I have started SO many blogs in these last three months but haven't managed to finish any to the posting point. Therefore, I'm doing a BIG, two part notably positive blog and hopefully get back on track.
July was one big heatwave here in St. Louis so we took every chance we could get to cool off. Branden's friend invited us to spend some of the July 4th weekend at his parent's lake house in Illinois. When Branden said lake house I was thinking a house NEAR a lake but this was a house with back steps that lead TO the lake. I put on a bathing suit for the first time in two years and got in the water with everyone else. I rode a jet ski for the first time ever and just enjoyed the cool water. We left before fireworks so we met up with other friends and had a good time watching a show put on by the city of Webster Groves.
With the same friends, Matt, Heather and her daughter Haley, we also took trips to Bonne Terre Mine and the St. Louis Science Center. The mine is an old lead mine that has filled with water and is now a billion gallon underground lake. We took a walking tour and boat ride and just had a great time. The Science Center is always fun- and free except for parking and special exhibits!- and this time we actually took the time to see the planetarium as well.
For those of you who don't know, my mom is the oldest of nine children and her youngest brother, my uncle David, is only 5 years older than I am. He is finishing up his schooling as an orthopedic surgeon and will be completing a fellowship here in St. Louis. So one Sunday in July, Branden and I helped his family move into the house that will be their home for the next year. It's great to have some family around and I love spending time with Aunt Jen and my cousin Annabelle. Annabelle is four months old and I get to hold her and admire her almost every Monday when we get together for baking and crafting.
We finally got the new phones and phone plans that Branden has been wanting for years. We switched to Virgin Mobile and we now pay less money each month ($55 a month for me to have unlimited talk, messaging and data!) and get everything we wanted. I will admit that I was nervous about getting a smart phone, but I am enjoying looking things up on the internet any time I want and not feeling embarrassed to pull out my phone to show off pictures of my nieces and nephews... So send those pictures, guys!
Not really in the positive pile, but still notable, I got my first fillings in July. They had to numb my mouth multiple times before I couldn't feel anything and then I got some painful sores at all of my injection sites but it's over now and I no longer have a hole in my tooth.
In August the heat finally broke. It didn't stay cool for the entire month but not every day was unbearably hot. I got the last of my fillings and both of us got our teeth cleaned. I am all caught up on my dental stuff until my next cleaning in February! The month was fairly quiet for us. Our friends are in a bowling league and the season started again so we spent some time up at the bowling alley with them. I taught Aunt Jen to make creme brulee, cheesecake and focaccia bread. Branden's friend gave us homegrown tomatoes and jalapenos so we made fresh salsa. And we rounded out the month by babysitting sweet Annabelle so Dave and Jen could go to a welcome dinner.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Notably Positive September: Super Best Parts Version
September was a BUSY month for us! We went out every weekend, often multiple times each weekend.
It started with the BEST Labor Day weekend I have ever enjoyed! Branden and I were both off work Sunday and Monday so we crammed as much into those days as possible. We went to a Greek festival at the Greek Orthodox church on Sunday. We ate food, took a church tour, watched some dancing and ate more food. Then we wandered around Laumeier Sculpture Park- a 96 acre outdoor "museum"- to burn off some of the pastries. Monday we headed to Illinois for a Victorian festival and Civil War reenactment! We wandered through booths shopping, toured a Victorian mansion, looked at steam-powered machinery, heard Lincoln give the Gettysburg Address, watched an embalming demonstration, rode on a stage coach, watched the skirmish... Oh, yeah, and ate more food. It was the BEST DAY EVER!... Or at least really close. I even got to get my picture taken with Abraham Lincoln.
The next weekend I went to Hooters for the first time... For a friend's birthday. The food was ok but I was disappointed that the girls were not as cute as I thought they should be. :P Sunday found us at the St. Louis Art Fair. We didn't buy any art- everything was fairly expensive- but we did eat more food! (At the beginning of Muppet's Christmas Carol Gonzo says, "I am here to tell the story." Rizzo the Rat adds in, "And I am here for the food." Well, that is pretty much the theme of all of our outings in the month of September. Just keep that in mind.) After eating lunch there, we went to a mall and wandered around there for a while before getting dinner and going to watch Branden's friends play softball.
