Little Kite Girl

I love my husband.  Just thought I’d share.  I think this just might be the season of getting colds and not feeling 100%, but I very rarely think that I’m actually sick.  I just “don’t feel good,” and try to do normal things.  AND, I routinely forget to eat breakfast.  This leads to some…well, let’s just call it crankiness.  I get overly stressed about things I can’t control, and get all somber.  John’s own personal rain cloud.  (Good thing I’m also his sunshine, huh? :) )  I was having just such a day when I decided that, even though I probably didn’t have the time…I would take a nap.  But here’s the thing- I couldn’t fall asleep.  I just kept thinking and thinking.  So I asked John to lay down with me.  He just laid there with his hand on my shoulder…and I fell asleep very nicely.  I’m not sure how long he stayed exactly- but it reminds me of when I was little.  My mom told me that I wouldn’t fall asleep unless she kept her hand on me- so after I fell asleep she’d try and switch her hand for a stuffed animal.  I usually figured her trick out pretty quickly and woke up crying, but she finally found one that was the perfect size and weight…I’ll have to look for that one of these days when I’m back in MA.  Might be useful one of these days.  I like having someone watching over me while I fall asleep. 

So yes.  In other news, we definitely have mice.  GU (girl upstairs) called me freaking out the other day because they had one trapped in their office.  She asked me what to do, I said, “let it go.”  She said, “WHAT?”  I said, “Well, it’s probably already gone.  Shutting a door to a room does NOT trap a mouse.  And you just need to get some poison and get rid of them that way.”  “THEM?”  I sighed.  “Yes, there is more than one.”  John had been hearing them for a little while.  Ended up, BU (boy upstairs) caught it and released it in a field down the street.  That should be a nice vacation for it.  It’ll see some nice sights on the way back home.  We bought some kind of thirsty pellets..I feel a little bad that we have to KILL them.  But it’s got to be done, either that or find “surprises” in our food cupboard.  And we can hear them fighting in our ceiling- it seems like they live in the ventilation area between upstairs and downstairs. 

Now, I’m not too freaked out by mice, I lived in London in row houses long enough to know that they run away from you pretty quick.  They don’t enjoy confrontation.  (Probably b/c it ends in a kid with a glove driving them down the street.  Ruins their whole day.)  But I did have one concern.  We have an opening in our bathroom ceiling that was made a little more “permanent” when I moved in- it was meant to be an access to the pipes, but someone nailed it shut.  The first day I was here the bathroom flooded (previous BU and GU broke their toilet.  HOW did they do THAT?) and John had to cut the little door part out.  So- that means, whilst doing my business….a mice could be peering at me directly.  I didn’t like that very much.  So I fixed it, for now.  I took a hammer and nails….and an old pillowcase….and just covered the hole until John gets some wood and fixes it.  No one can say I’m not a handy girl.

Currently working on a paper for William James.  I’ve got all the ideas outlined, but am stuck slogging through the smoothing out process.  I am so good at procrastinating.

In other news…I signed up for the physical science class online- and have plans to finish by finals week.  I’m actually not too upset by the prospect of taking it anymore- sure, it’ll be more work, but I’ve decided that it’s for the best.  Now, when I have kids in high school- I’ll remember something about physics. 

Oh!  And Becca asked what I got John for Halloween, it was Meet the Robinsons, the new Disney DVD.  If you haven’t seen it yet, I HIGHLY recommend it.  It’s a fun, innovative story- and has a moving message.

Back to the paper.  (The topic is asceticism.  How bleak is that?)

[12:14:12 PM] John Hattaway says: I think the problem with A/C’s is that they work to remove heat by generating heat, this, in turn, causes insects to be drawn to the unit… though no food can be found… spiders, in this case, are drawn through the openings into the house where they get lost and then scare the bejebus out of people (you and me) and die an untimely death.

