Home Is Wherever I'm With You

Right now, I am enjoying the fifth night in our new home, waiting for my husband to come back from the woodshop. Molly is splayed out on the cool wood floor, the day's heat and humidity is abating some. A breeze is coming through the window and a tree's shadow flitters across the floorboards. Crickets are chirping—they have been all day now, as though they never got the memo that told them they are supposed to only come out at night. Conspicuously absent: people yelling, sirens blaring, helicopters whirring, semi trucks clattering and rattling down the street. Cicadas layer their weirdly electronic-orchestra call like waves lapping the beach. In truth, we are only a mile or two from our former home but it feels like a world away.

It's quiet, and still full of boxes and unordered multitudes of things we deemed important enough to move, waiting patiently to figure out what to do with them. I'm enveloping myself in September Issues...fall fashion bonanzas and sales, coffee-table books about home décor, and enjoying it all, reminding myself that I wanted a house, and the things and the wardrobe will have to come in their own time.

A new house. A fresh start. Changing some old habits. Making new traditions. Ownership. We are now landlords of our downtown loft. Today in the car, after transferring keys and paperwork to actual, real-life renters, William turns to me and says, "Did you ever think you would be a landlord?" I grin, even though I'd rather run screaming from the world of leases and rent and managing anything other than my overfilled daily life. "Nope," I say, with good intention, and he smiles back at me.

Last night and the night before we ate succulent summer tomatoes and corn on the cob, drank some champagne. This is it. Home.

Year In Review.

Hi Kiddies. Here I am! Can you believe it? And with a big ol' blog post. I hope to have resolutions up here soon, because I think being serious and public about them last year made them come true.  I miss you all and hope you are still following along as I follow you a little less loudly than I did before. Say hi! Please!

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Traveled to Thailand. Had a gym membership for a full year. Did some stuff at a New Thing. Contributed to an honest-to-good real book and my name is on Amazon with “(author)” behind it! Worked side-by-side with my husband on our business.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I did make resolutions and I did keep some. My resolution was to focus on being happy. I did it! I took a trip, I worked out, and I tried to scale back my spending. I did not keep my resolution to be more work/life balanced. Not at all.

3. Did anyone close to you have a child?

Um, pretty much everyone around me had a child or got pregnant, including a couple of close friends.  It has been wild and beautiful to watch the women around me become mothers.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully, no.

5. Where did you travel?

Thailand: Bangkok, Ayuttheya, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Ko Phi Phi. Airport in Japan. O’Hare. That pretty much cashed all vacation days and budget for traveling but it was an experience of a lifetime.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

Oh god. Free time. Time to sleep. Time with friends. Time to think.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory? 

I am so bad with dates. But I did have a few experiences that have enriched my life.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I think staying happy. Staying focused. All the work.

9. What was your biggest failure?

This blog. Ha. Finding time to spend with family and friends.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Actually, yes. I was hit by the Frito Lay man, who totaled my car, gave me wicked bad muscle spasms, and generally made me fearful of cars approaching on my right although I’ve mostly healed from all of that.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I am really truly trying not to value my life in terms of things I buy, as trite as that sounds. (See: recently paid off credit card debt).

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

I have family friends, old and new, who have been so supportive this year. I treasure them. So very, very much. I have had so much support that I hate to call anyone out, lest I make someone else feel badly. I am lucky.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

No one personally that I can think of. There are lots of celebrities and public opinions that upset me, but I’m going to call it a good year in spite of those things.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Debt payoff, savings for a house, gas, bills.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Traveling, a New Thing. 2010 was, in one word, overwhelming. But not all bad. Just a year-long adrenaline rush.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?

Good question. Probably for the first time ever, I don’t know! I have been listening to a lot of Pandora—a lot of soul music, a lot of Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

I think I am happier because I reached some goals and realized that sometimes you must choose happiness. It doesn’t choose you for no reason. I am…maaaaaybe thinner but not by much. But I have realized the importance of fitness in my life, which is more important to me anyway. I don’t feel richer, but I paid off my debt so that’s definitely starting my 30s off right.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Playing and dreaming.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Working.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Um, it’s quite a ways away. But hopefully Santa will come!