Sunday the 18th we headed into downtown St. Louis for the Hispanic Festival. It was pouring rain so a lot of booths weren't open but we still got good food before we wandered around Soldier's Memorial- I won't lie, I cried. Afterward, we headed to Anheuser-Busch Brewery for the Brewery Tour. The brewery has been an important part of St. Louis history and the tour was a lot of fun and quite interesting. I did spend the entire day with wet feet, though. :( I ended up with my first cold in 2 years on Tuesday and I can't say that having cold, wet feet all day Sunday didn't add to my immune susceptibility.
Despite my miserable cold, I was NOT going to miss out on having a great anniversary weekend. I took lots of zinc and vitamin C, slept as much as I could and knocked back shots of Dayquil and Nyquil. By Saturday, I was tired and still sick but functioning fairly well. Saturday night we went to Taste of St. Louis... And ate food. We got to try food from a lot of different restaurants and found a couple that we'd actually like to visit in the future. We took the light-rail downtown so that we wouldn't have to worry about parking. Neither one of us had ever been on a train so it was a first and I have to say I'd do it again.
After a late night out on the town, we got up relatively early, put on costumes and headed to Pirate Fest! Oh, yes, we spent the day with friends, dressed as pirates, eating food, watching pirate-themed entertainment and shopping for pirate items... And we fit right in. Branden has been teaching himself to make leather pouches and he's actually doing pretty well. He made me a leather belt hook for my pewter mug and a couple of pouches to carry everything we needed for the day and I was proud to use all of the things he'd made. We found an awesome necklace for me and a pirate hat for Branden. We had so much fun and I could almost ignore my cold. I was pretty wiped out at the end of the day but it was a good tired. I can't imagine that we could have had a better anniversary and we're already making plans to be back at Pirate Fest next year.
So, those are all the best parts- and a couple of the not as great parts- of the last three months. If you made it this far, congratulations! If not, well, this is more for my own remembering in the long run.
Monday, June 13, 2011
My First Dental Visit In A VERY Long Time
Last Sunday while I was eating I suddenly became aware that something was wrong in my mouth. My very back molar on the bottom left side of my mouth had a piece of tooth missing! This would be traumatic for most people but you need to understand that in my 29 years of life I've NEVER had a cavity filled. That's not to say that I didn't figure that I had a few since it's been at least eleven years *cough*probablythirteen*cough* since my butt has sat in a dentist's chair. I won't deny a few panicked tears when I realized the inevitable trip to the dentist.
After a week of dread, this morning found me sitting in an exam chair. It was interesting to see how far dental technology has progressed since the last time I went. They took x-rays of most of my teeth that appeared on the computer screen instantly! The panoramic x-ray was the same as before but it was still kinda fun to once again see the healed crack in my jaw: my only bone that has ever broken. (It was broken during my birth but nobody knew until I was 13. The dentist was interested in seeing it, too. He said it's not something that you see every day.)
After looking at the x-rays, the dentist said that my teeth actually look pretty good. Yes, there's the one big cavity but nothing else that is big. Then he did the real exam and looked at my teeth and gums. While I do have a total of six cavities- yep, five more small ones- my gums are healthy, I have minimal plaque and tarter and no big concerns. :) After the cavities are filled- two separate visits for that- I'll be looking at quite the healthy mouth! It's crazy to think that I've gone this long without seeing a dentist and was dreading hearing that my mouth was simply rotting only to find out that I only have six cavities.
Yes, you could say, "Wow! Six is a lot of cavities for one dental visit!" But when you look at it from the perspective of six cavities in my entire 29 years- or even six cavities in more than a decade with no professional dental care- well, that's really not bad!
Branden has an appointment for tomorrow. He already has a mouth full of silver and he knows he's getting more fillings. This is an old game to him. He's been telling me that there's nothing to worry about this whole week but I didn't really believe him. Sure, there's still a lot of pain to come for both of us but we'll probably both survive.
