Reminders

Permit me a few lines from my favorite poet, Billy Collins:

"me with my presumptuous breathing,
my arrogant need for coffee,
my love of the colorful leaves beyond the windows."

For whatever reason tonight, these lines reminded me of my neglected blog. Maybe it's the creativity of poetry that drove me back. Maybe it's just that so much has happened in these last three months that I finally have something to say about it. Maybe it's just the first time I've really sat down to rest for awhile. Regardless, here I am... propped up in bed, hands on laptop, enjoying the humming of the clothes dryer and the serenity of this moment.

But what to say? I'm not quite sure.

I could talk about my new-ish NOOK.... about how John and I were agreeing together how sad it is that hard copy books are now being out-sold by e-books... and about how within moments of voicing those sentiments we were at Barnes & Noble admiring the NOOKs and talking about how nice they would be for traveling. We bought not one but TWO. And though I haven't finished reading a single book on mine, I do enjoy the portability of it. (I'd like to note that since buying the NOOK I have purchased a "legacy" book online... a compilation of Billy Collins poems, a belated birthday present from a friend (via an amazon gift card).

I could tell you what little I know of married life. So far, so good! :) I think I had enough wisdom to know (before getting married) that married life is not some Shangrila where suddenly everything is blissful and poop doesn't stink. (It still does.) But, a few notes about walking through a new marriage and the joining of lives:

1) We felt really celebrated as people. John and I both remarked a number of times about how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends. My bachelorette party was particularly fun. I enjoyed the time with my girlfriends and being "showered" with gifts/advice/well-wishes. I remember leaving that night thinking, "EVERY girl should feel celebrated like this"... single, married, getting married... EVERY girl.

2) Married life is lovely... or, rather, has some lovely things about it. I remember telling John that I hadn't felt that deep achy, lonely feeling since we started dating. That feeling SUCKS. It absolutely sucks. But, over and over as we were moving toward our wedding, I had (well-meaning) friends make comments about "this is your best year yet" and similar comments. I appreciated the sentiments, but sometimes I felt like those comments served as a slap-in-the-face to the other 36 years of my life. I've had some GREAT years. This will be another GREAT year... definitely full of firsts. But, don't downplay the rest of my life. God blessed me richly in those years as well... whether I recognized it at the time or not.  ;)

3) Single friends - don't dispair. There are some nice things about marriage, but there are some equally nice things about being single. I'll wait until later to expound on those. But... enjoy your single days, my friends. They really are a beautiful gift - straight from the hand of God.

4) I'm done lecturing... for now.