it a loofah.

Still makes me laugh.

got a new haircut

The traditional post-wedding chop. In fact there was another girl in the salon doing the same thing at the same time i was. I really like it bit will probably never be able to style it like my chick does. This is her work in these pics.

By the way I LOVE my hairstylist. She is wondrous, miraculous, & gorgeous. I will not provide a link because I do not want her to get too busy for me.

I am selfish like that.