Eco-Friendly

I had a lovely evening out with some friends tonight. We ended up at Barnes & Noble, which to me is like a non-edible candy shop, where we enjoyed rifling through the 50% off clearance bins.

In the non-book bin I found a small set of colored pencils. These aren't just any colored pencils. They are eco-friendly colored pencils. Now, I have absolutely no problem with the idea of being eco-friendly. I enjoy not polluting the river. If I have a choice between something that is toxic and something that is non-toxic, believe me, I will pick the non-toxic option. Maybe even when it comes to colored pencils! So, wondering how these colored pencils could be eco-friendly, I flipped over the package for more information.

"These pencils are made from handmade paper..."

Oh, that's nice.

"...from the Daphne bush,..."

Sounds so clean and eco-friendly!

"...a plant locally grown..."

Fantastic! That reminds me, I want to hit up our local farmer's market tomorrow for some locally grown produce.

"...in Nepal."

Oh, in Nep-- IN NEPAL?? How is that local? Yeah, I know Nepal is the capital of mountains and nature and goats and Eastern wisdom and everything, but is it not as blindingly obvious to the general population as it is to me that Nepal is on the other side of the world? And these colored pencils probably got here by airplane? And airplanes have OMG HUGE CARBON FOOTPRINTS?

It's all marketing, people. "Eco-friendly" is the new "low carb." Are there health benefits to eating less sugar? Yes. Five years ago, did people buy things just because they were labeled "low carb"? Yes. Environmentalists are so happy that eco-friendly has become the "in" thing to be, but it's just a fad. People are sheep who go where the wind takes them, and right now they are paying through the nose for some false peace of mind.

Oh, and so, apparently, is Congress. Great job, Congress. Way to pull us out of this recession!

And no, I didn't buy the colored pencils. That's just silly.

2008

I'm going to call it: Christmas cards just aren't going to happen this year. I was still holding out hope, but the time has passed. I had already decided not to do a letter, because Christmas letters should be uplifting and not dwell on problems. Yet, when I think about 2008, it's hard not to dwell on the negative. So today, on the eve of our Savior's birth, I present to you the letter that sums up our year, but which I would never actually put in the mail.

Dearest Friends and Family,

2008 and both sucked and blew, to paraphrase Bart Simpson. We experienced joys and sorrows and are setting our hopes on a better 2009.

In early January I found out I was pregnant! Erich and I were so excited and started making plans. I had an ultrasound and we saw our little 9-week baby and its little beating heart. In February, I went in for another ultrasound at what would have been 12 weeks gestation and discovered that our baby had passed away. After five days of bleeding, I had a painful D&C and learned that there was something wrong with my uterus that most likely caused my miscarriage. That SUCKED.

In late March, I got to travel with Erich to the Basque Country of Spain, where he had work and training at his company's headquarters. I enjoyed that trip immensely, and I learned so much about Basque culture and took many pictures. This was a HIGHLIGHT.

In April, I finally had two tests to follow-up with my abnormal uterus. They were both uncomfortable and wasted time and returned ultimately inaccurate diagnoses. That totally BLEW.

In May I finally visited with a specialist, but had to wait till June to accomplish anything. That kinda SUCKED. At the end of May a dear friend of mine got married and I was a bridesmaid. This was a HIGHLIGHT.

June was the best month of the year. Erich and I joined his family from Evansville in a trip to Galena, IL. Another set of good friends got married, our niece and goddaughter Emily was born, and I finally got a diagnosis: uterine septum. Not only was I thrilled to finally have a definitive diagnosis, but I also was able to have it surgically repaired that same week. That ROCKED.

July was uneventful, as was August, except when I remembered the date when my first baby should have been born. That SUCKED.

In September, Erich and I celebrated our first anniversary, though it feels like we've been married longer--in a good way.

In October, our beloved Cubbies completely screwed the pooch and instead of winning the World Series like they were supposed to, they were swept in the first round of the play-offs. That BLEW. On one of the nights they lost, my car wouldn't start while Erich was out of town, and I had to have it towed. That also BLEW. On the last day of October, Erich and I hosted a Halloween party. It was a great success! That was a HIGHLIGHT.

In early November, the election took place. Remember that? Yeah, I know a lot of people were happy, but in my book, that totally SUCKED. But November got better: on the 9-monthiversary of my miscarriage, I learned that I was pregnant again! That ROCKED. We also enjoyed Thanksgiving with Erich's extended family, which was a HIGHLIGHT.

