Meet the Parents

Boyfriend and I hit a mild milestone last night when he came over for my sister's birthday celebration. I think he and my parents at least saw one another at my surprise birthday party, but they were not introduced. Last night's family dinner was the big night, and I think it went just fine.
Poor Ray was very nervous, but very well prepared. Almost all his clothes were new, and he looked devilishly handsome. Like the best I'd ever seen him, maybe. Except for when he wears his Gap uniformy stuff. He looks pretty good in his church clothes too. But I digress. Have you ever known someone who bought new socks for an occasion such as this? It was super sweet. New clothes certainly are not required for an outing with the very casual Segos, but I was pleased to see a (mostly) confident, happy Ray. What a cruel, cruel shame that he moves in just a few weeks!
I'm on my way to the family reunion this weekend, and I'm a little nervous. Already my mom told me she thought Ray was really handsome and super nice. I'll likely spend the weekend hearing the immediate family extol his excellent qualities( hahaha, as if I need to be convinced!!) and then they'll spread the news of my currently successful, committment-lite relationship to the extended folks. They'll all want to talk about him all weekend. Because I like him so much, I'll want to talk about him too. But I worry that will serve as a reminder of our pending built-in breakup, which I've thus far been able to ignore. Ray asked me last night if I'll be ok when he leaves. I lied. I said yes. And ok, I will be all right. I'm tough. But I think I'm going to be more sad than I want to deal with right now. The solution? To just focus on having the most fun possible for right now. It's going to make it all harder later, but this is one case where I'll advocate living for today.

Little Bits of Happiness

In answer to all those times it seems like one's life is ruled by Murphy's Law, please allow me a moment to bask in a moment of calm peppered with little joyful surprises. Life is fun right now. Isn't that wonderful? I have no complaints, but I have aspirations. Know what I mean? It's kind of the difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone-- at times it's all in the semantics of a situation. But I genuinely have had so many fun things happen recently. I feel effervescent.
Part of the change in 'tude likely came from getting away for the weekend. I went with my parents to a family reunion in southern Colorado. The highlights: 1) You can't look around the Conejos Canyon and not recognize the beauty is God's handiwork. 2) I saw my grandfather's cousin/former BYU Communications professor Jack Nelson. That man is an absolute inspiration. It not only made me feel more connected to the Jack family (and relieved that I finally know how everyone is related), but also I felt more in touch with the BYU community again. Go Cougars! 3) I spent Saturday morning in Alamosa at the farmer's market and checking out the antique stores. I only found a copy of a Daphne DuMaurier novel, but it's one I haven't read, and it was $1.87 with tax. That's a deal. I did find one other thing that I liked, but I resisted the temptation to buy it. It's this ugly, ugly, ugly puppet. It's supposed to be a baby, but it looks more like an alien. Or a fetus. I'm not sure. It wasn't worth $35, but you never know. I've actually had my eye on the thing for a year now, but I'm waiting for the dealer to take a lower offer. It's so ugly, it's remarkable. And I love it.
Other beautiful little surprises of late:

* Finding 6 Regency-style, harp-back chairs for a song at a local junk store. I'm currently looking for a good upholstery fabric for the seats so I can decide what color to paint them. They're going to look great around the kitchen table.
* Winning $10 worth of free gasoline from Phillips 66. Who knows how long it will take to actually receive the voucher in the mail, but I don't even care. I think I'll give it to my boyfriend, because his car gets great gas mileage, but it still costs him about that much for a roundtrip visit to my house in Los Lunas. I am an excellent girlfriend. (Or perhaps just transparently selfish.)
* Hearing from an old acquaintance I'd kind of forgotten about, but was pleasantly surprised to reconnect with. Thank you, Facebook!
* Finding an excellent assortment of Boleslawiec pottery at T.J. Maxx. I'm now the proud owner of a new casserole dish in a pattern I haven't had before. Ta-Da!
* Good times at the Anthropologie sale section.
* A new book in the Georgia Nicolson series, "Stop in the Name of Pants!" (Does anyone else think it's funny that so much of my good mood stems from last night's shopping excursion? Don't get me wrong-- I don't think that retail therapy is the be all, end all of problem solving, but a bargain does make the world a little brighter.)
* Happy times with boyfriend. Holding hands in public is fun. Coming soon: A report on how he weathers the storm of meeting my family. Cue the scary music! Just kidding.

All in all, I’m still sleep-deprived, and my backyard needs some serious help in the grass-cutting and weed-removal department, but it’s ok. It’ll get done today or tomorrow. And when I finish that little chore (plus giving the house a little sweep-sweep, dust-dust, mop and toothpaste removal from the bathroom mirror), then I can sit back with one of the new books, or with my best television friend Felicity. If that’s not happiness, I don’t know what is!

