It was the end of the world on Saturday, and I missed it. It seems I was too busy hauling SuzyQ back and forth to chorus rehearsals, and the Rapture passed me by. Now I have to wait for the next Armageddon. I think it’s predicted for mid-December of 2012. I had better get that on the calendar now.
Yep, it was a Tea Cup Ride kind of weekend here, but thankfully, it was the last of that variety for a while. Chorus season is finished, and baseball ends today. Maybe now I can finally spend some serious time fooling around with my anniversary present: a DSLR camera. The thing is massive and kind of scary. It came with 3 DVDs and a big manual with tiny print. But I love that there was a 6-step “Get Started” instruction about how to attach the lens, turn the camera on, set the dial to Auto-everything, and away you go.
The other half of the weekend: staking the tomatoes.
Of course, my intention is to shoot pictures in Auto-nothing. I have lots to learn.
I have never considered myself artistic. Musical, maybe; crafty, perhaps, but not artistic. It’s strange to see this reinvention of myself going on. Previously, I just liked to take nice pictures to capture a moment. Now, I want to take better-than-nice pictures that capture emotion. I would rather shoot everyday smiles or frowns, random sights, typical scenes. Lately, these are the things I want to get a record of. Maybe it’s because daily life in our family will undergo huge changes as the kids begin to leave the nest in a year or so.
Anyway, all of a sudden, I’m taking my camera everywhere. Plus, I’m really into the idea of redecorating the house. We have no budget for any major remodeling, but we can certainly freshen up paint and window treatments. I keep a file (actually, more of a pile) of paint chips, fabric swatches, and pages ripped from magazines. I have given very serious thought to hauling about two-thirds of our possessions out to the curb for the Disabled Veterans to take away.
I guess this is sort of a life makeover. A lot of the things that were characteristically “me” before just aren’t anymore. These days, I’m much more Pottery Barn or Coastal Living than Victorian Home. I’m more into gardening than Girl’s Night Out. I have abandoned Target and even Kohls for clothes and turned to Talbots and Coldwater Creek and Stein Mart. And while I still love history, you couldn’t pay me to go back to school for a Master’s degree in history.
Apparently, midlife crisis for me is about redefining who I am. I have been Mom and Navy wife for so long, but now that those roles are diminishing, I get to choose the next role. And it feels like I should say, “And now for something completely different.” (classic “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”) Maybe funny and artsy instead of quiet and bookish. Playing with gadets and working in the dirt of my garden, too. Definitely still Uncommon, though.
I have a lot to accomplish before the next End of the World. Pictures to take, walls to paint, things to see, things to do…
The Uncommonhousewife 