December has arrived in all its craziness. Erich traveled to Louisville for a friend's wedding. We both traveled to Michigan to spend time with my extended family for Christmas. Our drive home was treacherous with heavy snow and many accidents on the road. We eventually stopped in Valparaiso, IN for the night. We had to get up early to drive home to get to my first ultrasound in time. On the day I should have been just past nine weeks, we should have seen a little baby with a heartbeat. Instead, we saw an empty gestational sac measuring six weeks. Diagnosis: blighted ovum, most likely a chromosomal problem, an accident of nature, unlikely to happen again. Lightening has struck us twice in one year. This really, really, really, really SUCKS. Fortunately, my D&C was scheduled for the very next day (yesterday), it was very easy with almost no pain or bleeding, and the doctor said it was "textbook." At least my uterus is more or less normal!

Erich and I will travel down to Evansville after Christmas and come home for New Year's Eve, when we look forward to toasting the END of 2008, a generally SUCKY year.

We wish you all, our dear friends and family, all the blessings of our crucified and risen Savior, born on earth as a baby. Our strength is in Him, and despite the challenges we face, we take joy in the assurance of our salvation.

All our love,

Susan and Erich

Halloween Party Addendum

I got a valid question in a comment on my last post. What did Erich and I dress up as?

I found some facebook pictures:

I wore the same queen costume that I wore for my piano recital. I labeled my orange solo cup "Susie Queen," saying, "Now we know what the Q stands for!" yuk yuk yuk. I have no idea what I'm doing here, btw. But I am standing behind Matt, aka Joe the Plumber and facing Erin the Native American. Paul the wizard is getting some food.

Erich is not a king. He's Brian Urlacher with cheap Target jersey and black lipstick under his eyes. He's talking to the graduated cylinder, Sigmund Freud, and Dan the 50s guy.

Fun times!

Halloween Party

Last year, I had this crazy idea to host a Halloween party as a personal incentive to get my house organized and decorated after the craziness of moving, the wedding, and the honeymoon. This was a craaaazy idea. Needless to say, it did not happen, but we did get to go to a great Halloween party put on by my friend and former roommate, Melissa, at my former place of residence.

This year, however, it totally worked out. Since I was planning the Halloween recital, I was already in the planning mode, and our place is finally to a point where I don't mind showing it off. And anyway, besides some food, all you really need is RockBand 2 (check), Beirut in the basement (check) and really, really awesome friends (check and check!)!

Sadly, I did not get photos of everyone in costume, but here's a sampling:

Anne and Jed as frontier folk

Tim and Erin, self-explanatory :)

My dad, aka "Wade"

Sarah and Chris as a flapper and Tequila Joe

George as Indiana Jones

Niki and Cory as Sigmund Freud and a graduated cylinder (get it?? :)

We had many other friends attend, but sadly these are all the pictures I got. Though I say so myself, this party really rocked. I can't wait to host more parties in the future!

Homecoming 2008

For the first time in three years, Erich and I returned to Valparaiso University for the occasion of Homecoming Weekend. A lot has changed in three years.

In 2005, I had just graduated and therefore still had a lot of friends still at school. I had brought Erich, who I thought was my boyfriend, along for the weekend and as a bonus I got to stay at his grandparents' house for free! Turns out, on our way back to Naperville on that Sunday, we officially decided that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Glad we got that cleared up.

Now it's 2008. The campus is a lot different with a new student union and parking structure, and what was once a road through campus is now a grassy field with a curb(?). And obviously, Erich and I aren't just "special friends" but husband and wife. Also, I don't know any current students.

We had a great weekend! Do you want to hear all about it? Sure you do!

We got there Friday night, visited with the grandparents then headed to bed. We're old now--no more of this going out at 10pm, going to bed at 2am or later. No, sir.

Saturday morning, I walked over to campus to attend the Sigma Alpha Iota women's music fraternity Alumnae Breakfast. I got to visit with my great-grandlittle, which was nice. She's the only current student that I kind of know since she attended our wedding as my grandlittle's guest. It was nice to get to know some of the other active sisters. There were a few alumnae there, but no one from my class.

One good result of the Alumnae Breakfast was that I heard the buzz that there was an Alumni Choir rehearsal at 11 in the chapel to sing the next morning in church. I decided to wander over and got sucked in.

