Knitting

Over the holidays, I asked my mother to teach me how to knit. Now, I'm knitting my very first scarf. Unfortunately, without my mother nearby to fix my mistakes, so far it's a very wavy scarf with holes in it that goes from thick to thin back to thick again. And that's only in the 6" of scarf I've completed.

I'm thinking about starting a business of badly made scarves. People could give them as gifts, and say they made them. Very believable. Good brownie points. The only thing is, I'd have to charge $2000 per scarf because it's will take me months to complete one. Still, perhaps there's a market...

Sliding Google Doors

Bored and with a bad cold yesterday, I played a little bit on Google, looking up just about everyone I've ever known. I ended up having two very strange Google experiences. One, an interesting coincidence. The other, a melancholy visit to the past.

First, I googled my own full name, curious about whether my maiden or married name has more entries, at this point. When I've googled my maiden name in the past, I've generally gotten some entries about me and some about a woman living in Australia. This time, I got her Facebook page, so out of curiosity, I sent her a message. From her Google entries, I know is that she's 5'10", blond, and 23 years old. Gee, we're practically twins. Anyway, I hope she answers; it could be interesting.

The second Google encounter was less of a whimsical coincidence and more of a solemn heart-wringer. I googled my very first love. At age 16, I had been drawn to him because of his idealistic, save-the-world attitude. I was likely already on my path to Peace Corps service and was completely taken with him. We only dated for a few months, but in high school time, it was enough to be forever changed.

Unfortunately, he turned out to be a really screwed up kid with a broken family and a drug problem. The affair was short-lived, due to his substance abuse and "free love" attitude. He broke my little adolescent heart, and it was crumpled for quite a few years, afterward. You just don't forget a first heartbreak that easily.

So, I googled him, along with other exes and old friends from decades past. Only two entries came up. One with his name followed by the dates 1972-2007. Hmm. Sounds like the beginning of an epitaph. The other entry was a MySpace page, on which his friends had written, "R.I.P."

My first love, it turns out, had drown in a swimming pool. With a little more research I found out that he had, apparently, been drunk with some friends. It seems he had never stopped his substance abuse. I also found out that the date of his drowning was the day before my wedding, while my friends and family were having a celebratory pool party.

*shiver*

Apparently, he had been well-loved by many in the pseudo-hippie community. He had had three children and had been living with a woman who had loved him very much. There was a large turnout at his funeral, which brought people together after years of separation.

It was nearly 17 years ago that we briefly dated, and yet, I find myself having a Sliding Doors moment around the situation. His future, my future, might have been different if either of us had made a different decision back in the summer of 1991. Strange how small decisions make a huge difference in the course of a life.

Sometimes, the things that break our hearts and seem as though they might crush our very essence at the time, turn out to be events that save us from a much worse fate later on. In a different world, they could have been my children without a father. It scares me a bit that I didn't walk away from him. I'm glad that, though I was too young to have the sense to put an end to our relationship, he broke my heart and left me alone when I was still pliable enough to heal and make a better life for myself.

In the end, it sounded like he had a life he wanted. Traveling, free-loving, and making friends out of strangers. I'm happy he got to have that life for as long as he did. Being human is amazing in that we can feel sadness, relief, caring, and wistful happiness... all at one time.

Remembering Events of 2007

As we enter 2008, I find myself remembering some of the good and bad times from 2007. Here is a photo history of just some of the main events of my 2007.

On March 18, Bryan proposed to me with this ring. We were at the beach, and I was sure I would drop it and lose it in the sand. Luckily, the ring made it onto my finger, and we spent the rest of the day smooching and making others around us sick with all of our schmoopy-ness.


Then, in April, we went for a hike on my birthday.

Later we had dinner with some of my wonderful friends.


Not wanting to wait until summer to use my new birthday camera, Bryan and I went to KFOG's Kaboom in May. Colder than July, but we had front row seats!


Then, in the end of May, we were rear-ended by an airport van. It totaled my adorable, little Honda del Sol. Luckily, we made it out with few injuries, the last of which seem to be almost healed.

After weeks of searching, we replaced my old Honda with a different one. Our first mutual purchase. (I still miss my SPR BERT.)


Over the summer, Bryan and I went to the Monterrey Aquarium.

And also visited local pirates during our site seeing. Yar!


In June, my friend Lisa threw an engagement party for us at our favorite hangout. Many friends came to wish us well.


In July, my friend since junior high, Amber, came to visit San Francisco. We did some more site seeing and went up to wine country on a sunny, summer day.


My friends, Rich and Stacy, had twins! I felt honored to be one of the first people called, and went to see the tiny ones in the hospital, as well as later in their home.




In August, Bryan and I took a trip to Seattle for his friend's 30th birthday. This is the only photo I took during the whole trip. Bryan getting coffee; it happens a lot in Seattle.


In September, our biggest event took place. We got hitched in Arizona! With all of our friends and family there, we decided to have a big pool party the day before...

...and got married the next day.


Then, on to honeymoon in Costa Rica. First, the volcano, which erupted nearly constantly.

Then, the beach and other national parks.


Also in September was Bryan's birthday. We had been on our honeymoon, so when we got back, I made him this lemon-lime jello cake. I know... euw. But, we both grew up with white-trash processed food, so this is basically the birthday cake of the gods.


For Halloween, we were Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein, after their honeymoon phase ended.


My brother had a difficult year. In late summer, his marriage, very unexpectedly, came to an end. Our family was shocked and broken-hearted for him. He's a strong, intelligent man, whom I believe will continue to work hard on his future goals, despite the setback. In November, I went to visit him at his house in the midwest. We had great fun, as usual.


Also in November, Bryan and I went to the, now infamous, San Francisco Zoo. We actually watched one of the tigers pace for about 10 minutes during our visit. This photo is not of the tiger pen, clearly.


For Thanksgiving break, Bryan and I decided to drive to Austin, TX. We're thinking of leaving the Bay Area in several years, in order to raise a family, so we wanted to check Austin out as a possible location.

On the way to Texas, we stopped in Arizona to visit my parents.

Despite its beauty, we decided not to move to Austin, but we still enjoyed the sites...

...including the state capitol.


Also in November, Bryan's sister had triplets! We've yet to meet them, so it's an event of which I still have no photos!

And, of course, in December, there were Christmas parties and friends to visit.

We also went back to Arizona for some family time. Here is us with my parents at the Desert Museum.


Now, as we cross the threshold into 2008, we hope for good things in the coming year.

Holidays 2007

During the holidays this year, Bryan and I had a great time as a married couple. We went to a party and brought tater tot hotdish, a food of my childhood, which Bryan cooked like a native midwesterner.


And we saw our friends with their twins in silly winter hats.


Then, we went to Arizona to visit my family and open Christmas gifts.


And we also did some hiking in the desert.


It was a very nice end to 2007. Stay tuned for the full 2007 recap.