(Kind Of) Cohabiting

(Is it a bad omen that I found this picture on a divorce site? Oops.)

So, for the past week or so Dave and I have found ourselves cohabiting. It wasn't really planned, and we're not sharing the bills or anything like that. Yet. Here's how it happened...

My family is originally from Ohio, and my grandfather and aunt still live there. Recently, my grandpa (here on out known as Ed) has been having some health issues. Complications from Congestive Heart Failure. My mom, bearing the guilt that only the oldest child can bear (I know this, b/c I am the oldest as well obvs...), decided she needed to go out there to help take care of all the things having an elder parents entails. I am glad she did. It was touch and go there for awhile, and I was ready to drive out myself. Ed is such a big, strong man, that we don't see him going anywhere anytime soon, despite his 90 years of age.

While she stays there helping out my aunt, I have been left the house to care for. This is good for many reasons: I feel like an actual 27 y/o having my own place, I don't have to unload the dishwasher the minute I get home from work, and no one nags me to wipe out the sink after I brush my teeth. There is a whole bunch of awesomeness to this living alone situation, but there is one big problem: I hate being alone. At night, specifically. And so, I won't. Enter Dave :)

Dave and I are now splitting our time between my house and his. 3 days here. 4 days there. Or 2 days here and 4 days there and 1 day here. However it ends up. It's a pain in the ass, packing bags, and lugging groceries back and forth (yes, we do), and not to mention Georgie's stuff!

And I kind-of like it. Granted, there was a moment last night where we were ready to sleep in separate rooms, if not separate houses...but I'm thinking of it all as a preview for what's ahead. And overall, we make it work. With the stress of the back and forth. So cheers to that!

Talk to me in two weeks. I hope I'm as satisfied and positive about this whole situation as I am today. I have a sneaking suspicion I will be :)

A. Quirky

Baby Steps

Hello All!

Well, I broke my New Year's Resolution already. Don't remember it? Check it out here. But I'm justifying it because I only broke it at work. Wait, I never say work, I say school. Because I'm a teacher, remember? As any good teacher knows, lesson plans are the key to a successful, organized, and productive classroom. As any teacher also knows, they are the bane of one's existence. They totally stink. The only thing that stinks more is grading. Remember when you were in school and got to grade your neighbors paper? Wasn't that so fun? Well it's not anymore.

Anywayyouprobablydontcareaboutthat, I slacked off during break, and didn't create lesson plans for this week. Fear not, my students were not climbing bookshelves and hanging from the flag pole during the Pledge of Allegience, I pulled myself together around 7am, and arranged some pretty kick-ass activities about Christmas Break and Resolutions.

And because, as any good teacher knows, teaching by example is always helpful to the little kiddos. So I shared my New Year's Resolution. They thought it was boring, and wanted to have resolutions like "remember to feed my fish" instead. Whatever, I guess that's a pretty good one for a 7 year old.

But since I need someone to think my resolutions are smart, or practical, or even logical, I am sharing them with you. My general resolution was to be more organized. That's a giant step for quirky-kind though, so last night (during the Eagles game, yeah that game, the really embarrasing one) I told Dave we were gonna start with baby-steps. (He automatically shares the same New Year's Resolution as me). Presenting Baby Steps:

Almost Quirky Home Renovation List:

January:

1) Order cable box for bedroom (cannot stand not having HGTV in here!!!!)

2) Buy and install new hardware for bedroom set

Yep. That's it. Baby steps people, baby steps.

Maybe in February we'll have a few more items on the list, or a few more major items on the list. But, as any good teacher knows (are you tired of this yet?), you have to instill confidence in a child to encourage them to take risks. This means lots of positive reinforcement, and scaffolding (starting small).

