Bain de soleil

I do not think I'm alone in feeling like February has been a draining month. The cold and snow, coupled with what seems like a universal inability to slow down, have left me feeling like a heel that's been ground into piles of slush just a few too many times. I always bitch about winter, but this has been my first full winter without the benefit of antidepressants, and as glad as I am to be clean and clear of medication, I might reconsider the intelligence of taking on the dark seasons without a little help (more than the strategic use of Ativan) in the future.

Back in December, when things were a lot darker, we made plans for a nice vacation and it's finally happening. On Sunday we leave for a week in St. Martin. People at work keep asking me if I'm excited and I am, but the trip still feels theoretical. It probably won't feel real til we get on the plane (5:30am--ouch!) but then...sun and sand for miles in every direction.

When we started planning this trip, our travel agent (who walks on water in our opinion: 1. she gets amazing deals, 2. she got us out of our bad hotel in Kauai and put us in a heavenly hotel for $6 more per night, and 3. actually calls us when airfares drop) raved about St. Martin and then she giggled. "There's one thing you really need to know about before you go there," she said. "There are a lot of topless and nude beaches, and that makes some people uncomfortable." Personally, I couldn't care less, particularly since I made the cardinal mistake of stepping into an H&M dressing room yesterday without preparing myself for the harsh evil that is fluorescent lighting, so I will be wearing a lovely muumuu this entire vacation. I am not kidding. But the idea of letting loose, of no longer feeling frozen and rigid inside and out because I'm either trying to stay warm or trying to hold it together, sounds like a dream. So clothing-optional kind of sounds nice. Also, it can't hurt to get sun on every inch of skin, right? Unless I get burned. Ouch.

One of the big reasons Lunchboy and I got married in the winter is so that we'd have an excuse to go somewhere warm on our anniversary every year. This was so totally premeditated. I'll post photos when we're back....

While you're drinking Diet Snapple

It’s no secret that I’m an admirer of Matt Damon (just as it’s no secret that Lunchboy is an admirer of Jessica Alba, though I’m convinced my admiration is slightly more altruistic. Six of one, half-dozen of the other). Let’s just say that Sarah Silverman’s YouTube video with Mr. Damon was wildly popular in our household, so much so that at any given time you might find one of us singing part of the “I’m F*ing Matt Damon” song only to have the other jump in at the appropriate time.

“On the bed, on the floor, on the towel by the door…”

“In the tub, in the car, up against the minibar.”

It’s naughty. Then today I found out that Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck ran their revenge video last night and now I can’t wait to go home and watch (I am unable to watch YouTube at work—I wonder why?) But seriously—who runs that during the Oscars? Some of us were busy watching in hopes that the Bourne Ultimatum would win in all three sound and editing categories...

Paper

That line, that clichéd line from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is stuck in my head:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.”

I feel like that’s happening right now. Every day is full and the days go by so fast that by the end of the week I’m gasping for breath and wondering where the week went. At New Years, I resolved to stay open to new things and so far it’s worked, but the other night I looked up from my glass of wine and told Lunchboy that I feel like I’m trying to do too much and as a result I’m doing it all badly.

Speaking of time flying by, yesterday was our one year anniversary. WHEREDIDTHETIMEGO??? It has been a good year, full of laughter and adventures, challenges and growth. But even when things were difficult, there was no one else I wanted to be standing next to. We always have each other's backs.

Here is a picture of our wacky, crazy wedding cake:



And here is Lunchboy with our cake top after a day of defrosting:





I was a little nervous about eating the cake because over the course of the year that it's lived in our freezer, the freezer itself has inadvertently defrosted about four or five times. The cake smelled really sweet but tasted fine. We both remembered why we wished we'd gotten to have more of it at the wedding!

Yes, those are the Oscars on in the background. And yes, I look tired. Sometimes life just feels like A LOT. But even A LOT is more manageable when you have the best teammate in the world. My heart is full and I am keenly aware that I am very blessed.

I couldn't resist

Bought from the new comic book store down the hill:

Drat

I got a flu shot in November and Lunchboy didn't. So of course it makes sense that I've had the flu for 5 days and he's had one or two passing moments where he felt like he was getting sick but then proceeded to be fine.

On the plus side, being high on Nyquil made the Pats game on Sunday a little easier to watch.