After a week of dread, this morning found me sitting in an exam chair. It was interesting to see how far dental technology has progressed since the last time I went. They took x-rays of most of my teeth that appeared on the computer screen instantly! The panoramic x-ray was the same as before but it was still kinda fun to once again see the healed crack in my jaw: my only bone that has ever broken. (It was broken during my birth but nobody knew until I was 13. The dentist was interested in seeing it, too. He said it's not something that you see every day.)
After looking at the x-rays, the dentist said that my teeth actually look pretty good. Yes, there's the one big cavity but nothing else that is big. Then he did the real exam and looked at my teeth and gums. While I do have a total of six cavities- yep, five more small ones- my gums are healthy, I have minimal plaque and tarter and no big concerns. :) After the cavities are filled- two separate visits for that- I'll be looking at quite the healthy mouth! It's crazy to think that I've gone this long without seeing a dentist and was dreading hearing that my mouth was simply rotting only to find out that I only have six cavities.
Yes, you could say, "Wow! Six is a lot of cavities for one dental visit!" But when you look at it from the perspective of six cavities in my entire 29 years- or even six cavities in more than a decade with no professional dental care- well, that's really not bad!
Branden has an appointment for tomorrow. He already has a mouth full of silver and he knows he's getting more fillings. This is an old game to him. He's been telling me that there's nothing to worry about this whole week but I didn't really believe him. Sure, there's still a lot of pain to come for both of us but we'll probably both survive.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
"Woo-ee-oo, I Look Just Like Buddy Holly"
Branden needs corrective lenses. Without them, he can't tell that I'm me from across the room. A couple of weeks ago he decided that it had been too long since he'd had glasses. He hasn't had a pair since we got together and he needed to pick some up for those times that his allergies were bothering his eyes or he just didn't want to wear contacts.
He went to Pearl Vision, got an exam and picked a few pairs then took me back to help him choose. Every time he put on a particular pair I started laughing. It's not that he looked BAD in them but... They were such typical nerd glasses! As it turns out, my laughing mattered little as he already had his heart set. We purchased the glasses and he went back about a week later to pick them up. And here he is:
What a handsome nerd I've married!
(To be accurate, these are NOT the same type of glasses that Buddy Holly wore, nor are they the same as Rivers Cuomo's glasses but, you know, close enough. Also, I like the song!)
He went to Pearl Vision, got an exam and picked a few pairs then took me back to help him choose. Every time he put on a particular pair I started laughing. It's not that he looked BAD in them but... They were such typical nerd glasses! As it turns out, my laughing mattered little as he already had his heart set. We purchased the glasses and he went back about a week later to pick them up. And here he is:
What a handsome nerd I've married!(To be accurate, these are NOT the same type of glasses that Buddy Holly wore, nor are they the same as Rivers Cuomo's glasses but, you know, close enough. Also, I like the song!)
Friday, June 10, 2011
Maybe Only Funny to Me
Just a quick story that makes me giggle before I head off for work today. First, a few things you should know:
1) Wednesday night is bacon night. Yes, every Wednesday BACON is part of our meal. Be it on potatoes, in a casserole, in biscuits or standing alone, bacon is on our dinner table.
2) Branden has a very nice friend who raises chickens and has given me free eggs! If you've read my blog for a while you may know that I LOVE eggs and always have more than a dozen in the house. I have never met this man but I would believe that he is the type who would pull a puppy out of a river simply because he gave me FREE eggs. :)
3)Our new fridge has been dripping water into the bottom and, consequently, onto the kitchen floor so Branden called the management company. They sent a guy to fix it yesterday.
4)Most of our life has been moved to our new apartment but there's still stuff over at the old-- mostly stuff we don't need... Oh, and the animal members of our household which Branden considers to be part of the stuff we need and I, well, we'll just say I'm loving leaving every door open and walking through an apartment that is almost completely devoid of drifting fur. Among those things still at the old place are all the condiments that go in a refrigerator door and most of the random things you have in your fridge but never think about. I brought over butter, eggs, cheese, bacon and a package of bratwurst as those seemed to be the only things in there that I cared about moving in the small cooler I had at that time.
