People Watching In Grocery Stores

I ran out the other night to Food Lion to grab some bananas and milk for breakfast the next morning.  In front of me in the checkout line was a young couple with a baby. The baby was barely visible inside the super sized VERY PINK carrier riding at the front of the cart. Pink fabric, pink ribbons, pink bows, pink blankey, pink bottle... it was tempting to lean forward and ask, "So, is it a little boy or girl?"

But the baby wasn't what interested me. It was the parents. So very young. The girl was slightly pudgy in a pleasing way with a cute and good-natured face. She also had an intelligent look about her and if I had to guess I'd say she did pretty well in school. And school couldn't be far behind. I'd be surprised if she were 20.

The husband looked even younger--one of those men who will still look 18 when he's 40. Thin, buzzed blond hair, faded t-shirt, gangly hands and arms that he looked like he didn't quite know what to do with. A slightly surprised look about him, but not sullen looking like so many young kids around here. He smiled shyly but easily as his wife talked with the cashier.  He was also obviously enamoured of his wife, like he couldn't quite believe his good fortune that she was with him and that was actually their baby.

They were buying some cleaning staples, milk, and bags and bags of Roman noodles. There must have been at least 15 different colored bags of noodles the cashier swiped through.

The cashier wished them a good night and they smiled and wished the same back to her, then slowly pushed the cart out of the store, the wife reviewing the checkout list as they went.

I watched them leave. I had a flash of what I imagined their life to look like--sparse, run-down apartment that they're very pleased with because it is THEIRS.  Hand-me down furniture. Wedding gifts or presents or even cards still proudly displayed. A happy life with each other. Excited about their new family, excited to be "grown-ups" with an apartment and jobs and a baby. Still find it fun to wake up next to each other "just like married people."

Will the happiness last or will eating Roman noodles and struggling for money quickly lose its "us versus the world" appeal? I hope it lasts, but the odds are against them. They're just so young. I wanted to wrap them up and protect them--keep their happiness safe.

I'm not going anywhere with this. The couple and their noodles and their smiles have stayed with me, so I thought I'd share. That's all.

Guarding My Office Privacy

Our home office is filled with my stuff. I have a white board filled with article ideas, phrases I heard that I liked and might want to use someday, reminder notes, tasks to be done, etc. I have a huge wall calendar with deadline dates circled in red and mini-completion dates inked in green. I have a stack of books on writing the perfect novel, the perfect query letter, the perfect book proposal (writers are big on the perfect "something"). I have my file folders set up with client names printed neatly on each label. To my immediate left there is a cork board where I have inspirational quotes posted, my 2007 goals for the year (including my monetary goals), a marathon-training schedule, postcards from friends, and websites I might find useful.

In short, to sit at my desk is to get an immediate sense of who I am and what I'm about. Which is why at the moment I'm feeling kind of creeped out based on the fact I let someone else sit in the space.

It's no big deal. Our designer needed to check e-mail and the B&B we had her in didn't have wi-fi. So we offered our computer to her.  Only after she left did it occur to me that my goals for the year were listed in full sight, my half-baked article titles were chalked on the board...

For better or worse, I try very hard to present a "finished" picture of myself to the world, and I am left feeling so unsettled that someone saw "behind the curtain" as it were, to my hopes and not really thought through plans. It gives me a creepy-crawly feeling to think about it.

Anyone else out there private like that? Or do you not care who sees or knows almost anything about you?

PC versus Mac

After copious amounts of discussion and Blair having to restrain me from ripping our computer off the desk and tossing it out our upper story window, we think we're ready to make the leap from PC to Mac. I say "think," because I'm hoping everyone here will weigh in with their opinion. We thought getting fish was a good idea too, until you all scared the crap out of us with your replies.

Frankly, I have HAD IT with rebooting this stupid computer up to three times a day. Wonky things go wrong every day, turning what should be 5 minute tasks into 2 hour-long periods of frustration.

I had someone out a couple months ago who said our PC was in good shape, so I don't know what the problem is. All I know is that Mac people seem to lead a happier existence.

So bring it on--pro's/con's of life with PC or Macs. I need to hear from you.

Cabin Diaries: The Design Process

Friends would look at me a little askance when I mentioned we were flying in an architect/designer to help us layout the cabin. I don't blame them. Given the thousands of log home design plans already available on the market, flying someone in does seem a bit excessive and out of the Harris price range. And frankly, I was worried and wondering if bringing this designer in would be worth the money.

Now that she has been here for several days and laid out an initial design for us I can say this - she is SO WORTH IT.

We are in love with what she's presented us with. And it's fascinating--as she's talked us through the process of what we want, what we value, and how we'll use the cabin--how the "final" design is almost nothing at all like what we thought we'd end up with.

For one thing, we thought we'd select round golden, honey-toned hued logs. Nuh-uh. Now we're gung-ho for flat, gray, weathered logs. In fact, the idea behind the design is to create a cabin authentic to the area that looks like it's been here for a hundred years.  We're even doing an "add-on" area where it looks like the "original" log cabin had a porch enclosed with batten board at some point.

Where we thought the front entrance would be is now the back of the house.  And we followed the advice of Bernie in the last post and nixed the wrap-around porch. Now we have a 12 x 12 screened-in porch area that faces east off the kitchen, a west facing covered front porch with views of the mountains, and a north-west ground-level terrace, open for full sun.

We went up with a second story instead of down with a walkout basement. There are plans for beautiful archways and architectural windows that add a bit of "funk" to the house. There is also the coolest little office niche hidden behind the stairwell in the loft.

Nothing is set in stone (or log, as the case may be).  The designer has to go back and plot out ridge lines and weight bearing and joists and all that technical stuff.  But it's a relief to feel confidence in the direction of her and now our vision for the cabin.  She never pushed or really even offered opinions on what we should do. Instead, she asked questions and we came to realize the answers for ourselves. We want simple, authentic, and natural--with a bit of fun.

The process is just beginning. I'm sure there will be headaches and hard choices up the road. But for today, life in a log home looks lovely.