In Praise of My Most Superb Boyfriend

Rejoice, for a happier Rachel Sego has returned refreshed from a weekend of frolicking and fun. And even though I still really ought to go on a vacation, I think that I'm feeling rested. Let's see how I feel on Friday, though.
Here is the big news-- which, really shouldn't be that big of a deal, but believe me, it is. I hereby publicly announce that I have a legitimate boyfriend now, and he is super. Hi Ray! Are you embarrassed yet? Yesterday Ray invited me to his parents' house for dinner. On the way in, he said the 'rents didn't know our news yet. But they knew within about fifteen seconds of my arrival, because Ray shouted, "Rachel Sego is my girlfriend." Or something like it. I turned red, I'm sure, but I have to admit, it made me stand a little taller every time he said it. And I thought it was funny that the volume of his voice rose above normal level every time he mentioned it. I am filled with pride.
This is the funniest part of the whole thing-- Ray and I are the same as we've been, I think. I like him. A lot. He is wonderful and smart and interesting. He is nice to me and likes to go to consignment stores. He takes me to Sweet Tomatoes. He is a great kisser. He's going places with his life.
So before this gets mushy, I'll stop. But the point is, I knew all this before Ray got the label. But I like his label, too. And I like the way the label throws other people off a bit. After updating my status on Facebook, I've had several comments from friends, and even more personal messages and emails from people. There are soooo many who keep asking if this is legit (it is). I guess everyone just can't believe it took so long for me to have a bonafide boyfriend. My college chum Petty offered to send a threatening email to him, suggesting that I have a posse of thugs to break knee caps if I get heartbroken. Really a strange sentiment, but sweet in a weird way. Weirder still is my family's reaction. My sister is calling people like her fiance and my aunt, saying, "Guess what! Rachel has a boyfriend! Isn't that so cute? Yes, that's right. He's the first one. Yes, that's right. She's 27. Well, it only took her going out with 88 other guys before she found one who likes her enough to be her boyfriend. Isn't that sweet?"
Anyway, this post is not to put pressure on the bf, who also happens to be one of my closest friends. I'm just saying I'm happy. I'm lucky. And I invite you all to be happy with me.

A Fleck on my Porcelain Skin

How do you write the sound you make when you blow air out of your mouth and your lips flap about a bit? Not like a raspberry, but an exasperated, weary raspberry? I just made that sound. It was accompanied not by an eye-roll, but lifting my vision toward the ceiling in exhaustion, leaning my head back and thinking about the vacation that would do me a lot of good if only I could afford it, the business would survive without me, I weren't a workaholic, etc. I'm grumpy. It's been one of those weeks, ya know? The kind where you've actually got a lot to be grateful for, but due to everyone thinking I can't keep my lips zipped about anything, I feel compelled to keep it all to myself (and yes, that's pride, more than respect to the others involved). And because I'm not talking my head off for a change, no one is talking back. My inbox has been filled with messages from my friends at dictionary.com and offers from Cost Plus World Market (and as nice as it is that they're having a great deal on imported wine, that doesn't make much difference to a teetotaler like me). I feel facebook neglected, and myspace rejected. I did get two wedding announcements in the mail yesterday, but the friend who promised to write me while away for the summer has yet to fulfill the promise in spite of me providing very attractive, masculine stationary for that very purpose. I'm productive at work, but almost to the point of resentment. I want to run away, but I don't know where to go. I guess if you don't hear from me for a while, assume that the old, vibrant, talks-too-much Rachel will finally give up and send word via message in a bottle from a deserted island

The Defunct WB... the Voice of My Generation

Obviously, it's old news that the WB is no longer with us... replaced by the CW, and no longer representing my target demographic. WB shows rarely took the turn I wanted them to (I still think Joey should have chosen Dawson and Felicity would have gotten a better deal with Noel), but I just loved them. Now I don't watch TV because I don't have cable and can't get any reception out where I live. And the truth is, I'm usually not home.

Still, my generous cousin gave me a Netflix subscription for my birthday and among the first things in my queue were all the episodes from "Felicity"-- Season 1. And here's what I have to say about that-- That Felicity Porter was completely unhinged! And I don't say that because she followed Ben across the country, changing the trajectory of her life for a boy who she'd spoken to once. That, in a remarkable way, is understandable. But in the first four episodes, which I watched Wednesday night as a means of researching solutions for my current social predicaments (or, in other words, to avoid cleaning out my closet, emptying lawn clippings from the mower, going running, etc., etc., etc.), I realized that little Felicity was REALLY out of touch with reality. And you might say right now, "Um, yes. She's a fictional character." But that's beside the point. How could she not see Ben's love for Julie? How could she not realize Noel loved her? Why was she so heavy-handed with the emotional belabouring? And the really scary question: Was I like that as a college freshman? Sadly and truthfully? Probably. Hope I'm not still in that boat.