introverting

Hellllooo! It's been way too long. How can it be the end of March already? Though I'm glad it is. Because that means it's officially spring. At least that's what the calendar says. There's only a few signs of it here: chives, daffodils and sedum poking out of the ground; fat little robins hopping around and sandhill cranes flying overhead. The only thing blooming right now is snowdrops. It's been cold and wet this month and tomorrow we're supposed to get 5-8" of slushy, heavy snow. It seems like nice weather will never get here. 

I am an introvert through and through, but March has found me being quite social and trying some new things. I'm good with getting together with my friends one-on-one and I enjoy my yoga class...yoga being a solo activity but still feel you're part of community. But anything more than that as far as a group activity, and I'm quite uncomfortable. I went to a meditation class last week where there were 15 of us sitting around in a circle. And we had to speak in front of this circle three times. It was awful for me. I kind of knew some of the people there from previous alternative healing classes, but afterwards, most of them were standing around talking in little groups and there I was, gathering up my things to leave, trying to sneak out without having to say goodbye to everyone in the room. Ugh, introvert awkwardness problems! 

 When I met my friend, Kari for coffee last month, we talked about going to a women's group at a beautiful horse farm "out in the country". I first went to this women's group about six years ago. It was one of those things where I would think about it from time to time, but never ended up going again. When Kari said she'd go with me, I was all in! Bonus: I got to meet Kari's mom, too. This group I enjoyed because it was quiet and personal and I wasn't pressured to speak. However, it was quite intense and went late. I can't just go to bed when I get home from these types of outings. It takes me several hours to decompress.

Man, how I love horses. The smell of leather and horse sweat, the immenseness of their presence, their amazing intuition. I had a horse when I was a teenager and we lived in Kentucky for a few years. Her name was Judy and she looked similar to this guy, Jack.

I finally got to meet Kris from Junk Chic Cottage in person! We've followed each other's blogs and personally emailed back and forth for years. We met halfway (we live 75 miles from each other) at a beautiful French creperie for lunch. Did we remember to take any photos? No, of course not. We were too busy talking and getting to know each other. Kris is an absolute sweetheart and gifted me with this lovely bag of spring goodies.

For the coming week, I'm going to concentrate on going back to this.

(Gift from one of my besties who knows me too well.)

How about you, are you an introvert or an extrovert?

💖

this post needs some wine!

 I almost didn't write this post today. In fact, here it is 11:00 p.m. and since I usually 

post on Mondays, I'm quite late. My emotions are quite flighty right now, knowing Tim

is moving out on Friday. Not only that, but I'm a little panicky about him getting

 everything done. He hasn't even started packing; he has to pick up his drum set

 (lots of pieces!) from his friend's house and he doesn't have a truck, so it means lots

 of trips with a car...and speaking of cars, his old Honda is in pieces all over our garage.

 He has taken on the task of doing all his own repairs lately, which is great. I commend

 him for that. He teaches himself by watching youtube videos. Well, his latest project

 has been to replace the heater core, timing belt, and head gasket. It's been nothing

 but one problem after another. He's had friends helping him and Brian even had a 

mechanic friend come over the other night and help Tim out a little bit. 

Insert cute picture to break up the monotony...

 This morning I went through my usual routine and did a little housework, but I was

restless and tweaking and knew getting out of the house would do me some good.

I should've just went for a walk in the State Park, but I needed a few groceries so I

headed up to Trader Joes. I had emailed Brian at work beforehand and asked what

he needed. It was just a few produce items. I only needed a few items myself. Oh, ho

ho, I kill myself. Who buys just a few items at Trader Joes?! I don't think I've ever

gotten out of there without spending about $100. The really bad part about this? I 

hadn't seen Brian's line in the email that said the balance in our checking account was

only $78. AND, to make matters worse, I also went to Goodwill and bought a few

things. Talk about GUILT! I felt like such a dolt. We have a little bit of money in savings

that we can roll over to cover my "mishap", but that savings is supposed to be for

Tim's schooling. Double stab in the heart. Guess this is what I get...I got caught in

an unexpected torrential downpour when leaving Trader Joes with a cart full of 

groceries. The drowned rat look is not attractive. My pissed off look says it all.

Enough of that - on to better stuff. The party for Tim on Saturday went pretty well.

I was disappointed that an aunt and uncle had other plans so couldn't come; and

another aunt and uncle were sick, so backed out at the last minute. And please don't

tell me I'm not the only one who obsesses over the house being perfectly clean and

presentable before having company, but then realizes how silly that is when your

house is pretty much in shambles within an hour? Since we had so much food, Tim

called some of his friends to come over. There went the leftovers!

I had mentioned in my last post that Saturday was also my birthday. I got

cards from family and friends, and cash from Brian and my mom since I'm saving for
a camera lens (Tim gave me his first DSLR since he has a nicer camera now), but
that's about where the excitement ended. No going out for dinner or anything because
 of the party, and no one ever bakes me a cake. (OMG, I just realized this post sounds

incredibly whiny!) I'm just trying to explain how my birthday usually isn't a big deal...

last year was because I turned the big five-oh.

BUT.

Brian and I were taking a break from party prep on Saturday. We were sitting at the

kitchen table playing a few games of Backgammon. We heard the cats making

some noise in the living room, so we went to investigate. I heard a voice at the

door saying, "Hi Brian, it's Melanie's friend, Penny!" I couldn't believe it...it was none

other than Penny from At Home in English Valley! She decided to pay me a surprise

visit for my birthday and came bearing a gift...