Branden's friend sent him home with two dozen MORE eggs on Wed. :) Since it was bacon night and we had little to eat in the house, we had bacon and eggs and finished off a different dozen of eggs. I left the carton on the counter so Branden could return it to his friend. Our fridge now contains three cartons of eggs. When we came home yesterday there was a note saying that the fridge was fixed. I opened the fridge and saw for a brief instant what the maintenance guy must have seen: empty shelves except for a block of cheese, a couple bottles of water, a pack of brats and three dozen eggs with another empty egg carton sitting next to the fridge. Kinda makes you wonder what's up with these people, doesn't it?
It may not be funny to you, but I had a good giggle.
1) Wednesday night is bacon night. Yes, every Wednesday BACON is part of our meal. Be it on potatoes, in a casserole, in biscuits or standing alone, bacon is on our dinner table.
2) Branden has a very nice friend who raises chickens and has given me free eggs! If you've read my blog for a while you may know that I LOVE eggs and always have more than a dozen in the house. I have never met this man but I would believe that he is the type who would pull a puppy out of a river simply because he gave me FREE eggs. :)
3)Our new fridge has been dripping water into the bottom and, consequently, onto the kitchen floor so Branden called the management company. They sent a guy to fix it yesterday.
4)Most of our life has been moved to our new apartment but there's still stuff over at the old-- mostly stuff we don't need... Oh, and the animal members of our household which Branden considers to be part of the stuff we need and I, well, we'll just say I'm loving leaving every door open and walking through an apartment that is almost completely devoid of drifting fur. Among those things still at the old place are all the condiments that go in a refrigerator door and most of the random things you have in your fridge but never think about. I brought over butter, eggs, cheese, bacon and a package of bratwurst as those seemed to be the only things in there that I cared about moving in the small cooler I had at that time.
Branden's friend sent him home with two dozen MORE eggs on Wed. :) Since it was bacon night and we had little to eat in the house, we had bacon and eggs and finished off a different dozen of eggs. I left the carton on the counter so Branden could return it to his friend. Our fridge now contains three cartons of eggs. When we came home yesterday there was a note saying that the fridge was fixed. I opened the fridge and saw for a brief instant what the maintenance guy must have seen: empty shelves except for a block of cheese, a couple bottles of water, a pack of brats and three dozen eggs with another empty egg carton sitting next to the fridge. Kinda makes you wonder what's up with these people, doesn't it?
It may not be funny to you, but I had a good giggle.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
June So Far
Kids are out of school, the cicadas are buzzing like mad and the heat index put us at about 100 degrees today... It's summertime in St. Louis! (If you've never lived in a humid state and don't know about heat index, here's a little reading for you! Also, if you, like Branden, haven't lived in a state with cicadas and don't know what I'm talking about, Wikipedia has an article about them, too.)
We signed our new lease Tuesday evening and have started moving in. I'm really excited for this new place, if you didn't guess from my previous post. I know that I mentioned that it has two bathrooms and this current apartment only has one so you know what that means: We need to buy new things! :) I have never been in a position to really buy nice, matching bathroom items but we still had some wedding gift cards... So when Branden suggested that we run to the Mart that is Wal I immediately decided it was time to spend them. I was so excited about our new towels and bath curtain that I declared we must go and hang them up without delay. (And now I'm writing a blog about them so I MUST be extraordinarily excited about ordinary things.) We chose a green and brown color scheme and I put the towels on the bar exactly as Martha Stewart would have. It's not completely finished but we have a decent guest bathroom!
I know that paragraph was a little rambling and not well thought-out but it is after midnight and I've got to work in the morning and I'm forcing myself to not read it over and over to come up with better wording. If I let myself, I can write a blog in ten minutes and then spend the next hour editing... Must resist editing urges! So here's a fairly un-edited blog to let you know that I'm alive, things are moving forward and, most of all, I have nice brown and green towels in a bathroom that all my guests will see.
