Winter Classes

We recently got a guide to the Milwaukee Rec Department course offerings for the winter. Mike paged through it and mentioned that they offered courses in Spanish, so this evening I thumbed through it. I've been meaning to take a class as a way to get out of the house more and get to know some people in town.

I wasn't too sure about the Spanish courses...I think I know more than the "beginner conversation" level, but the beginner course is required to take all the rest. I paged through the adult enrichment courses.

"Oooh, ceramics!" I exclaimed.

"That looks like fun. You could do that," Mike said.

"Well," I replied, "it says you do five to seven projects. I'm not sure if we have room for five to seven ceramic pieces in this apartment."

"You could give them to friends," he replied.

"Oh yeah, that would be a great conversation. 'Here, take my crappy ceramic pot. I just don't have room.'"

"There are other things to take," he said.

"Oh, they have a portrait drawing course," I said. I was about to open my mouth when Mike chuckled.

"I can already see the wheels turning in your head," he said, "thinking up all the reasons all those classes will never work."

That shut me up because it's true. I always mean to get involved in a class or a club or an organization or a lecture series but I never quite do. There are always so many reasons not to bother. A class is always too expensive, or not practical, or it would fall on a night that Mike and I usually spend together, or something. I always talk myself out of it.

I could get myself out of this inertia. I could talk to someone, or get a book, or something. I just don't have time right now. And it's too expensive. And really, is it practical?

It's so much easier to sit and complain about it for now.

Circle Necklace

circlenecklace
Originally uploaded by Lucky Haskins.

One of the best things about winter break it sitting around at 8:30 AM, still in your PJs, and blogging. Awesome!

Anyway, I made this. I haven't been doing much beading since I'm in a tough spot...I don't feel that I'm good enough at it to warrant spending lots of money for fancy beads from Fire Mountain, but the regular plastic beads at Michael's and JoAnn's really don't do it for me. Luckily they had some really cool beads made of natural materials in stock at Michael's recently and after Christmas they went on sale. Sweet! This is based on a pattern flyer they had.

Also, I really need a haircut.

Baby Doll

doll
Originally uploaded by Lucky Haskins.

This is kind of a stretch, but here it goes. This picture is of a doll Mike's had since he was a baby. All we know is that his parents have always called it Baby Doll, but that might not be its real name. It was made by Playskool, and the tag says it was manufactured in 1978 and it was item number 57. It looks like it was related to the Dapper Dan and Dressy Bessie toys, but Mike says that it never had the buttons, laces, or zippers that made the Dan and Bessie toys a learning experience. Baby Doll just came with a diaper and a bib.

Mike really wants to buy another one of these for when we have kids (do NOT do what my mother-in-law did and think that I'm pregnant...he's planning for an event years away, people). However, since he doesn't know the exact name of the doll he's having troubles.

If any of you know what this might be or remember anything about it, like the real name or any other information, let us know! His eBay and Google searches haven't produced much.

Thanks!

Whoops

This is my winter break, which means I'm going through my extensive to-do list. I went to the laundromat and washed a few loads of sheets and our comforter, came home and folded the sheets, then sorted and folded several cartons of Mike's clothes so we can figure out what to keep and what to store, made a beaded necklace, drew a cartoon for my friend Dave who just got engaged, took down and packed the Christmas decorations, took out the trash, and began to gather some cardboard in the kitchen so I could rip it up for disposal when I felt a jolt.

Eep! My back!

In college I worked as a nurses' aide, and after nearly five years of lifting and hoisting heavy guys my back hasn't been the same. It's not too bad, but as I walk around I go "Ooh...ooh...ooh," with every step.

At least I have an excuse to sit around and do nothing! It's not slacking...it's recouperating.

The Company Gift

Every year I get a holiday gift from the staffing agency I work for. For the last two years I got a catalog that I had to choose a gift from. It's kind of an unusual experience because the catalog is full of things that aren't bad, really, but aren't really things that you'd go out of your way to have in your home. I would page through it after Christmas, searching for the item that I was the least indifferent to.

This year my agency just got Best Buy gift cards for everybody, and I decided that it was a vast improvement. I had planned to hit the after-Christmas sales this morning to use it up. Unfortunately as I was driving to Best Buy and pondering my purchase I realized that there was really nothing in the realm of electronics that I'd want. I briefly considered a Bluetooth headphone for my cell phone so I could talk to people while commuting, but since I'll (hopefully) have a local job next year my commute will be much shorter and I won't really be talking to anybody. I also considered an iPod since the new Shuffles are just so cool, but my old mp3 player works just fine. I was stuck.

The situation didn't improve once I got into the store. I wandered around aimlessly, searching for something to get. Since my card was for a hundred dollars I really wanted to use it to get something big or defray the cost of something I usually wouldn't be able to afford but there was really nothing I needed. I started to consider getting a hundred bucks' worth of AA batteries, but ditched that idea and wandered over to the side of the store where they have the random kitchen/home stuff. I was considering the pros and cons of a new microwave (pro: I like microwaves; con: I don't really need another one) when I turned around and saw the keyboards.

I wandered over stared at them. They varied in price from eighty dollars to five hundred and there was quite a selection. I ran my finger over a key and then pressed down...the piano tone was surprisingly good. I started to get excited. I could learn to play the piano! I'd wanted to learn a musical insturment, but with no time for guitar or bass lessons and bad luck at learning the harmonica I'd kind of given up on the idea. But this could work.

Then I sighed and my shoulders slumped. Who was I kidding? Sure I wanted to learn music, just like I wanted to learn Spanish and American Sign Language. I just never had the time for any of it. I'd get a keyboard and it would probably wind up propped against the bookcase where I keep my ASL handbook and my foreign language CDs. At least I didn't blow much money on those...blowing a hundred bucks on something that might just sit around would be too much.

Then I perked up a little. What about Mike? He's forever plunking away at the child's piano in his office, either noodling around or testing out note arrangements for his electronic music. Maybe he'd be able to use a keyboard too. We'd get our money's worth out of it if we were both able to use it.

After a quick call to Mike and some collaboration with a largely clueless employee, I found the only keyboard that fit Mike's main requirement...that it have a USB output. It was just under a hundred dollars, so I was happy about that. I packed it into my car and drove home.

I do get around to the things that I want to learn eventually. I'm learning ASL word by word (I mostly know household objects, colors, and numbers) and my weekly Spanish practice is going better and better. So I think I'll get the hang of the piano eventually. If not, Mike just got a very nice toy courtesy of my employers.

A new blog

This past Advent marked the one-year anniversary of my beginning to practice Catholicism once again. Or, I should say, going back to church...I never considered myself to be a non-practicing Catholic, but my experiences over the past year have made me realize exactly how far I'd wandered off.

This has not been a transition that's been without emotion or difficulty for me. And when something is difficult I find it pretty helpful to blog or write about it. Over the past year I've noticed several times that I started to blog about something religious and either wound up modifying it to lighten the religious content, posting it but feeling pretty uncomfortable about it, or just deleting the entry entirely. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because I know that non-Catholics, non-Christians, and athiests read my blog and I'm afraid of offending them. Perhaps it's because most of the people I've known who have spoken frequently and at length about their religion were people who were doing so to show me how my religion was so wrong. Or maybe it's something else entirely.

I do know two things though...that I want to work through my thoughts about the Catholic Church, but I can't do so with my regular blog. So I'm starting a new blog called Gaining My Religion* where it'll be all Catholic, all the time. I'll post this entry both in GMR and my regular blog.

Hooray!




* Oh no, I've said too much! I haven't said enough.