Memories

I was looking through my gmail account, and I ran across my first conversations with my husband. Re-reading them made me smile, as I think back. When we first started talking, I never would have believed we would end up married. We were too different, or so I thought. But as we got to know each other, and especially once we met in person, I realized we weren't as different as I had first believed. In fact, in many ways we were incredibly alike. So when my husband asked me out, I was more than willing to give him a chance. Yes, our dating was not typical...but then again, neither are we. Now here we sit, two and a half years later, with our one year anniversary just around the corner. The surprises life can bring!!

Dreams

What is my subconscious trying to tell me when in most, if not all, my driving dreams involve me being either in the passenger seat and driving, or the backseat and driving? If I was to interpret my dreams like Freud or Jung would do so, I would say that my subconscious is telling me I feel out of control, like I need to get my life back. Is this true? I honestly couldn't tell you. Right now, my conscious mind is feeling perfectly content with my situation, but who knows what bubbles beneath the surface? My dream the other night involved me driving from the backseat of my car and getting pulled over (twice!) by cops because I kept missing lights. The headrest on the driver's seat was blocking my vision. Each time I was let off with a warning, and after the second time I was sick of being pulled over and figured it would be best to drive from the driver's seat. And then Mariner somehow appeared in the dream...and it kinda went vague from there. Although I think I recall him being dressed up in a clown costume in our kitchen...but then, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you know how my dreams can go weird. But still, backseat driving....something to think about, or just my crazy imagination acting up again? The world may never know...

Yom Kippur

Admittedly, I have not been posting much lately, either too busy, or simply can't think of anything worthwhile that I have to say. However, on this erev Yom Kippur , I would like to request forgiveness, and wish everyone a G'mar Chasima Tova and wish everyone an easy fast. May we all be inspired and be granted an amazing year!

Writing Prompt

It’s a late summer night, the air humid, not a breeze to be felt. Two boys loiter in front of the local pool, lounging around, trying to look cool dragging a smoke on their cigarettes. Despite the muggy air, they don’t go back to the air conditioned pool room. They are waiting for someone, possibly several someones, they are not sure which. Their contact had not been very specific with them.

The boys are nothing special to look at. Two young men in their early twenties, one blonde, the other dark, neither overly tall nor too short, nothing to mark them as being out of the ordinary. Nothing to show that they were more than just a pair of slackers, wasting another Saturday night. The blonde shifted from foot to foot nervously, which annoyed his companion to no end. “Will you stop that?!” he snapped, quietly. “You act like you’re a fresh greenie, not a seasoned agent.” He sniffed disdainfully, and took another drag at his smoke.

“Well excuse me for breathing,” his companion muttered. “They’re late, and I’m melting in a puddle of my own sweat. Do you even have any idea who we’re looking for?” He nervously sucked on the end of his cig, almost succeeding in burning his tongue.

The blonde roiled his eyes at his compatriot’s stupidity, but answered his question readily enough. “Actually, I managed to get a name out of our contact before he broke off the message.” He smirked, feeling very superior. “One Isaac Dell is who we are meeting. Tall guy, around 6’5, hard to miss.”

“Huh. Isaac Dell? It’s been a while since I heard that name. He was pretty religious once, you know. But he gave it up, said it was too restricting, that he’d rather ‘live life to the fullest’, then be held back by chains of tradition.” He took a thoughtful drag on his cig, and blew out a smoke ring. “Funny, never thought I’d see him here though.”

Tisha B'Av

Not one of my favorite holidays, I'll admit. Fasting for around 25 hours? I don't fast well on even short fasts, and this one is killer. True, you should be sitting in shul, or wherever, and thinking of all the horrible things that have happened to the Jewish people throughout history. However, I can't usually get out of my own misery long enough to do much commiserating. Anyways, hope that everyone has an easy fast!

Ocean-Blue

Don't you love impulse purchases? You know, when you see something you decide you just really want and can't live without it? Whether it be shoes, books, or even pets...Y'see today my husband and I went to Petco (due to my begging) and we were right next door to it. As we walked in, we were greeted by the sight of these pretty little budgies flying around in a glass enclosure. My hubby turned to me and said, "Should we get one?" I, of course, was thrilled with the idea, and now we own a little teal colored budgie named Ocean Blue, Blue for short. Here's a couple of pics of him!

Music and Pictures!

