5 things about today (or yesterday)

1. I finally saw the pictures of my poor sad little blue car (which got in an accident on a quick trip to Columbus that I was not a part of). Luckily, no one got hurt, it was the other driver's fault (and she had insurance), and did I mention that no one got hurt?

2. It is rainy. The sky is gray. But Tuesday, Tuesday was glorious. So spring really is here, it's just that these two dismally gray days have not done much for my spirits.

3. I started working on a new recipe project...aka transforming all the tiny random slips of paper with recipes tried and untried on them into a shiny new binder of easy to use-ness (decidedly not a word).

4. The Office and 30 Rock are on tonight. Yeah, Thursday night pretty much rocks my world.

5. Alana is making supper right now. She's definitely using sesame oil, which makes me happy.

6. (oops, I cheated) A group of housemates and other friends are doing a mix CD exchange in which we all made a CD and are passing it around to all members of the group. A pretty sweet way to hear some new music, if you ask me.

7. (yeah, really cheated) I think you, my dedicated readers, may now subscribe to my blog so that it will send you an email when I have posted. Quite helpful for all you busy May Termers out there (check out the right side bar to subscribe).

Hospitalidad

When I came home for dinner this evening, I was pleasantly surprised to find some additional dinner guests in the kitchen. I had already invited one friend, and now two more were at the table, meaning we had to pull our table away from the wall and squeeze 8 chairs around it (basically, every chair we have in the house). We ate green bean, tomato, and mushroom egg casserole, fruit salad, and fresh homemade bread, and there was enough for everyone. I don't want to lose this casual, last minute sense of hospitality college has fostered for me. Just ran into a friend that you haven't seen in awhile? Bring them home for dinner. There will be enough places at the table and enough food for all. Don't clean, don't bother with fancy dishes (or even more than one utensil per person), it's the fellowship and the people that are important. I love that I can pretty much count on someone dropping by each evening during the week, a steady source of entertainment based on the fact that friends know it's ok (bordering on required) for them to drop by when they want to, without calling ahead. Don't get me wrong, fancy dinners are nice, and have their place, since I love to cook, but impromptu large group meals are my favorite. Just because I am coming to the end of my time of living with/near college students doesn't mean that I need to change my methods of hosting people in my home. Come for dinner. There will always be enough.

Kimberly: "Milk has fat and orange has lemon."
Matthew: "You are science."

Thursday Thoughts

An older Spanish-speaking gentleman came into the co-op to buy eggs today. He handed me two dollars when I told him the price in English ($3.39), so I started talking in Spanish. He told me he'd be back with more money and left me with the eggs and the 2 bucks. Later he came back and told me he didn't have the money, I gave him his $2, and he left. And after he walked out, I thought, Why didn't I just tell him that it was ok, take his 2 dollars, give him the eggs, and then pay the remainder myself? or give him my discount?
I say that I'm for social activism, but what do I actually do? How do I actually serve people each day? And why did I only think of helping out that man after he left? Sigh.

A pretty awful day today. I never quite woke up, things seemed stressful at work. The promise of sweet coffee bliss and time with James at the Brew somehow helped me make it through. Conquering the crossword puzzle and keeping Alzheimer's at bay never hurts either. Things are feeling a little better now. I was able to deal with the strawberry juices spilled all over my messenger bag without any cursing. That's pretty impressive for a person like me. :) Here's to the weekend, and tomorrow being Friday. I will now leave you to snuggle up and read Everything is Illuminated until the new episode of The Office this evening!

Huh?

If any of you know me at all, you understand that I am rarely (if ever) struck speechless. However, in certain interactions with other members of my species, no other response is possible in that moment. (Luckily, I am often able to blog about it afterwards.)

After ringing up the purchases of a middle aged male customer today in a baseball hat and a jacket with some saccharine-sweet saying about Jesus Christ, the following interaction occurred:

Customer: "You have really nice hair. You should grow it out."
Me: "Oh, actually I really like it short."
Customer: [laughs] "We'll see if your husband likes short hair."

This rendered me completely speechless. First of all, I am confident in who I am, short hair and all. I was walking on the mill race yesterday and realized I was walking tall and proud, confident about who I was. I occasionally think back to pre-college me, and realize that she would have been totally uncomfortable with the short hair, large earrings, pleated goodwill skirt over tights me, and I am so glad to be here. I am a woman, and I feel good about who I am, the unconventionally beautiful me who truly enjoys being unconventional. I'm also just not really sure what his intention was...it was sort of a compliment wrapped up in telling me to change my appearance, given to a person he didn't even know. Interesting.