It was great to sing in the chapel again! When I stopped to think about it, I realized that I hadn't sung in the chapel with a choir since the Baccalaureate service in May, 2005. It felt so natural. Back when I was in the Kantorei and the Chorale (who both sang with the "Alumni Choir" which wasn't very many people), singing for Homecoming was an annoying obligation, but now I know what a treat it is for the alumni.

Erich was headed to the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (men's music fraternity) house to rehearse the National Anthem to sing at the football game, so I walked over there to meet him. Our friends Matt and Christina were there--Christina and I got to be the groupie fraternity wives. That was fun. When they were ready, we walked to the football game and waited for the frat boys to sing. Once they were finally done, we got out of there. I've never attended a Valpo football game, and this day was no exception.

We headed to lunch at Passtimes with friends Matt, Christina, Ryan, and others. Passtimes was our absolute favorite bar during college. Disappointingly, it has changed a lot. It's trying to be something like a cross between RockBottom and Buffalo Wild Wings. Does not work at ALL.

Then the five of us didn't know what to do next. We ultimately decided to head to the movie theater (another new addition to the Valpo community) and see what was playing. When we got there, we settled on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist beginning an hour and a half later. To kill the time, we went to Chili's for margaritas and chips and salsa.

The movie...SUCKED. It really wasn't good. I do not recommend. But by this point, I was starting to feel like our day was like "Susan and Erich's Infinite Playlist." Then Erich said it shall be called "Susan and Erich's Infinite Platelets." No, that doesn't make sense. But the beer and margarita made it hilarious. My husband cracks me up.

After the movie and a brief stop at the grandparents' for warmer clothes, we trekked to the outskirts of Valparaiso to visit the BRAND new (as in just done enough to be lived in) house of our friends Dan and Tammy. They built their own house! We are extremely impressed. They have a wooded lot that backs up to a lake. Being out there really made me and especially Erich want to live further out in the open than our current suburban digs. They had a bonfire in their backyard with a few of their Valpo friends and their adorable 10-week-old yellow lab puppy! We had a nice visit and left by 11pm. See? We are so old now. I was so glad we were home by 11:30. :)

Sunday morning: I walked to chapel to sing while Erich went to church with the g-parents. We got back around the same time and decided to get packed up and changed. Then it was lunch at another Valpo favorite, El Salto, with friends Sarah and Chris, Krystal and Amanda. By the time lunch was over, I was t.i.r.e.d. It felt good to walk so much all weekend, but I was not used to it. We relaxed and watch the Bears game before going to the Chorale concert. Not much to say about that other than that it was awesome!

From the concert, we went to Erich's aunt and uncle's house, where they were having dinner to celebrate his uncle's 50th birthday. It was very nice to visit with them and to enjoy a very delicious lamb dinner before we had to leave. Aunt Suzanne cooks a mean lamb!

Back to Naperville in time to have dessert with my family to celebrate my baby brother's 23rd birthday. (Old! Old! We're all old!) And at last, our long, crazy, awesome weekend came to an end.

*PHEW!*

Weddings make me happy

This is my friend Sarah. We've known each other since we started college at Valparaiso in the fall of 2001. We became really good friends in the spring semester of 2004 when we were roommates. She had spent the previous semester in Cambridge, England and I had been in Reutlingen, Germany, so we were both in need of a roommate. Seemed like a good solution to room together.

Sarah and I have different personalities, but despite these differences (just in personalities, not in opinions!), we got along really well. We were the only two people in our class with the exact same major--BA in church music with piano as our primary instrument. (But we both like singing better. :) And that spring semester of our junior year was important for church music majors. We had our church music class together as well as our practicum, other music classes, and Chorale. And since we knew we worked well together, we roomed together on Chorale tour, which was a long one! And you know what? We never fought. I don't think we even got sick of each other. And even though we have not spent as much time together since that semester, we've kept up with each other through graduations, different jobs, moves, and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding.

And now my friend Sarah is getting married herself! Her Chris is a really great guy, and I know they will be very happy together. After their super-fun bachelor/bachelorette party on Friday (combined, because that's more fun), I am very excited for this wedding and am honored to be a bridesmaid. There's nothing like getting together and having great beer (at Harrison's and Rock Bottom) with genuinely friendly people.

This one's for you, Sarah and Chris! I wish you many blessings in your married life!