[12:14:23 PM] Erin Hattaway says: haha
[12:15:10 PM] John Hattaway says: makes sense.

I came upstairs after my class this morning to wait out John’s class before we run home for lunch.  I sat at a table with a girl reading a book.  This is my usual blogging time lately, so I pulled out my computer and realised that I should probably plug it in.  I looked under the table, and saw that the only plugs were under her chair.  Not seeing another option, I excused myself briefly and crawled under the table to get to the plug.  Her response, “No problem.  Your sweater is cute, though.” 

Now, without the “though,” that might have been a normal comment.  But, with me sprawled out under the table, reaching under her chair and around her legs to get to the outlet, and then having to peer up through a maze of her backpack, shoes, jeans, and the tabletop to answer: “Uh, thanks.” - the “though” was just a bit too much.  I’m not sure what to think of it, except that I am way too New England for these kinds of interchanges.

Class this morning was, well, class.  We started to talk about William James and then ended up discussing testimony- LDS testimony.  It can be so frustrating sometimes that we ALWAYS end up in the “comfort realm,” but whatever.  I can read.  I have cognitive ability.  James is a straightforward and point-driven writer, and consistent.  I can learn it without the input of the class, and will probably be better for it.  This is an interesting thing I’ve noticed about most of my classes here at BYU.  When John and I were studying for our science test, I learned so much more from the book than from the teacher.  I can’t follow the man, and get easily annoyed in the class.  But give me a book and a couple of hours, and wa-la, I’m set.  I don’t remember it being this way in Scranton.  Conversations in class were usually lively and diversified.  At times, the teacher would divide the room and we’d have to argue and assigned a standpoint.  We were graded on our mastery of both sides of the argument, and our ability to defend the side we were given.  It made me crazy, but it also made me realise the strength in understanding the other side for what it is, instead of in light of what YOU believe.  I have had one class like that here at BYU, and it almost kicked my butt (in that good, academic way).  I’m hoping Grad School will be more along those lines.

Last night John and I went to Octoberfest up at Sundance, it was a ward activity.  There was a dinner, and a confusing theme.  First we had a German yodeler, who said he only knew one German yoddly song…and then moved on to South Western singing/yodeling.  About dogies and drinking.  And THEN, we had a group of men from the ward sing German folk songs.  We also ate bratwurst and sauerkraut…and yeah.  I mean I SAW the theme, but I didn’t necessarily get it.  Are Germans good at October or something?

It was really nice to sit and chat for a bit with some members of our ward- to see and be seen in the hopes of establishing some sort of familiarity with someone, and start to feel more at home there.  People keep asking, “How long do you plan to be in this ward?” and when we answer, “Probably a couple of years,” they seem to warm up fast.  It’s hard to get in with people quickly just to have them leave, I know, but my main experiences have been Navy wards- where if you don’t make friends fast regardless of when you have to say goodbye, you’ll never make friends.  I really, really like the people in our ward.  I like the feeling as their faces become recognizable to me, and I start to know who goes with who and for how long and where.  So we’re trying.

So yes, today is our two month anniversary.  Two months married.  I really don’t feel the time.  Let me try and explain what I mean, I feel, in a way, like we’ve always been together.  I remember wondering how I would ever get used to sharing my bed (or, his bed) or if I’d be tempted to wear makeup even at night…because well, I didn’t like to have all my imperfections just out there, or if we’d find a schedule, or figure out money, or learn more about each other’s families- but, I’m finding, that it all just kind of slides into place naturally.  All the petty things that I cared about in relationships in the past (like him seeing if I’m broken out or KNOWING that I’m in the bathroom doing SOMETHING) don’t seem to matter.  No, they don’t “seem” to not matter, they simply don’t matter.  It’s a good, solid, loving feeling.  And I’m glad to be married.  I’m astonished by how not different it feels sometimes.  As if, this were always how things were.  Amazing adaptable creatures that we are.  For the record, two months and counting and still very much in love.