You know those old women who stay single for life–they’re called spinsters, right? Anyway, for some reason today, I feel (once again) that Matt made a mistake by marrying me. I know he will disagree, but there are times when I just feel like I’m not 1). hot enough, 2). girly enough, and 3). exciting enough. As down-to-earth as Matt is, don’t all (or most) guys like girls who giggle and fawn all over them? Guys like to feel macho and manly around girls. Most of the time, Matt probably feels like a babysitter around me, trying to keep me controlled and mellow as I’m hopping all over the apartment or bouncing off the walls.

But that’s something I’m coming to terms with and have thought about many times. I think moving here has helped, since a lot of the girls we’ve met are into outdoorsy things and different activities, so I don’t feel like such the tomboy or the nerd—not that there’s anything wrong with those things! But I’m trying not to be discontent with who I am, especially since my identity is found in God’s eyes–and He doesn’t make any crappy things. So if I want to sit at home or knit or be dorky and try some breakdancing moves at home, so be it. If I wear a bright-colored striped shirt with neutral-colored plaid boxers in the apartment (I have enough sense not to wear it in public!), so be it. Comfort over image, right?

In time, with control of my thoughts, and prayer, I’ll make it.

…and he can feast for days!

Moving up here to Seattle has opened up a whole list of activities that Matt and I have never thought of. One such activity is crabbing. And not just crabbing the old-fashioned way of setting out crab pots (traps) and waiting for the little buggers to crawl in. Matt’s childhood friend passed on the crabbing method that he learned–just grab the crab.

We were out on the water around 8:30 on a low-tide morning. The water had receded, leaving a shallow layer of water and sheets of seaweed about ankle- to knee-deep. We put on our new aqua socks and trudged through the sludge, sinking into the mud with each step. As we walked further out into the water, we left footprints in the seaweed. It was a hilarous process of getting used to walking through the mud. There was a lot of laughing and slurping of the mud around our feet.

When we got out to where there was more water than mud, we learned the tricks of the trade. Slowly walk through the water and sweep your feet along the surface of the sand. If you feel something hard, put pressure on it. If it’s firm and resistant, it’s a rock. If it gives a little, it may be a crab. (Even with these instructions, I pulled up plenty of rocks that I thought could be crabs.) When you’re stepping on what could be a crab, let your foot up a little bit. If the object pushes up a bit or if you feel it move, keep your foot on it. Then reach down with your hand, grab the end that is not pushing up (the crab will push up with its head), and pull it out of the water.

Some of us wore gloves for good reason. And even with gloves, I didn’t get away without a couple of scars. Those pinchers are mighty strong, and those crabs are stubborn. It was a little nervewracking at first, not knowing exactly how the crab would feel under my foot, or not knowing if I was brushing past a crab that was going to pinch my ankle. Or how would it feel trying to pick up a crab? For awhile, I didn’t feel anything that could be a crab, and I was getting discouraged watching people around me pick up crabs left and right. The next time someone caught a crab, I asked to have it put under my foot so I could know how it felt.

I picked up a couple of crabs after that, but had to chuck them back in the water because they were either too small or were female (there are rules about what you can keep). Along the way, I saw a small (dead) starfish, and a jellyfish that was pulsating in the water. In the end, with 7 of us crabbing, we had 27 crabs for lunch.

I felt a little barbaric, watching the crabs get dunked into boiling hot water. They turned bright red in the water and took on a dull color as they dried in the sun. Potatoes and corn were thrown into the pot, and we ended up with a tasty, filling lunch. We all sat on some logs and feasted on our catch. Boy, those crabs were amazing. It’s troublesome to have to crack them and try to avoid the juice dripping out of them, but they tasted SO good, even without any seasoning or butter. Aside from the sun beating down on us (causing my sunburn, grrrr…), it was a perfect lunch.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the day…

It’s sort of sad that I have to post this here, because it’s really pointless. But it’s sad that I don’t have any friends here at work to whom I can tell random things–like this. So to the few readers of this blog, bear with me. It just cracks me up, so I have to tell someone–ANYONE!

This past week, Matt has been waking up when I do since he has to drive to his contract job. He is completely out whenever he sleeps, so he never hears the alarm. I’m the one who wakes up at the first beep of the alarm, so I nudge him to tell him that it’s 6:30.

Yesterday, I said, “Matt, it’s 6:30.” He woke up a little bit, and I said to him, “We both get mouths.”

“Huh? Mouse??” he responded, sounding confusing.

“NO–MOUTHS, not mouse!” I answered.

“We get mouths? I don’t get it,” he said.

“You know!! Mouths! ARGH. Nevermind,” I said, totally frustrated.

“No, tell me! I don’t get it!”