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?

I have so much love in my life. But you can always have more.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Dexter, Parenthood, LOST (There are so many! All streamed on Netflix, save for Parenthood.)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I keep trying to hate hate, but I really hate Fox News. But that’s not new.

24. What was the best book you read?

I did very little reading this year, which makes my heart sad. But I loved The Help, Lost City of Z, Zeitoun, Strength in What Remains, Half the Sky.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I suppose that Muse finally grew on me and now I love them. Wm and I went to see them live this fall and it was amazing! I also saw Lady Gaga and that was sweet. But I didn’t get into anyone new to me this year.

26. What did you want and get?

This year I heard some extremely frustrating and sad, struggly stories. We are not out of this big-ass mess yet. And yet, I looked around and I had: my husband and our happy marriage, my health, my dog, my parents, my siblings. I had my friends. I had travel. I had heat. I had a loft. I had cute new clothes. I had a new car. I had the money to pay for them. I had a job. Scratch that—I had two employers who wanted to employ me. I just keep wanting this life over and over and over. I have it.

28. What did you want and not get?

Free time. Oh, and our dream house. You know, that. No biggie.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?

Uhm. I think I saw like approximately one movie in the theater this year. Netflix, I love you. I’m not sure which one though…there were so many, I can’t even recall.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

The big 3-0! I worked (for the first time ever on my birthday) and then Wm took me to Barrio and we ate and drank ourselves silly. I got some very nice gifts, too.

31. What would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Free time. Are we seeing a pattern here?

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Kind of the same as before…girly vintage modern (I believe in sticking with what works as long as you’re honest and you know it works), with lots of navy blue and as many accessories as I could pile on without looking like … well, I am crazy. Nevermind.

33. What kept you sane?

Netflix, laughing with my husband, snuggling with my dog, finally really grasping “This too shall pass.” So that I can enjoy more moments even if they aren’t “perfect.”

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Probably Jon Stewart. Again. George Clooney. Again. Bill Clinton. Again. Hillary Clinton FTW! Also, my crush on  Mark Ruffalo….hoo boy!

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

The rise of the Tea Party, probably. And people’s impatience with the long, slow climb out of a tanked economy and so many failed political practices of the previous administration. A man can only do so much! Give him time!

36. Who did you miss?

I started out the year feeling lonely, I am not going to lie to any of y’all. My two best girlfriends were not here and it made things hard some days. I missed both of them very much.

37. Who was the best new person you met?

I have had the good fortune to meet a LOT of really cool people this year. That’s not a cop-out.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

I learned a couple of them, I think:

1. How important my physical fitness is, even if it’s not as great as someone else’s. That I can get better and that I will feel better and that I will literally be a better person to the people around me. Go endorphins! A long time ago, a teacher I admired wrote a question in my yearbook: Process or product? That was it. It enraged me. Here I am, many moons later, and I think I’ve figured it out. It’s the process. It all is.

2.  I never want to get into credit card debt ever, ever again.

3. If you build it, they will come. Just be patient, and know you will do a lot, a LOT of building. And painting. And sanding. And not a lot of anything else.

Ta-Da!

Hi friends. We interrupt this long blog silence for an announcement:

It's been a while. I promised you I'd reveal more later. And this is later. Finally. A lot later.

Although there are some changes to be made. Still. And forevermore.

I present to you, without further ado, Oh Dier.

And our blog. Oh Dier on Good Design.

We're still on Etsy. But we're moving to our own site. And yes, now the Willi and the Kat are business partners, too.

Check it out! We would LOVE your support.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

SIck of Thinking Up Dinner

Seriously.

I have a few recipes that I make over and over for ease, prep time, cook time. I don't usually get home until later, so time is of the essence. I'm getting sick of them.