My husband bought me a iPod for my birthday (If you are a longtime reader of my blog you may recall I had one...it works when it feels like it.) Combining music he had on his hard-drive, and music CJ had on her iPod, I now have 13000 songs on my ipod, including several audio books. As my husband says, I'm addicted to music, and so this makes me VERY happy.
My father got me a camera for my birthday. My other one is still working, I just wanted a newer one that worked slightly better. Here are a few pictures that I took with it!

Story: Prisoners

Haven't posted in a while, but not in the mood to type up a whole post now. Instead, I'm gonna post a lil something I wrote a while ago. Hope you enjoy!

As the submarine slowly sank into the water, and then under, I stared out the porthole watching as the scenery turned from clear air to murky water. Fish swam by, completely unconcerned by the huge machine that had invaded their environment. Turning away from the port-hole, I turned to view what would be our home for who knew how long. It was dark, only slightly lit by a low hanging light, and almost completely empty, barring the beds.

I looked at my fellow passengers. Though at this point, fellow prisoners was a better term. None of us had planned to go on this journey, and we had all been thrown together by our captors. Why us, why this specific group of people, we still didn’t know, but I suspected we would by the time we arrived at our destination.

The man who stood closest to me, Charles Vermier, was a tall man, and looked to be in his early forties. Blond and blue eyed with strong features, he had a bearing that spoke of time spent in the Navy. He was quiet, and had barely spoken five words since he had found himself in our company. The strong, quiet brooding type I supposed.

Shrugging inwardly, I turned my eyes toward the petite red-head standing next to Charles, Violet Pren. She with the large blue eyes and full mouth, and rather put me in mind of a fragile china doll. What she brought to this group I had not the first idea, since she was a tiny delicate looking thing. Perhaps she had hidden depths that only our “employers” knew of. She seemed nervous and timid. Though given our situation, I couldn’t really blame her.

Across from her, leaning against a wall and looking entirely unconcerned was my brother, Merlin. Small, with dark curly hair a quick dark eyes, he put one in mind of the bird of his namesake. He appeared to be taking this entirely calmly, but I knew him better than that. Had it been just us, he would have not felt the need to put on a mask and would have been pacing back and forth in the small space we had been allotted, driving me crazy.

And then of course, there’s me, Osprey, the last of our little group. I glanced at my reflection from the porthole, also dark hair, but straight where Merlin’s was curly, and quite a bit longer. Dark brown eyes framed by long lashes with a sprinkling of freckles across my cheeks. Though I tried hard to appear calm on the outside, I feared I was failing miserably, for I could feel myself shaking. I’m not fond of enclosed spaces at the best of times, and this was a scenario out of my worst nightmare. We were trapped in a small space for an unspecified amount of time with complete strangers. We had no idea where we were going, had no way to contact the outside world. Who knew what our imprisoners had in mind for us? I drew in a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. That drew a sharp look from Merlin, he knew how I felt about enclosed spaces. Not that I was claustrophobic, I had just had…a bad experience with them. His eyebrows knotted in concern. I shook my head at him, I would be fine. Really. If I wasn’t….that didn’t bear thinking about.

Packing!

So we've driven all the way to NY and just started packing my husband's books last night. The trunk of the car is already full, and there are still more books to pack! Plus we still need to pack his computer (his laptop in Miami crashed and burned, he's very upset about that) and all of his CD's. I can't wait to put them on the iPod he got me for my B-day. I think we're going to try to finish packing the rest of our stuff on Motzei Shabbos. Hopefully our luggage will still fit! Also while we've been here, my husband's been looking for something to bring back to Miami that only Brooklyn has. No luck so far. Any ideas?

News

When I woke up this morning, my husband told me he was going to go out for a drive. Then, after I call him asking him to get breakfast since he's out (since at this point there are no dishes in our apartment) he calls me back saying he's rented a U-haul Cargo Van and we're going to move the dresser, 2 bookcases and recliner into the apartment ourselves. I was not entirely happy about it to say the least, but we did it in the end. My birthday is in three days, and very much looking forward to that, and then that evening we're driving up to NY for a week and a half. Lots to do!