Upon further reflection, I realized the number of vast assumptions he made in that one statement. First, he assumed that I am a heterosexual (because all truly "normal" people are, you see). Second, he assumed that I want to get married (oh right, don't all women my age want to get married, too?). Third, he assumed that women should have long hair (no smarmy comment to put in parenthesis, sorry). Fourth, he assumed that my future husband's opinion about my hair would trump my own. Well, I reject all of his assumptions. I am heterosexual, I do want to get married (to a man who will honour my own opinions about my appearance), but I sure don't need long hair. However, I could have easily been a happily single homosexual, which would have made his comment even more outrageous. The amazing thing is that I'm sure he thought nothing of it. The beauty of having heterosexual white male privilege is that you don't think about these things because you don't have to. Since you are the default, the privileged one, you don't realize that not everyone is like you.

So I will continue to wear my hair short, to reject wedding mania, and to be proud of the woman I am, unwilling to fall into (some) conventional norms. Thus ends my social analysis moment du jour (SAMDJ for short).

Adventures in working at a cooperative store

Odd tasks I have completed in the past two days:
1) gave a customer's dog a bowl of water
2) stabbed a hole in a container of bulk dish soap (25 gallons) with a screwdriver
3) scraped out the last of a giant vat of unfiltered molasses using a large rubber spatula from the deli kitchen for a customer

The not-so odd, but pleasurable:
1) sniffing the new scented soaps
2) reading about the 14 new varieties of tea we now carry
3) taking home free expired yogurt, soymilk, cheese, cookies--YUM

Needless to say, I am really enjoying being back at the co-op. I just came back from a 12 day trip to visit Kate in England, which was a thoroughly enjoyable time. But, it is so nice to be home. As I was flying home I realized that Goshen has really become home, due to the relationships I have here. I have completely amazing and supportive housemates that I was eager to return to. I have an equally (or almost equally) amazing and supportive boyfriend. I have a great job, good community connections....I just feel this sense that I belong here and am loved and fulfilled. Things are good. However, my brain is currently crazed with jet lag, so I hope this actually makes any sense at all. I think it is nap time.

Hopeful

I (now) believe in March resolutions. I am sitting here, wondering just exactly how it is March already. I'll admit, February was pretty terrible. I'm glad to see it gone. About 3 weeks ago, I felt a lot of pressure in my ears. I got really dizzy, almost threw up a couple times one night. Fast forward to now, when after 2 rounds of antibiotics and countless nasal decongestant pills, my ears are still full of excess fluid. Needless to say, February passed by in a blur of sleeping and working, punctuated by doctor's visits and grumpy moments. And don't even get me started on the weather. If there was snow on Monday, it would be completely melted (and the river flooding) by Wednesday. I was in South Carolina two weekends ago for a wedding. When someone asked me if we'd had snow in Indiana in the past week, I honestly couldn't say yes or no. It all blurs together, you see.

March has brought hope. The sun has been shining. There's still snow on the ground, but really, I am ok with snow and sun. My ears feel (a little) better. In less than a week, I will be flying to England to reunite with my good dear friend Kate, which excites me greatly. And at work today, I decided to make a March resolution or two. I would like to start sprouting (seeds, that is). Alfalfa, radish, broccoli, mung beans--I love sprouts, and I'd like to start doing it myself. I'd like to start journaling again (the blur that was February was not conducive to journaling). And I'd like to start some tomato seeds to plant in Roof House's garden this summer. March has brought hope, something that is necessary after a long February.

60 second update

On Valentine's Day I got flowers from the dumpster--wilted yellow roses that brought me infinite joy.

The next day, I developed a rare case of The Spain-itis, manifesting itself in a fever that didn't exist, a cough, and negative energy.

Over the weekend I managed to make myself an egg, eat it, and wash the dishes, and also watch a movie, attend a choir concert, go to church, and henna my hair. These monumental accomplishments had to be squeezed in between numerous naps and cups of tea to fend off the disease.

I haven't updated in ages. So sorry. In other news: I am moving to Denver. I am going to England in less than a month. The sun has shown its face again. And this post took 3, not 1 minute, to create.