Get Carried Away

I'm tempted to categorize Earth Day as just another Hallmark Holiday... but then who gets a Hallmark card for the Earth? (Despite the fact that they make them!)
I'm not going to get all sappy and crone on about the beautiful planet that we inhabit and how we need to take care of the precious resources it offers so our babies can grow up with water to drink and clean air to breathe, but at some point, I have to face the reality of the impact that I'm making during my measly 90+ years here.
I've become much more Earth-thoughtful in the last few years. Every time I throw something away I ponder if it could be recyclable. I chastise my father for leaving the water running after he's done doing dishes. I have even been known, saint that I am, to turn off lights in rooms that I'm no longer using.
Not exactly medal-worthy deeds, but it's my little contribution nonetheless.
And in honor of a belated Earth Day, here are some of my favorite pictures of the A girl, out enjoying nature. I pray I will teach her to appreciate the Earth more than I have... looks like we're on the right track.

...doing whatever it is you think I'd be best at!

I need your help, loyal dear readers (I'm buttering you up to solicit your advice.)

I need you to picture me in what you think would be my ideal job, and describe it for me. You can comment here, or call, or email, or contact me through one of the seven other electronic portals now used to communicate. No idea is stupid. No suggestion is lame. I'm looking for your honest opinion, whether you've known me for 15 years or have been reading my blog for 15 minutes.

I'll explain later the origins of this assesment, but suffice it to say that I feel like a baby bird and need some direction before I go flying out of the nest.

And in case you need a sassy picture of me to complete your mental image, here you go...

Apparently the traditional gift for the second wedding anniversary is cotton. According to Wikipedia, it's because by the second year, you've become more comfortable with one another, and cotton is symbolic of comfort. Interesting. Personally, I think every anniversary should be diamond-related. Second anniversary- princess cut diamonds.
I am in disbelief that we've been married for two years. In some respects, I can't believe it's been two years already. I have vivid flashes of our wedding day... and that couldn't have been two years ago! But then I realize that we now have a 10 month old, and we've been living in our apartment for 2+ years, and a million other little things that tell me that time has indeed been marching on.
And as silly as cotton is for an anniversary gift, something about the comfortableness of it feels just right at this place in our relationship. We're communicating better than ever, giving one another the benefit of the doubt more often, and just generally relaxing into life as a little family of three.
Speaking of which, here's a picture of our little trio from Easter.
Well, I'm off to purchase a symbolic cotton undershirt from Target (anyone have any better cotton ideas?) to honor my comfortable and happy little marriage to the man who is practically perfect in every way.

I hate surprises. I know a lot of people think they hate them, but I came to a realization this weekend. Not only do I hate being surprised, I hate surprising other people.
Back story...
Our two year anniversary is next Monday- the day after Easter. As much as we'd like to go away our anniversary weekend, we don't want to miss the holiday with our family. So we'll be jaunting down to San Diego late April. At any rate, I wanted to do something special for Nick. I hope I go overboard talking about how amazing he is, because he is so incredible, but I know that often we get caught talking about work or the baby and I forget to fawn over him as much as I should.
So I thought, "I'll get tickets for Angels opening day (which was yesterday, April 6 for you non-baseball lovers.) AND we'll leave the baby with my parents so it can be a real date night. DOUBLE AND we'll go somewhere fun for dinner." So I concoct this plan and buy the tickets and then I decide to not tell him. I'm just going to show up at work on Monday afternoon without the baby and say, "Get in the car- we're going to the Angel game."
In theory, this is a foolproof and wonderful plan. In my head, I'm looking adorably cute in Angels gear and I pop into his office and he practically falls on the floor from surprise. I hold his Angels jersey out and say, "Put this on... we're going to the game." And his mouth falls open and he's so excited that we run out of the office to the car and spend a magical evening with 43,000 other people watching the Angels kick the snot out of the A's.
NOT IN THE PLAN- Nick calling early in the day to tell me that he was offered two seperate sets of free tickets for games later in the week, and how excited he is to go to those games. Nick wearing his jersey to work, so I cant be thoughtful enough to bring it. Me showing up and saying, "We're going to the Angel game!" and Nick saying, "Oh, wow. Okay. I need an hour to wrap things up here."
ALSO NOT IN THE PLAN- The adventure we had trying to sneak around the ushers to get to a restaurant reserved for people on the Club Suite level. Sitting together through the whole game and not having to get up to soothe a crying baby or change a diaper. Making fun of the lady sitting behind us who would yell inane things at the players and sounded like the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons. Holding hands and skipping down a totally empty walkway. Like literally skipping. And yes, we're 12.
In all, the whole experience made me realize that life is one big surprise. Sometimes the big things that I over-plan in my head make me think I hate surprises, but in reality, I love the beautiful moments that are better than anything I could have scripted.
Surprises are normal, everyday occurances that wiggle their way into rountine make my life this rich, blessed, wonderful series of unexpected moments that I wouldn't trade anything for. I just need to keep an open mind and heart- and keep surprising myself.