We signed our new lease Tuesday evening and have started moving in. I'm really excited for this new place, if you didn't guess from my previous post. I know that I mentioned that it has two bathrooms and this current apartment only has one so you know what that means: We need to buy new things! :) I have never been in a position to really buy nice, matching bathroom items but we still had some wedding gift cards... So when Branden suggested that we run to the Mart that is Wal I immediately decided it was time to spend them. I was so excited about our new towels and bath curtain that I declared we must go and hang them up without delay. (And now I'm writing a blog about them so I MUST be extraordinarily excited about ordinary things.) We chose a green and brown color scheme and I put the towels on the bar exactly as Martha Stewart would have. It's not completely finished but we have a decent guest bathroom!
I know that paragraph was a little rambling and not well thought-out but it is after midnight and I've got to work in the morning and I'm forcing myself to not read it over and over to come up with better wording. If I let myself, I can write a blog in ten minutes and then spend the next hour editing... Must resist editing urges! So here's a fairly un-edited blog to let you know that I'm alive, things are moving forward and, most of all, I have nice brown and green towels in a bathroom that all my guests will see.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Slightly Disjointed Ramblings
I'm counting down the Mondays until I no longer have to pay for laundry... Including today there are 3. That's not to say that I will immediately be doing laundry there full time but I will do the less essential stuff there and do the more essential stuff as we move in.
In continued good news, I got a raise at work! I trained a part-time employee who works under me and have become more of a manager. I love my job and it's great that my boss puts her faith in me and appreciates my efforts.
I turned 29 last month. It's not too different from 28 to be honest and, so far, I haven't felt any kind of panic about the fact that I'll be 30 next year. Branden's 31st birthday is Wednesday so we're both getting older. :P He took today off so he could have a three-day weekend before the big day.
We are down to one laptop. Mine has been more of a tabletop- unable to be moved without it shutting down- for a few months and a little over a week ago it decided to stop turning on altogether. Because of this I'll be even more unlikely to post in the next couple of months. Branden is waiting for me to finish typing and it's incredibly hard to concentrate with that knowledge so I'll go for now. If you made it though all my rambling, thanks for reading and I'll post more when I can.
In continued good news, I got a raise at work! I trained a part-time employee who works under me and have become more of a manager. I love my job and it's great that my boss puts her faith in me and appreciates my efforts.
I turned 29 last month. It's not too different from 28 to be honest and, so far, I haven't felt any kind of panic about the fact that I'll be 30 next year. Branden's 31st birthday is Wednesday so we're both getting older. :P He took today off so he could have a three-day weekend before the big day.
We are down to one laptop. Mine has been more of a tabletop- unable to be moved without it shutting down- for a few months and a little over a week ago it decided to stop turning on altogether. Because of this I'll be even more unlikely to post in the next couple of months. Branden is waiting for me to finish typing and it's incredibly hard to concentrate with that knowledge so I'll go for now. If you made it though all my rambling, thanks for reading and I'll post more when I can.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Super Fast Post
Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I don't tend to post when I'm feeling down because I figure that nobody really wants to read my whining. Recently I've been feeling REALLY down about myself but today I have some good news so I'm going to share!
Our lease is up June 30 and we HATE our apartment so we've been looking to move. Today we found out that we have been approved for the apartment we want! It's not actually any closer to our workplaces but there a long list of good things that come with it, namely:
A) It's a nicer complex with a decent parking lot, cleaner areas and well-maintained buildings.
B) Branden's friend lives there so we have a first-hand account of how the management company, well, manages things. Also, because Branden's friend lives there we actually have a neighbor to whom we will be neighborly... Have I ever mentioned that we're not really neighborly?
C) Not only are there washers and dryers in all units, the ones in our apartment are brand-spanking-NEW! Oh, yes, front load, high efficiency, stackable Whirlpool washer and dryer that will likely ruin me for every other washer and dryer for years to come and they will be ours to use for as long as we choose to stay!