New Update on all the stuff I haven't been talking about

Thank goodness the semester is almost over. At this point I'm reading my anatomy book/ power-points, and feel like I'm reading Greek. Such as "The Hypophyseal Portal System and Blood Supply to the Pituitary System." Fortunately (or unfortunately) the test is on Thursday and then I'm done with it. As long as I pass at least. Then, once that is out of the way, or perhaps even before that, we'll start moving into our new apartment. Exciting!! Then once we are done moving in (hopefully we should be done by then!) we're driving up to NY for shavuos and to pick up (some) of my husband;s 3000 books that are there. Yes, I did type three thousand, that is not an extra zero. He has a LOT of books, way more than I do, although I believe some of our books overlap. In any case, we plan on getting lots of bookcases to put all of them, which should be fun. Oh, and before I forget, I went with my husband, and saw How to Train Your Dragon and it was awesome. Makes me want a dragon of my own. (Though when haven't I?) Pity we didn't get to see it in 3-D, but otherwise it was fantastic, both in the plot and the animation. The dragons were if not instantly lovable, certainly made so later on. The movie took you into it and carried you off. Lots of fun for all. Anyways, I'm going to go back to studying now, and will hopefully update again soon!

Biking is Fun, Workouts are fun, and I'm Wiped!

Today we got my husband a new bike. I got a bike last week as my "afikomen present". Right after he got the bike, we went biking, all around the neighborhood and a nearby park, fortunately the weather was perfect for it. We biked 10 miles total, which was an accomplishment for me, who had never biked more than 2 miles before! On our way back, I managed to fall off the bike, and almost went flying. Adding new bruises to the fading ones from the last time I went biking. I am obviously not the most coordinated of individuals. Later, after taking a break from biking, I went over to CJ's to exercise. Then, when I got back, I exercised again with my husband. I am SO wiped.

Pesach Cleaning (Or Not)

This year, I'm not cleaning for Pesach. Shocking, isn't it? Ok, well not entirely avoiding cleaning, but since we're selling the kitchen and going to my mother's for all of the meals, it means I have no need to make myself crazy over every little detail. However since my mother is cleaning for Pesach, we invited her and my brother over to our apartment for the shabbos meals so she has one less thing to worry about. We still need to clean the car, vacuum carpet, make sure all the chometz stuff is actually in the kitchen... But Pesach should be a lot of fun this year, especially with my husband conducting the seder. It'll be interesting to see how long it will go. Wishing everyone a chag kasher v'sameach!

Last Night's "Nightmare"

*BANG pop pop BANG*
I turned over slowly, still more than half asleep. Cannons? In South Florida? Wait a sec...those weren't cannons...those were gunshots! Still lying in bed, hearing people yelling, hearing more "bang" and "pop", debating whether to call 911. Hearing a car drive away. Checking my phone for the time. 3 AM. Then there was a very very loud bang and I saw sparks fly. That got me out of bed and looking out the window. Outside, in the apartment building's parking was a car on fire. Not just coming oiut of the hood, but the entire car was in flames. I started shaking and woke my husband up. Then I dialed 911, as I was waiting for someone to pick up, he showed me there were cops already there. I felt slightly relieved. We watched as a fire truck came and dowsed the car, till there was nothing left but a smoldering heap of metal. I tried to fall back asleep, but my husband was too wound up. He left the room. Came back later to tell me that what was left of the car had been towed. When I woke up this morning, it all seemed like a bad dream, but when I looked out the window there was a huge black spot where the car had burned. Scary.

Wedding, Sheva Brachos and All the Rest...

Wow, okay, haven't written for a while, but considering I just got married, I think it's excusable. The wedding was gorgeous, and yes, I am biased, but considering I heard it from a lot of other people too, I believe it's true. It rained and drizzled all day, so in the end the chupah was held inside the hall, but as my husband and I agreed later, that was really for the best. The theme color was blue/teal. Not surprising to those who've been reading my blog for a while. Lots of dancing, lots of fun was had by all, and CJ took lots of pics (547 to be exact) afterwards, she printed them out stuck them in an album and gave them to us at our second sheva bracha. She didn't print out ALL of them, just 200, and gave us a CD with the other pictures. We had 2 nights of the sheva brachos in Florida and those were lots of fun, especially since the first half of the second sheva bracha we sat in mostly darkness since the block's lights went out. But it was cool, because we used some of the lanterns we had from the wedding. Incredibly early the next morning we hopped on a plane and went to NY for the rest of the sheva brachos. After we got off the plane, we slept for several hours in his parents’ basement. Did I mention we were up REALLY early? We stayed at a hotel the few nights we were there, had sheva brachos at a few people’s houses, saw our good friends Moshe and Jacob, delivered shaloch manos on purim, were very late for our last sheva bracha and left late on Sunday back to nice warm Miami. We finally got stuff toiveled and now have real plates to eat off of. But now that we’re back, I have some school work to make up…namely an anatomy test. Uch. Wish me luck! And now I think that brings everything up to date.

