Moats and Castle Walls

I'm going to share a little of my crazy with you.

Oh, you know we ALL have a little bit of crazy in each of us.  If you deny this fact then you are even crazier than I am.

I have TOO MANY CLOTHES.

Until now, I don't think I ever realized how many clothes I actually own.  For years, I would buy pretty clothes that went straight into storage.  I know, crazy, right?  (I warned you.)  You see, when my engagement was broken a little over nine and a half years ago, I was in a bad place.  Depressed, irrational, hurt, broken, sad...all of these things.  But most of all, I was fearful of being hurt that badly again.

I like fashion.  I like dressing up like a girly girl.  If you have known me in the past 10 years, you would probably not have guessed that in eleventy billion years.  Yet, in those years (yes, years) of darkness in my life, I was so afraid that I hid myself.  I wore the most dumpy, least attractive clothing possible.  I would not wear make up or even cut my hair for months.  Oh, but I still bought super cute clothes and lip gloss in a rainbow of colors.  They just went straight into boxes and storage.  I would look at them once in a while, but I didn't dare wear anything so flashy out and about.  It might attract someone whom I would fall in love with and allow them to break my heart once again.  I really think being okay with my weight gain and frumpy, drab attire was like a castle wall around my heart.  If anything, it was a purposeful barrier that I created to protect myself.

Only now, years later, have I finally opened up every single box of storage clothes and I am going through every piece of clothing I own.  Yes, I have cute skirts that I bought 7 years ago that still have the tags on them.  Some fit, some don't.  Some are still classic and in style, some really are not!  The point is that the barrier is down.  The castle wall has been breached.  My body is not perfect, but I am enjoying dressing cute, girly, sexy, and professional pretty frequently.  I am getting noticed.  I am getting compliments at work and beyond.  And what am I saying to this attention?  I'm trying my darnedest to take the compliments in stride and saying:  Thank you.

But I seriously need another closet or something.

And, if my personal appearance was my castle wall, my home is my castle moat.

I did mention crazy, right?  Right.

I moved to my first apartment (after my internship in Ohio...I don't count 2 months in an apartment a home) after the dark period in my life began.  I have never kept a neat home.  My home is my moat, an extra level of protection from getting hurt.  I know this sounds insane, but hang in there.

I purposely left my house a mess so that I felt I couldn't invite anyone over.  If no one came over, then I couldn't make memories with them in my private, sacred, homey space.  Extra things started to pile up, and lo and behold, at times my home looked like an episode of hoarders (I mean, think about the clothes alone!).  I hated it, but I would get overwhelmed and couldn't get past it.  Well, my moat is draining.  I think the fact that it totally annoys me and I spend my free time trying to get it all together and looking amazing again is a big step.  An even bigger step is allowing my current boyfriend to come over...in the midst of the organizing and change.  It completely worries me that he has seen my crazy.  He sits with me in the living room and looks directly at it (one should really shield their eyes from such things, like the Ark in Raiders).  Yet, he still calls me and comes over.  I really don't get it, but it makes me feel more normal than insane.  Yay for sanity.

Personally, I think these things are true for more people than I think.  However, I feel blessed to have the insight to recognize what the heck is going on in my heart and brain and move past it.  Praise God for having this insight and contemplative nature!  Whoever shares with me in my life at this point is in for a real treat.  I'm striving everyday to be a better person than the previous day - and it seems to be working.  It just gets more awesome from here...

Well, I'm back to going through piles and piles of clothes.

What does your crazy look like?

Shiny

I am admittedly not the neatest person in the world. My home at the current moment is barely livable to me, and I'm going to attack that problem tomorrow. But I must say that there is nothing like having the cleanest, shiniest car in the parking lot. When I purchased my new car in October, part of the deal was free car washes for life at the dealership. My last car was rarely washed. It was silver and the dirt blended nicely with the paint job. Well, I now have a black car, and with the recent snow my black beauty was so dirty I could barely touch it and stay clean. I knew that if I went to the dealer on a Saturday there would be a wait for the car wash. When I pulled in, the nice, cute maintenance guy said it would take an hour and thirty minutes. It was a little longer than I anticipated, but I was prepared with a book to read. Thankfully, it only took an hour. I think I had forgotten how shiny and pretty the car looks when clean, and I felt so proud and happy with my newly clean car. Yay.

While I was waiting, I started reading my new book, "The Five Love Languages: Singles Edition." Most people have heard of the original book, but the new singles edition came out in paperback in 2009 so I broke down and purchased it. I have heard countless references to it and I thought it might be a good read.

Well, it's a fast read. I'm typically a slow reader, but in that hour at the car dealership I read 70 pages. And although I haven't read anything that put all this information linked together, so far everything is a review. I'm hoping to finish the book over this lovely three-day weekend so I can move on to something else before my classes begin on January 25th.

Speaking of classes, I'm hoping I'm not setting myself up for failure this semester. After registering last semester for 15 credit hours and 6 classes, I ended up dropping one class and fumbling through another. So in the fall I completed 12 hours, 5 classes. This semester I'm a little less ambitious with 4 classes and 11 credit hours. Keep in mind that this is while I'm working full time! Three of the classes are undergraduate teacher certification courses while one course is an upper 500 level course on assessment and achievement testing. But the upper level course doesn't mean it will be more work. I have recently decided that undergraduate classes require more "work" than graduate courses. I know, I know, that doesn't really make sense, right? It makes sense to me. Undergraduate classes require more "busywork." Do this, do that...blah. Graduate courses have assignments that are more thought provoking and usually have more real world value to me. Usually. I hope this course has enough new information for me that it holds my attention.

Other than that loveliness, I had a great evening of watching another girlie romantic comedy: "Music & Lyrics." I'm sorry, but I really love that movie! The music and romance...oh so cute.

I must get to sleep...lots of cleaning and crafting to be had tomorrow! Thank you, Lord, for a day of productive errands and relaxing, girlie movie time. My romantic dreamer was happy today.