D) As if that wasn't enough, the apartment also has a LARGE kitchen with a full-sized stove. And the kitchen is open to the living room so I can still be part of the living-action while cooking.
E) Oh, yes, there's more! TWO bathrooms and a balcony!
F) Before I go any leave out the grain of sugar that tipped the scale completely, our first month's rent is free so we can sign the lease June 1st and have an entire month to move and clean this craptastic apartment without paying any extra.
HUZZAH, HUZZAH!! New apartment here we come!
Our lease is up June 30 and we HATE our apartment so we've been looking to move. Today we found out that we have been approved for the apartment we want! It's not actually any closer to our workplaces but there a long list of good things that come with it, namely:
A) It's a nicer complex with a decent parking lot, cleaner areas and well-maintained buildings.
B) Branden's friend lives there so we have a first-hand account of how the management company, well, manages things. Also, because Branden's friend lives there we actually have a neighbor to whom we will be neighborly... Have I ever mentioned that we're not really neighborly?
C) Not only are there washers and dryers in all units, the ones in our apartment are brand-spanking-NEW! Oh, yes, front load, high efficiency, stackable Whirlpool washer and dryer that will likely ruin me for every other washer and dryer for years to come and they will be ours to use for as long as we choose to stay!
D) As if that wasn't enough, the apartment also has a LARGE kitchen with a full-sized stove. And the kitchen is open to the living room so I can still be part of the living-action while cooking.
E) Oh, yes, there's more! TWO bathrooms and a balcony!
F) Before I go any leave out the grain of sugar that tipped the scale completely, our first month's rent is free so we can sign the lease June 1st and have an entire month to move and clean this craptastic apartment without paying any extra.
HUZZAH, HUZZAH!! New apartment here we come!
Monday, March 14, 2011
3.14 and My Grandmother's Cookbook
Today is Pi Day so... I made cheesy chicken pot pie, from scratch, for dinner. :)
The basic recipes for both the filling and the cheese crust came from my grandma's cookbook. Oh, yes, that's right, there's CHEESE in the pie crust as well! I have made my own changes- the cheese wasn't one of them- but the overall intent is the same: Deliciousness in a savory pie crust.
I don't know if I've mentioned before that I have a cookbook that once belonged to my grandmother on my dad's side. In it you will find instructions for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING kitchen and cooking related! If you ever need to know how to eviscerate poultry or rabbit, I have the instructions. Are you curious as to how to set a proper table or what was considered necessary when starting a kitchen in the late 1940s? I have that information as well and, not surprisingly, it's not completely irrelevant in today's world. I can also give you multiple recipes for jello salads and aspics which nobody in their right mind would consider making today. I can tell you what the temperature range is for an oven heated to moderate and how to test your oven when there is no temperature gauge. There is even a section on nutrition and a Wartime Postscript instructing you to use that information to keep your family healthy because, "A healthy nation is the best contribution our homes can make to our war effort." (I told you it was from the 1940s.)
My grandma's cookbook is full of history- including, but not limited to, the family kind. It's over fifty years old and is full of notes and recipes that she scribbled in margins, in the index, on both the front flyleaf and the back one, the title page... Pretty much everywhere there was a little space. Also tucked between the pages are recipes written on note cards and newspaper clippings. It's my own treasure chest- filled with the kind of gold that not everyone will appreciate- and I am incredibly lucky to have it.
*Update* I intended to post the recipe but got busy writing about the book. :P If anyone is interested in having it, let me know and I'll post it here.
Monday, February 21, 2011
"Hold Me Like You'll Never Let Me Go"
I like hugs. No, I love hugs. When I am having a bad day, a hug is all I want. When Branden and I are arguing or I am freaking out over something, Branden could stop most of it in its tracks if he'd just reach out a give me a good hug... Which is hard for him to do as it's completely against his nature but it'd be a wise thing for him to remember if he wants problems to be solved more quickly. Nothing calms me faster or soothes me more than being held, really held, by someone who loves me.