“Nevermind!” I huffed and turned over to get a few more minutes of sleep.

When we got up shortly after, Matt asked me what I had meant. I totally remembered our exchange, but I had NO IDEA what I was talking about. But at the time, it made COMPLETE sense to me, and it honestly frustrated me that Matt did not understand what I was saying.

Even now, it makes me chuckle to think about it.

It’s supposed to be in the mid-90s this weekend…everyone is referring to it as a “heat wave.” hehe…although most of my summers have been in 100+ degree weather, being in 90-degree temperatures still is really warm. I’m one of the ones panting, “MAN, it’s hot!” And Matt looks at me like I’m a heat wuss (which I am).

Hopefully we will beat the heat by going crabbing about an hour north of here. Yippee!

So happy weekend! I will leave you with some pics from last weekend.

Thanks to Costco, I can eat cherries until they come out of my…ears.

Four years ago, we went to Brazil and met Ted & Claudia, American missionaries who were part of the organization for which we volunteered. They’re also sponsored by our home church in Northridge. They are such an enthusiastic, fun, God-loving couple. They’re back in the States for a bit and happened to be up here in the Northwest, so we got to meet up for ice cream and coffee.

They looked exactly the same as I remember them. It was like no time had passed since we had last seen them. They’re the type of people who make you instantly feel comfortable. It’s so encouraging to hear that they are still following God’s leading in their lives. Both of their sons are grown up now, and rather than sitting back and retiring, Ted & Claudia are forging ahead to the next phase of their life–to Spain. They had always hoped to work with Muslims, and had originally planned to do that long ago. But then an opportunity came for them to go to Brazil. Muslim countries are more open to Brazilians than to Americans, so in a way, Ted and Claudia are fulfilling their desire.

While in Brazil, Ted encouraged and provided support to Brazilians to become missionaries to Muslim countries while Claudia took on a leadership role at an American-Brazilian school, attended by many missionary kids. Now, there are so many Brazilians working overseas that Ted and Claudia will move even closer to them to provide support. They’ll be in a central location to meet up with a lot of Latino missionaries, as well. Claudia will spend a lot of time learning Spanish, as well as meeting with the wives of the missionaries, many of whom need some sort of guidance for their children’s education.

Talking to them made me realize that Matt and I are far from being settled in. If God opens up some doors elsewhere, it would be great to go somewhere else. Yet, at the same time, we’re looking to buy a house here and settle in…but we are far from getting old and planting our roots too deeply.

On the way home, Matt and I reminisced about our days in Brazil and how we’d like to go back one day–hopefully sooner than later. There were so many people who were extremely hospitable to us, and we see how we should extend a welcome to other people traveling here. People there were so gracious to take me in, even when we could not speak the same language. I learned so many lessons there. It may be time to dig out my journal and revisit those lessons. Ah, estou com saudade por brasil!

I have never considered myself one who likes to go shopping. If I need a particular item, I prefer to go to the mall alone. That way, I can dart in and out of the stores looking for that specific thing. Or I could spend more time wandering around the racks without worrying about keeping anyone waiting. I also don’t like the leisurely pace that most people use when walking through the mall. In the mall, I’m like that one annoying driver who constantly changes lanes, finding every available space, to dart ahead.

But I do appreciate what stores offer. I love browsing through racks of dresses, where tulle peeks out from underneath brightly colored skirts. Or studying intricately cut gemstones hanging from silver links as earrings. Or oohing and aahing over little knickknacks, creatively designed greeting cards, and cutesy stationery. So when I’m in the mood, I can enjoy what stores out there have to offer.

When I first checked out Federal Way, where my office is based, I thought, “There’s nothing out here to do during lunch!” Matt was doing contract work downtown, mere blocks from Pike Place Market and other streets where there was no shortage of cute little shops (including a yarn store). I was envious of his lunchtime excursions–on foot, too! Then, I soon discovered that, within a five-minute drive, pretty much every store where I had shopped was easily accessible: Target, Costco, Borders, Joann, Michaels, Old Navy, Pier 1 Outlet, Trader Joe’s Ross. You name it–even a boba place. I recognized the danger. Lunchtime excursions could easily become opportunities to spend money.

I went to Borders today and was immediately tempted to whip out the credit card and buy to my heart’s desire. Books, books, and more books. With all my books still packed up in a far corner of one of the closets, I have nothing to read unless I go to the library. It’s frustrating not to have anything to read whenever I want. I almost had a breakdown on Saturday when I had to find something to bring to the park to read. Then there also were magazines. One of the knitting ones even has an interview with Lisa Loeb. Knitting AND Lisa Loeb? Doesn’t that justify spending $5.99 on a magazine?? (Um. No. Even with two of my favorite things within one magazine, $5.99 is too much money for a magazine!)