Getting Married TOMORROW!!!!

I can not believe that I am getting married tomorrow. At random intervals it hits me how close the wedding is and how much my life is going to change. I am giddily happy and excited and cannot convey this enough through the mere medium of writing. Unfortunately, won't be able to blog on the wedding day since my computer is in the process of being fixed, and I am currently using my mother's. We're going up to NY for the last 4 Sheva Brachos on Thursday and our last Sheva Bracha is going to be on Purim. That should be lots of fun! :) Of course, then we get back and I have to take an anatomy test and a Hebrew test. Not so fun, but not going to worry about it the day before my wedding. If you have any names you want me to daven for, just leave it in my comments, or shoot me an e-mail.

Wedding and Cold

I'm getting married in a week and have a very bad cold. NOT fun. I spent the past 2 days in bed, and should be in bed now, but I am so sick of sleeping...not to mention my bridal shower was today which was what got me up in the first place. Now comes the week of rushing around and getting ready, but first I have to get better. I think I'm about ready to crawl into bed and sleep some more.

Synthetic Sheital

I doubt whoever wrote this joke was thinking of sheitals....but still funny when put that way. Enjoy!

GCF: Who Did Your Hair?

"Good heavens! Who did your hair? It looks like a wig!"

"It is a wig."

"Really? You could never tell."

Apology and Musings

I know, I haven't posted in 2 weeks, maybe more. I've been busy! Classes, getting ready for the wedding, studying, and tons of pressure. It's a wonder anyone stays sane when getting married. I have noticed one thing though, it seems to be the case that most guys would rather elope than deal with all the nonsense entailed in a big marriage party. While it would probably be a whole lot stressful, like the stereotypical girl, I love the idea of a wedding. Getting dressed up, having friends and family be there, taking pictures, to have for posterity. So I can look back and show my kids, see this is how we looked then. Some couples are given the choice by their parents. The "Golden Ladder" I've heard it called. (I think) Take all the money that would be used for the wedding and use it for other things. I know that one couple that was offered that preffered having a wedding. We were never given that choice, and honestly I can't say which way I would have decided. Either way, doesn't really matter now. The wedding is in 3 weeks and one way or another it will be over soon enough. Maybe I'll have more time to post then.

First Day of Class

I'm taking a hebrew class, and that was my first class of the semester. It was...interesting to say the least. Most of the students had some kind of background in hebrew, and for the most part were Jewish (though not religious), there were perhaps 3 or 5 who had no idea what was flying, and the teacher gave them hebrew names. We learned three letters of the 'aleph-beis' (not the first three letters either, don't ask me why, I've got not a clue) Anyways, this should be an interesting class throughout the semester. We were put into groups and I somehow became the self-proclaimed 'leader' of our group if only because I was the only one who knew what was flying and was not too shy to speak. Tomorrow starting two of my other classes, can't wait to see how that goes. And right now, Mariner is jumping on me, wanting to play, so I'm gonna stop typing so he'll stop drooling on my keyboard and play with him.

Back from NY

So I'm back from NY, just got in tonight. I'm tired and a lil cranky and feeling mixed emotions. Glad to be back where it's warmer (50 degrees as opposed to 30 plus wind chill), good to be home, but missing my chasson, starting to stress about the wedding (thank G-d that my mother is so organized or I'd be ready to tear my hair out), and dreading the start of the semester come Monday. A full week and a half of the freezing NY weather was definetely enough for me, thank goodness the wedding is going to be in Miami. We did lots of things (including WAY too much eating out), movies (Sherlock Holmes and Avatar), registering for the wedding (Bed, Bath and Beyond and Amazon.com), wandering around different stores including several jewelry galleries, Ikea, and FAO Schwartz. I got a shaitel with my future mother-in-law, and snoods, and robes. We went and ordered a ton of things from Eichlers, and got the chasson watch. And I started thinking of more posts contrasting NY and Miami, which is now I think one of my favorite past times. Oh, and when I was there we saw Jacob da Jew, went to Moshe for a meal, and met with Mike in Midwood at the vort and at Moshe's. It was good to see all of you again!