I need some new ideas. HALP.

Mourning Dove

There's a little dove that built a nest in the parking ramp where I work. Every day I drove by her and she cocked her head at me, looking sidelong for signs of danger. Her nest was tucked under a little metal wire and it looked as cozy as a concrete haven six stories above downtown could be.

When I'd walk to the elevator I pass a little closer to get a look. I knew she must be sitting on eggs, given that she was there every day when I came to work and when I left.

Yesterday, two eggs, one perfectly constructed nest. No mama bird. I thought, well, maybe she's gotta go get food, but I felt that uneasy roil in my stomach. Left work: two eggs, perfectly constructed nest, no mama.

Today, more of the same. I wonder what happened to mama bird. Is she hurt? Dead? Did she abandon the nest? Did some dumb human touch those eggs and drive mama away with their human smell?

I know the world probably doesn't need another mourning dove. But I do wonder what drove mama from the nest. I felt tears prick the backs of my eyes for those two perfectly round, white eggs.


Wow. So that's the longest break I've ever taken, I think and it's not like I made a Jay-Z-like comeback. Things continue to be chaotic. There are a lot of changes coming down the pike (all good, and no, not a baby) and both the willi and the kat are just barely keeping our heads above water. I promise more will be revealed soon.

Updates

I keep trying to write someting here tonight and I just.can't.do.it.

So much to say, feeling so addled, so much I should be doing instead.

This week was a big week. My talented hubby was the Etsy featured seller, featured on decor8 (one of my fave design blogs), and in Budget Travel magazine. Right now the soundtrack to our lives is the packing tape ripping off the roll, accidentally stepping on bubble wrap (gunshot-like), and sandpaper.

But I truly could not be prouder of my husband. He's so talented, and he deserves all the success that comes his way.

Baby Momo is having a bad week. Er, she was until we got her on some professional-grade painkillers and muscle relaxers. Poor dog wants to be just like her mom, so she went and got some spasms in her back. Very painful. It's a sign of her aging and very hard for me to accept. Even worse was the fact that as I hoisted her (as carefully as possible) into the car, she cried out in such pain—I've never heard her make that noise before. And then she shook on her seat as I drove her to the vet, bawling myself, carefully trying not to hit any potholes (good luck with that in springtime MN). but now she's just like all the A-list celebs and pumped full of good pills.

I'm treading water. I'm so excited about some of the possibilities that lie ahead with my New Thing, but right now I'm just trying to stay afloat. Soon, tough, it should be smooth sailing.

Will y'all still be my friends? I'm trying to keep up with you all, even if I am not writing as much as I'd like.

Thinking on Thirty.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the fact that I'm nearly halfway through my 29th year. Like, I'm going to be THIRTY.

I'm not that worried about turning THIRTY other than it's a new decade and it sounds a little foreign to my ears. The last couple decades rang in with fanfare, with the idea that I'm still young forever. Young but with new, exciting realities. Thirty sort of means something different, doesn't it, even when you're not necessarily afraid of getting old? It has a heft and weight to it. THIRTY!

Thirty is when I thought I'd finally be taken seriously. And as my mom will attest, I thought I was thirty by the time I was probably four. I had no time for childlike bullshit, except for when I thought childhood bullshit was VERY SERIOUS. Which was every day.

But here I am, on the precipice of thirty. Or at least thinking about what I need to do with the last remaining months of my "frivolous" 20s.

But if thirty isn't a big deal, then why think about it, right? In some ways, I think of it as turning the page. I've laid a lot of groundwork in my life. College, jobs, the loft, Molly, getting married. I guess the 20s weren't quite that frivolous after all. (Well—maybe bits from 20-23.)

I don't know. I guess what I'm thinking is that I don't feel like thirty. I don't feel like 29! Good thing. I hear you're only as old as you feel.

What did you want to accomplish before 30? Did you worry? What was the result?