so, it's almost a whole year of being married to the most amazing person in the world. and what with the first year anniversary coming up, i was recently wondering how to best celebrate this ever so special occasion. is there something in particular that is supposed to happen? a specific gift to give? perhaps 365 pieces of paper?
here are my thoughts:
if i were a man, and i had a wife, and our first year anniversary was coming up... i would buy her a regulation-sized football. yes. yes, i would. and we would be happily ever after, running plays in our backyard with our not-quite-yet conceived children. it would be glorious.

i love office supplies. i love pencils, pens, paper, notebooks, staples, elastic bands, paper clips. it doesn't matter that i rarely have reason to use most kinds of office supplies, even the cheap basic ones like tape and hole punches (hole punchers?). i just have the weirdest thing for these type of things. the thought of buying new office supplies makes me giddy. i can't explain it and actually didn't realize it until a few years ago. but if i think about some of my favorite things when i was kid, the first things that come to mind are the big packs of baseball pencils, or the cool eraser tops, or the colorful grips for pencils, or the different folders and/or binders that we used to buy on sale at target. it's strange, i know. but even now, i experience the same sense of ridiculously overrated excitement when i get to buy any new type of office supply. going to office depot is like going to an unknown zoo/amusement park combo that has no lines for the rides and all the animals are awake and playing. ok, it might not be THAT good, but it's a close third. :sigh: such happiness in office depot, or staples, or officemax.
anyway, i got to buy new pencils and pens yesterday because a) jason is awesome and b) i needed them. it was ever so exciting. zebra 301 is top notch.
should i grow up? hm.
i wish i had more reasons to use the multi-colored elastic bands and paper clips that i got for my birthday right before i came to oru. wow, that was almost four years ago.
(oh, and scissors!)

jason says i should not tell the world of our marital problems. i disagree to some extent and thus, the following story*.
*this is not for the gushy-in-love, pre-married types

so tuesdays and thursdays are long days for jason, while they are relatively simple and short for me. knowing this, i decided to surprise jason with a yummy, specially imagined by sharayah, version of a "meal". i had it all planned out: he would open the door to a delicious smelling aroma, walk into the livingroom and declare, "baby, you made me dinner!" and he would then award me with the "best dinner ever" ribbon and the "wife of the year" plaque. oh, if only life played out like it does inside of my head. anyway, i started the preparations about 75 minutes before jason was to arrive since i knew how slow i am. everything was going swell. i was feeling extremely proud of myself as i watched my concoction come together with surprising ease. then tragedy struck. due to absentmindedness, i think, my meal turned to mushy overcooked-ed-ness. though this was a disappointment, overall it was still edible. i decided to make up for the mistake by creating, on the spot, a rather brilliant "side" to the main course of mush. it was ingenious. i popped it in the oven and waited for the arrival of the husband. to make this rather depressing story short, he arrived to the smell of burnt sidedish. yes, you read right. to make up for overcooking one thing, i prepared something else and then burnt it. welcome to the life of me.
needless to say, i did not win the blue ribbon for "best dinner ever". but, by a stroke of luck, i still managed to acquire the plaque for "wife of the year". and this, my friends, is why i married jason.

i do ever so love him. gah.

quote of the day: "we need some sort of dust attracting rag. *pause* ...a dust rag!" - an unnamed white man

as a side note: i am a wounded soldier.

p.s. for those who may be concerned, we do not have any marital problems. in my head, it was a funny thing to say. :)

here's a wondering: say you have a bellybutton. now for the question i'm about to ask, it has to be a cave-like bellybutton and not a "oh, your doctor left a big part of the umbilical cord in you" bellybutton. ok. with that clear.... how does lint grow in such a tiny, dark space? is there factory? if one was to observe a bellybutton for a full day, could you watch the lint form?
i'm just wondering because i am jealous of those who can knit a sweater from two months worth of bellybutton lint. i don't think i could even knit a toe ring in twelve months. oh the disappointments in life.
on a happier note, we've had two days off of school due to inclement weather. inclement weather = dusty whiteness and tulsan vehicular slippage. the duck pond is frozen and the ducks are ice skating splendidly. it's such a happy sight of duckular vitality. i stomped out a snow sign in front of our apartment that says "Panfer!" but overnight it disappeared. i saw duck prints in the snow so i'm a little suspicious...
one more snow/animal thought: i wish i had a harness/leash for panther... i think he'd enjoy the snow in the sense that he would act very entertainingly and i would laugh, a lot. he really does seems fascinated by it.
wintery mixes are lovely because of the silence it brings. and the beautiful pinkish night sky. pure yummy.
oh how i love weekends in the middle of the week...

i wonder what would qualify as a failed life. do you have to fail at a predetermined number of events? perhaps if you fail at an important life event? maybe if you fail at enough important events? i don't know how it works, or if it even works that way at all.
here's a rather neat, recurring thought: my immediate family is my husband. and panther, if you let me include non-bipeds. i know this shouldn't be that weird of a thought since i've been married for eight months, but it sometimes still is. i can't help it that my brain takes a while to digest things.
i like surprises. good ones, at least.
life is simple and beautiful. i wish i could eat it.
i wonder if it's weird that i keep picturing what kind of house i want one day. i never thought it'd actually matter to me, as long as it had a roof and plumbing and all those important things. geez, i keep surprising myself. i find that my insides act a lot girlier than i would like, though i find myself despising this less and less as time goes on. i'm a goof.
this semester would be so easy if it weren't for english 305. (yes, this is me complaining about a relatively easy [i hope] class.) i greatly dislike writing papers, with greatly being underlined half a dozen times. and i do not, in any way, enjoy participating in silly activities to learn other people's names. why can't all classes be like engineering courses? it doesn't matter if you go through the whole semester without the teacher knowing your name. you don't care if you know everyone's name. and participation and discussion is not necessary nor mandatory. you learn, you test, you pass, that's it. oh for simplicity...

today jason told me the following: "i'd rather sacrifice ten minutes of my time with you and your long beautiful hair than a dog." it was profound.
and yes, this is taken out of context. how else am i supposed to make people sound silly?

wow, this year has gone by so quick. it's almost christmas. sometimes it feels like things keep on going when you didn't even realize they could go anywhere. it's weird.
i have a cat who dotes on me. it's a dough bowl for sure.
i've discovered i don't like missing out on things.
i don't like losing things that are un-lose-able.
i'm almost done with this semester and it feels wonderful. if i had to name my favorite semester, it would be this one. and i would name it gary, after my bear.
i can't wait for it to snow. i think it might be weird but i'm still counting "firsts"... first thanksgiving... first snow... first swim in the duck pond... etc.
i love life.

37 days is a long time.