I had admired this vintage parsley keeper jar that I saw on Penny's blog and had

made a comment that, "If I were with you, I would've fought you for this!" I am 

actually tearing up just writing about this...how loving of a gift is this when you admire

something that someone else has, so they give it to you? And tucked in the jar was

a gorgeous blue and white Laura Ashley tablecloth that I had also admired on her blog.

 I'm using the jar on my countertop to hold onions and garlic - love it!

And if you will please excuse my lousy, temporary centerpiece ~ 

the tablecloth is just beautiful in my kitchen. Thank you, again Penny -

you are such a blessing in my life!

Oops, can't forget that Tim and his friend gave me bottles of wine for my 

birthday. Wine is always good. Goes well with my whine. Thanks for reading

and indulging me if you got this far.

 

midwest bloggers meet-up

 About twenty-five of us Midwest (and a couple from KY, too!) bloggers met

 up yesterday at Room 363 in Naperville, IL.

The lovely and sweet Jen Rizzo (standing) organized the meet-up. We went

 around the room introducing ourselves, then milled around the store for a couple of

hours ~ shopping, talking, and enjoying a continental breakfast.

I have no problem introducing myself to others. But if it requires any more than 

that, especially in front of a group, I almost freeze with fear. I don't know what

to say and gibberish seems to tumble from my mouth. We were supposed to

tell a fun fact about ourselves; something that would be a surprise. I couldn't

think of a darn thing off the top of my head! Everyone else had such great and

interesting things: Teresa used to be a clown; Barb has a glamper; Peggy is a 

military wife and has lived all over the place, including Alaska. KariAnne even

chased a robber out of K-Mart! I think what came out of my mouth was something

ridiculous like, "I can't think of a surprising fact about myself. I'm pretty much 'what 

you see is what you get.' " Oy. On the way home and even while lying in bed last night,

I kept trying to think of something that I could've told them. Isn't that terrible? So

here's what I came up with:

• I've been writing poetry since I was 12 years old.
• I used to have rats as pets.
• I like to play tricks on telemarketers when they call (disguising my voice as a foreigner; trying to order a pizza; playing music for them).
• I wish I lived on lots of land so I could have a horse, a donkey, a couple of sheep and goats, and chickens.
• And KariAnne has nothing on me....I once chased a drunk guy down the street in Mexico because he stole my 7-year old son's Happy Meal toy out of his hand!

Anyway, the store we met in - Room 363 - was filled with gorgeous displays.

A delight for the senses anywhere you turned.

This cabinet would be perfect in my bedroom. I didn't dare look at the price!
 

The one thing I did treat myself to from Room 363 was this Tru Blooms perfume.

I'm very picky about perfume, especially since I have allergies. It can't

be too heavy or overly sweet. This one is perfect for me - light notes of rose,

 lavender, white oriental lily, and violet.

There are some really talented and generous bloggers out there.

Jen passed out tote bags full of little gifts from each other...there was

nail polish, home baked treats, a painted Easter canvas, this gorgeous necklace...

a handmade shamrock...

and even the cutest little pot with wheat grass seed that we can plant!

After we got "kicked out" of Room 363 (Mark, the owner was gracious enough

to let all us women descend upon his store for a few hours), we all went

our separate ways for lunch and shopping. I went out to lunch with none other

than Penny from At Home in English Valley (it was SO wonderful to finally

meet Penny in person ~ if you remember, we were supposed to meet for

thrifting last week and I had to cancel because of my sister-in-law's passing),

Lynne from Irish Garden House, and Barb from Babs Just A'Babblin.

 On the way home, I just had to quickly stop at Savers. I found this

great mama hen and chick butter dish (Otagiri, Japan). Think she's

happy up on the fridge with a couple of roosters?!

it's over for another year

 I'm breathing a sigh of relief that Christmas is over for another year.

Just too much hoopla and too many expectations for me.

Though I enjoy the few weeks of sparkly decor and the generality of people

in a nicer mood, I'm always glad when it's over and we can all get back to

a semblance of "normalcy". I'm more of a quiet, stay-at-home kind of girl.

Though I must say that Christmas Eve at my own home with 

just the three of us was lovely. We had a fire going in the fireplace, snacked on

 hors d'oeurves, opened gifts, drank wine, and talked and laughed.

 My sweet man gifted me with four books from my amazon wish list.

Brian also loves to give me jewelry. His favorite jewelry place is

Blue Nile online. He wrote me a short romantic note about this necklace being

a token of our love for each other.

My poor husband looks so tired in this photo. He gets up at 4:15 a.m. for work

every day. Including Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

My sweet son gave me some of my favorite goodies ~ wine and chocolate. :-)

 The kitties got a couple of new toys, but just like little kids, their favorite

things to play with were the boxes and the wrapping paper.

Christmas day was spent at my aunt and uncle's house with my extended family.

I was so touched to receive an unexpected gift from my cousin's wife.

They live in Washington ~ and here I am in Illinois ~ so we don't see each other often. 

She said when they were in a little gift shop waiting to catch a ferry, she saw this book and

thought of me. She knows how much I love cats. Ironic thing is ~ 

this was another book on my amazon wish list!

 These three lovely ladies - my mom and her two sisters; my aunts - are three

of my favorite people in the world.

I hope all of you had a blessed holiday, in whatever way you chose to celebrate it.