I'll let you know how our January To Do List goes. I'd be too embarrassed to ever admit we didn't get that meager stuff done though, so you'll probably be reading a post the first week of February declaring "Mission Completed", whether we did or not ;)

Do you start off your resolution or goals with baby steps? Surely this can't be a secret only teachers know about ;)

Till Next Time,

A. Quirky

Bad Gemini

(You Want This Magnet)

Darnit. I wish I could get a bigger version of this picture, but I got tired of looking. No surprise there, if you read my magnet. I actually have this magnet somewhere, but I can't find it. Again, no surprise. It's so cheeky, I love it. It basically highlights all my faults, and really most of them are true (that's not easy to admit), especially the ones I circled.

See, Dave and I are both Geminis (our birthdays are 1 day apart), and well, two Geminis in one house can have its disadvantages.

In our day to day lives it's little things like deciding where to eat, or what to to eat, who should drive, what we should watch on tv, and who should take Georgie out. Okay, this is stuff every couple deals with, but where it really messes us up is in the home improvement area.

As I mentioned here, Dave recently moved into his grandmother's house. The house has good bones (Mom Quote), but needs a lot of work. The fact that we have pretty much no money for any major renovations leaves us with lots of small improvements to work on in the meantime. The problem? We cannot even decide what to work on. That's right, forget deciding on a paint color, we can't decide on whether or not to paint!!

Now that would be problem enough. Except sometimes we do decide to do something. And when that happens we do it. We just do it. We don't really research it, we don't really talk it out. We don't explore other options. Dave is worse than I am (sorry hunny!), but it's still that indecisive and flighty quality in both of us that hurts us.

Sometimes it works to our advantage, like the paint color in our bedroom. (More on that later) But most times it doesn't, like remodeling the fireplace. After we tore off the fireplace doors we realized the fireplace wasn't deep enough not to have them. So now we can't have fires, and have hideous gold fireplace doors just hanging out in the hallway.

With all of this comes my New Year's Resolution. Yes, I could stand to use a few pounds, and I should show my sneakers what the outside of my closet looks like. But for the better of humankind, err, Quirkykind, I am going to become more organized.

Here come detailed lists of any and all projects, pros and cons lists, detailed spreadsheets, and budget calculators. We're going to order a bed (no more sleeping on the floor on a mattress), clean the fireplace (you have to do that before you pain it, we discovered), and a new kitchen back splash.

We'll see how it goes.

Happy New Year!

A. Quirky

Welcome!

Hello there!
My name is Halle. I'm a twenty-something who looks like a teen-something. Really. I have a job I sort-of love, a dog I definitely love, and a boyfriend who definitely loves me (luck for him I feel the same :) )

So, the title of my blog? It pretty much says it all. I always feel like I'm the edge of quirky. I have an almost quirky sense of style. An almost quirky personality. Come to think of it, I'm on the edge of a lot of things. The edge of being a great baker. A talented cook. A one-of-a kind teacher. (there's the job I sort of love!).

When I walk down the street, or through the store, because living here in NJ, I don't walk down the street much, I see people who look like they have mastered something. The girl with the smoky eye? She definitely mastered the make-up course of life. The lady I work with who wears the trench coat and riding boots? She mastered the "10 Classic Looks Every Women Must Own" skill. My friend who has the most abstractly-perfect, don't match anything, yet they match everything" drapes? She has the quirky, cozy, home decorator down.

Don't get me wrong. I do not go moping around wishing I was trench coat lady, or look at my drapes and consider hanging myself from them. I just wonder if someday I'll be the drape lady in a trench coat with a smoky eye. It's certainly worth a try.

My hopes for newborn blog are a lot like any parent's hopes for their newborn (real, breathing) baby. I want her to be the best she can be. I want her to follow her own path, even if it's not the one I originally set out for her. As a parent to a newborn baby blog, I want to enjoy every moment, and be proud of my little girl :) I don't yet know how exactly this blog will turn out, just like a real baby! (The comparisons keep working!!) Happy Birthday Almost Quirky!! I can't wait to see what you become! And with that...

...here goes quirky.

xxoo
Halle