Near the entrance, displays of bright, cutesy, funky tote bags/address books/notecards/pens/photo albums immediately caught my attention. After all, you can’t ever have enough notecards or pens, right? I’m a writer–I’m entitled to a full stash of pens, although Matt will disagree. But I resisted. Oh, it was so hard. The prices were all so reasonable, too. I imagined bringing home a little pencil sharpener (only 99 cents!) with tiny animals parading all around it, or a mouse pad with a detailed photograph of a dandelion. I could already see Matt’s furrowed brow. “We don’t need more useless junk! Why did you buy it?!”

“But…” I would begin. But I would not be able to complete the sentence. I didn’t need those things. They weren’t on sale. Ggrr…Matt would be right in his thinking because I would have just bought them because they were cute.

So I put the pencil sharpener, mouse pad, pens, journal (50% off!) away, found what I had gone into Borders to buy, and quickly left before the colors of the knickknacks tempted me again.

See? THIS is precisely why I can’t leave the office for lunch breaks. Standing up to temptation is too tiring.

But then I drove to Joann. After all, I had an excuse–I had 40% off coupons to use.

Get ready for the drama of One Park, a reality TV show about the editorial offices of American Media Inc. in NY! (Hey, why aren’t they also creating a show about the Woodland Hills office?? Oh yeah. They’ve moved everyone to NY.) I love one of the comments about the Woodland Hills office and how the little people have to find street parking and walk to the office in 105 degree weather. Oh, the good ol’ Weider days.

In each episode, they’ll feature the tension of deadlines (”We have to ship all these pages TODAY!”, the angst of copy editors (”She wants to spell out numbers in the recipes, but we always use numerals!”), and the backstabbing of editors (”She’s blaming me for being behind schedule, but it’s her fault for being so incompetent.”). Since most magazine editors are female, the show should not have a shortage of drama and cat fights.

Although I’m curious about the show, it’s a pretty ridiculous idea. How interesting can it be, and really–do I want to see David Pecker and Bonnie Fuller primping themselves for the camera? If responses from them about magazine issues weren’t slow enough already, they’re about to get even worse.

This picture best explains the life of a copy editor:

About a year ago, a woman in Seattle came up with an idea to confront consumerism and materialism. She realized there are people in developing countries who may only have one or two outfits in their wardrobe–where some of us here in U.S. go through one or two outfits a day. Some people even have unworn clothes in their closet that they will never wear. Women, especially, are pressured to buy nice, expensive clothes as a statement of who they are. We end up believing that clothes make the person, and a brand name sprayed across our chest will give us clout in society. (I’m trying to explain her opinion, but I think some of mine have crept in…oops!)

From this, the Little Brown Dress experiment was born. For an entire year, she would wear only a brown dress that she made herself. She’d wash it everyday, but it would be her only outfit. She documented her whole experience here.

Last week, she had an “Undressing” party on her 30th birthday, where she ended her yearlong experiment. That same night, after she took off her dress, someone took the little brown dress and has given it a life of its own. She receives e-mails from littlebrowndress@gmail.com with little notes about where the dress is and what it is up to (and how it is feeling). She has seen pictures of the dress floating in the water, hanging out at the Space Needle, being held by a Goodwill worker.

You can find a summary of her whole experiment here. If you don’t make it to her personal website, at least read the summary in the Seattle Times. It’s amusing and entertaining, if not inspirational in her solo stand against consumerism and its hold on us.

She gets the Taffystay Marrow-Sucking Award for the day!

In my gallery, I mention visiting a yarn store on someone’s farm on Orcas Island. Here are some pics of the yarn I bought. (Just for you, JZ!) The green yarn doesn’t look as vibrant as it does in real life, and I didn’t want to modify the color so much in Photoshop as to not represent the true color. Can’t wait to see how they look entwined and knit into a scarf!

I had a blast talking to an old friend from my Canon days tonight. It has been so long since we have spoken, and it’s been about a year and half since we last saw each other. (Since Christmastime in Davis, right? Remember–boba?) If we can’t go yarn shopping together in person, I guess the next best thing is shopping for yarn together online, huh? (Starsky is calling us! Let’s do it!! I dare you to buy the grape yarn!)

7/24 Addendum: Miracles do happen. The other day, Matt told me, “You should buy more yarn from the woman on Orcas Island.” I nearly had a heart attack. Was he actually telling me to BUY YARN?! I asked him why, and he told me it would be nice to support her business. Isn’t that incredibly nice?! I’m thinking now that I could buy yarn from her to make scarves for a fundraising project that I have been mulling over.