When words fail, there are always hugs and I give them when I have nothing else to give. I've been told that I give good hugs and I put that down to the fact that I try to give the kind of hugs I wish to receive. It's hard to describe what I mean and I can't show you because you are on the other side of a computer screen, likely many miles from where I am... I'll do my best, though.
To begin, a good hug needs to have feeling behind it. Anyone can toss their arms around someone for a nanosecond with little-to-no feeling before rushing off to do whatever they think is important. To be a good hug, no, a TRUE hug, there needs to be love. Be it love for a spouse or other family member, love for a friend or just love for a fellow being in need, it is the most important part of a true hug.
A true hug should be firm but not like a boa constrictor. You're not trying to squeeze the life out of someone, but hold the life in. Be it joy or pain spilling out, a hug is emotion contained in our arms.
A true hug should give you permission to fall apart when you need to because the person hugging you will be holding the pieces together. Cry on my shoulder, let that part inside you snap because I won't let any of your pieces get lost. They are right here in my arms waiting until you can hold on to them again. I cannot fix you with a hug but I can buy you a little time to help you fix yourself.
A true hug doesn't have a time limit. It lasts as long as is needed. Maybe it's just a short moment in time, a quick reassurance before we head our separate ways. Maybe it's multiple minutes when comfort is needed or we are parting for a long period of time.
A true hug is pure and safe. There are no ulterior motives. You cannot take a hug. Hugs can only be given and their value doesn't decrease with number or frequency of use.
Hugs are one of the things I miss the most about living close to my family. Phones and internet have enabled me to keep communication going but they won't let me touch anyone. There are many moments in my current life that I would do just about anything to wrap my arms around my sister or to spend thirty seconds in my dad's embrace. My mom has told me that I am the most physically affectionate of all of her children and that I taught our family how to hug. If I do only that with my life then I will have made the world a better place.
But I am not content to only do that. I want everyone to learn how to hug. So do me- and yourself- a favor: When you leave your computer, go hug someone. Practice giving true hugs because the next time I see you, I intend to give you one and I hope that you'll give one back to me.
When words fail, there are always hugs and I give them when I have nothing else to give. I've been told that I give good hugs and I put that down to the fact that I try to give the kind of hugs I wish to receive. It's hard to describe what I mean and I can't show you because you are on the other side of a computer screen, likely many miles from where I am... I'll do my best, though.
To begin, a good hug needs to have feeling behind it. Anyone can toss their arms around someone for a nanosecond with little-to-no feeling before rushing off to do whatever they think is important. To be a good hug, no, a TRUE hug, there needs to be love. Be it love for a spouse or other family member, love for a friend or just love for a fellow being in need, it is the most important part of a true hug.
A true hug should be firm but not like a boa constrictor. You're not trying to squeeze the life out of someone, but hold the life in. Be it joy or pain spilling out, a hug is emotion contained in our arms.
A true hug should give you permission to fall apart when you need to because the person hugging you will be holding the pieces together. Cry on my shoulder, let that part inside you snap because I won't let any of your pieces get lost. They are right here in my arms waiting until you can hold on to them again. I cannot fix you with a hug but I can buy you a little time to help you fix yourself.
A true hug doesn't have a time limit. It lasts as long as is needed. Maybe it's just a short moment in time, a quick reassurance before we head our separate ways. Maybe it's multiple minutes when comfort is needed or we are parting for a long period of time.
A true hug is pure and safe. There are no ulterior motives. You cannot take a hug. Hugs can only be given and their value doesn't decrease with number or frequency of use.
Hugs are one of the things I miss the most about living close to my family. Phones and internet have enabled me to keep communication going but they won't let me touch anyone. There are many moments in my current life that I would do just about anything to wrap my arms around my sister or to spend thirty seconds in my dad's embrace. My mom has told me that I am the most physically affectionate of all of her children and that I taught our family how to hug. If I do only that with my life then I will have made the world a better place.
But I am not content to only do that. I want everyone to learn how to hug. So do me- and yourself- a favor: When you leave your computer, go hug someone. Practice giving true hugs because the next time I see you, I intend to give you one and I hope that you'll give one back to me.
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