segundo aniversario

Mark and I are having our two year wedding anniversary on Tuesday, and yesterday we did some celebrating. One of our traditions (if you can call it that after only two years) is to watch the slide show of our wedding photos that's set to music we picked out. In a few years it'll be more entertaining to see how we looked and what songs we chose, I think.

We also commemorated the event by ordering a mini replica of our wedding cake (as seen in the picture) from the incredible baker who made the original. The first time we actually had only one tier, but this time we thought it would be fun to have two. The cake is coconut, with chocolate buttercream frosting and a layer of apricot preserves in the middle, topped with sugar-frosted fresh fruit. We were going to wait until after dinner to dig in, but we polished off the first layer immediately (after the necessary photo shoot, of course). I had forgotten just how incredible the cake was.

To cap the festivities, we went to dinner at a place we've never tried before, Indian Garden, which is in the Indian-Pakistani stretch of Devon. Mark ordered saag paneer (a stew of spinach and cubed cottage cheese), and I had a mild curry with mushrooms and green peas. I've not had Indian food before that I know of, but as of last night I have also fallen in love with naan, a leavened flat bread that gets cooked in a tandoori clay oven so that it bubbles up and is crispy on the bottom. Ours was doused with butter...I might be addicted. Fortunately, its a 30-40 minute walk to get there, so it won't be an everyday thing and I won't gain fifteen naan pounds.

I feel the earth move under my bed

Today I had the novel experience of being awakened by a mild rhythmic shaking and thudding noise. A moment later, Mark woke with a gasp. The shaking continued long enough for us to discuss: what the crap is happening? Why is our bed moving? After a few seconds, we correctly ascertained the cause and alas, I have survived my first earthquake...my first tiny midwestern tremor, that is. My reaction was, "That was really cool!", but Mark's was, "That was unsettling." That's a pretty big reversal of roles from the usual high-strung Whitney and unflappable Mark, but the reversal is in my favor this time. :)

In other news, I have a rare evening to myself because Mark is off hanging out with his fellow philosophers-in-training. When he first told me he'd be gone tonight, I was like, "Nice, an evening to myself will be relaxing and productive. I'll knit and get some things done." But what actually happens is that he leaves, I go buy myself some ice cream and candy, and then I sit around thinking, "Gosh, it's quiet. I wish there was someone here to hang out with. I guess I'll eat..." Sadly, I really don't know what to do with myself when I'm in total solitude, because it happens so infrequently at this point. I feel like I should really be enjoying it, but what I actually want to do is go to sleep early so that I am relieved from the oppressive silence, and my relatively social day tomorrow can come and bring sounds other than the ticking of the clock back into my life. Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock...

I'm not going to blog right now because...

...Mark has offered to give me a back rub, and that's way easier than writing about something interesting.

But I haven't forgotten about my blog! Be back soon...

I will take a large glass of water, thank you

I have this habit of deciding that I'd like to drink a glass of water because I'm thirsty and/or I think I should for the sake of my health, then drinking a gulp or two and forgetting about it. Tonight Mark gave me the option of a regular or an extra large glass, and I chose extra large. To put it optimistically, the glass is still half full after a few hours. Mark is drinking it now. Maybe that's not a very interesting blog topic, but it's a quirk of mine that I thought I'd share. Maybe writing mundane blog entries is another quirk of mine...

This has been a strange day. I was off of work on Monday and Tuesday, so today was my first day in the office this week. I still can't figure out what day it is. I came home and my mom called to tell me that a longtime friend of her and my dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday. It's really sad, of course...I don't feel like there is a lot more I can say about how terrible it is for her family and friends. It's crazy to think about. I can't imagine what it would be like if someone close to me who I expected to be around for another few decades was suddenly and permanently gone. I guess that's a contingency we're not really meant to spend our energy anticipating, we just have to live. Life is pretty amazing...it's so tenacious and also so fragile at the same time. It seems so cliche, but I think I'm going to be more mindful to appreciate it for a while.

Inexplicable giggliness

Okay, so this may be a cop-out of a blog, but this just tickles me. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8vZM-O3hc&feature=related

It's hard to blog when you work in a cube

I find myself really wanting to stay disciplined with blogging, but I don't generate much blog-worthy material while sitting in my cube on the east side of the 25th floor watching it be gray all day. It's easy to lose sight of what you actually want to accomplish in life, or even in the next year, when all you get are a couple of days here and there to catch your breath. Mark has said that he would like to write a novel at some point in his life, which I think is a cool aspiration. I think I would like to write something more substantive than a journal entry as well, but I think I'm more inclined toward non-fiction than creative fictitious writing. Maybe something to do with sustainable consumption? I also think it would be cool to have a garden and grow all of my own produce organically. I'm told that Chicago soil is dangerously lead-ridden, though, so it may have to be a rooftop deal somewhere down the road when it's possible that I'll own at least a share of a roof. Maybe somehow during the day when I'm in my cube gazing over the hideous roof of the building next door and all of its strange gray contraptions, I'll be inspired to realize this dream.