Out of character... and then quickly back in.

So, I am who I am. That really means nothing, does it? Why do people say that? Is that some sort of self-condoning twist, like unto Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"? (I HATE that song, by the way. Hate it. I mean, it's like negating the entire doctrine of overcoming the natural man. I don't mean to go all preachy on this but, c'mon, Lady. You should know better.)

I've been having some "getting to know you" conversations with a new friend of mine. We're sending facebook messages and random texts and just having fun swapping stories and random facts about each other. What's interesting to me is that she continues to be surprised. Am I that unexpected? When I take a step back and think about it, nothing I've shared fits into any sort of mold. I think people who don't know me well are often surprised when they get to know me better.

It's fun to be random. A few facts that I've shared with her that have caused some laughter:
I HATE my scrawny wrists/neck. Many people like the "elegant" look. I see "awkward weakling." Therefore, I will ALWAYS wear my hair down and load up on bracelets.

Every time I do laundry, I have to fight the urge to slide down the stairs inside my laundry baskets. My limited knowledge of physics tells me that will not end well. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to try.

I hate smelly lotions/candles/air freshener. More specifically, I hate the ones that smell like food. Sugar cookie or raspberry should NOT be the scent of a person. I should never be tempted to eat my own hand. If I smell vanilla, I want to be able to eat a cookie.

I hate shopping carts. I will cut the circulation off my own hand by carrying a 30lb plastic basket around the store before trying to maneuver a cumbersome shopping cart. It slows me down. I have no patience for that.

I love artsy things, but I HATE making them. Again, with the patience thing. I'm addicted to etsy.com because I'd much rather pay someone else to make something simple than try to figure out how to do it myself.

I love clothes, but I hate hair and makeup and heels and fingernails. I like looking good, I just hate the effort it takes. I only recently have started experimenting with braids and other hairstyles. But I won't do anything that takes more than 2 minutes. No blow dryers for me!!

Those things being said, I did some things recently that are totally out of character for me. (Assuming that, with my randomness, there is such a thing as "in character.")

 I got my first manicure. Mom re-gifted a gift certificate she got from work. Of course, they were immediately smudged and rough-looking, but I LOVE the color and had to go buy my own bottle so I can do it again myself. (And by "myself", I mean I'm going to ask Gina to do it. When I paint, it looks like a 6-year-old did it.)











I created an earring holder out of a place mat. I've been checking out earring display ideas on Pinterest and this is NOTHING like any of them. But it was innovative and colorful and TOTALLY me! I'm pretty danged proud of myself. I didn't technically have to "make" anything. I hung a place mat on my wall and then stuck my earrings in it. But still ...







Also, out of character for me: I missed the "make a silly
face" memo in our Zumba picture! Really, the story's funnier than that. Valerie (mentioned in my previous post, and also the recipient of aforementioned "getting to know you" messages) claims to be pretty reserved. But I don't believe a word of it. A couple of weeks ago, she was my Zumba buddy at a fundraiser they did for Special Olympics. The two of us had a BLAST trying to follow new choreography that included awkward stops and even a bit of air guitar. Then, those of us who attend the Zumba Sisters' class got together for a group photo. They had us do a few silly ones. And sweet little Valerie leans in to stick her tongue in my ear! I was so distracted and laughing so hard that I totally missed the picture. Although, this zoomed in version still makes me pretty happy! Look how pleased she is with herself! :)





It's pretty "in-character" for me to be inappropriate and immature, so I don't have to explain the ideas behind this next picture other than, mom and dad were out of town and mom has a LOT of crafty letter blocks. SOMETHING had to be done with them! Letter blocks + Suzie + Gina + pizza make for one fun party!







AND now here's a brief photo summary of last weekend's trip to Utah:

I met up with Lisa for dinner and some shopping. Also, I brought her step kids down from Idaho to spend the weekend with them. I was scared to drive down with a 6 year old and a 4 year old, but they slept the whole way!

My job for the bridal shower was to make the signs and set them up on the street corners. Sydney helped me. You gotta jump really good to get these suckers into the ground!

 

Cousins Hampton, Brooke & Sydney at the bridal shower. I really love Hampton's happy grin in this picture!!

Sydney put together a "How well do you know each other?" game. Amanda and Lee had no idea what to expect when they got an answer wrong! We kinda made a mess of Grandma's living room. But it was so fun!

Kim, Hampton and me. I can't get enough of these ladies!

Alex, Brooke, Amanda and Sydney. These sisters are SO MUCH fun! I think I love my cousins more and more every time we get together. I'm pretty lucky that I have the best family in the world!

Mama and Grandma Ruby.

My cute mom and her cute mom.

I went shopping with Kim and Hampton. I bought a bookcase at IKEA and Hampton helped me push it out to the car--with STYLE!

There are also some Silvester cousins down in Utah! This other cousin Amanda is probably going to be angry at me for posting a pregnant picture. Whatever. She's adorable. And her unborn child already kicked me.