The New ipod Nano

Tom came home from school today with a "suprise" for me. This time it was not a candle, instead he decided to buy me the new ipod nano! This is all very exciting, it's not my birthday, our anniversary, or even "Jenny's Day" (in case you are wondering, Tom and I have designated specific days of each year as Jennys/Tom days. We instigated these days because when we started dating we both felt the injustice of not having a holiday like Mothers Day or Fathers day so for the last five years we have celebrated this new holiday. These days are in addition to all other holidays. The only difference is that this is a day set aside for unadulterated celebration and gift giving for the other person. In fact, the gifts for this day are usually bigger and better than any other gifting holiday except Christmas).
This is my first ipod. I'm way behind technology, it actually really sad. I just figured I didn't need one. I did mention that I would like one of these new ones to Tom when they were just advertising, since I did just join a gym. I'm going to start toning up and hopefully train for a 5K. I have luckily lost all of the baby weight, but feel like I need something fun to work towards! Way to go Tom for being so incredibly thoughtful and generous! In case you were all wondering, he is like this pretty much all of the time. There isn't anything he won't give me, including the Seven Maternity jeans he said I couldn't have but bought me anyway. He is really great!

Haylie is really into everything these days. She is able to get around really well now so she pretty much can get whatever she wants, including Tom's phone, or T.V. remote if left on the ground. Incidentally, Tom's phone broke this last week. He took it in to get fixed. When he arrived later that day to pick up his phone guess what the tech told him? He said that the reason it wasn't working properly was because of water damage! What he meant was "drool damage". Haylie drools alot since she is teething (third tooth broke through a couple of days ago), and she loves electronics, they are her favorite things to chew, and she must have managed to chew and drool on his phone a little too often. Tom actually told me that he knows Haylie is his daughter ( as if she doesn't look exactly like him!) because she loves cables and remote controls as much as he does. This is a true statement. When we first were married it seemed like every other day Tom was buying a different cable for something! It was ridiculous, so of course I teased him mercilessly about his "cables addiction". Almost as much as I tease him when he tells me he has bought me a surprise. Without fail his surprise is always a candle from Anthropologie. It's become something of a joke in our home. I'm not complaining though, I'll take a candle from Anthropologie any day of the week, they smell divine!

"Do you Mind?"

Tom and I are geeks. Sunday afternoon, just several hours before our plane is scheduled to take off, we decided that we no longer wanted to fly. No, we wanted to drive.
Since we don't own a car, this idea was something of a long shot. It meant we actually had to buy a car to make the drive. One would think that may have deterred us from the idea. You would be wrong. We decided to go to the dealership and find a car that very second. We were very specific in which vehicle we wanted. Either a Honda Element, a Scion (I don't know which model, but the one the looks boxy), or a Toyota Yarius. Turns out we couldn't afford any of the vehicles we insisted we had to have, unless we didn't want to eat on a regular basis. As you can imagine, we ended up on our flight after all.
Every few months we go through this. We think we can't live another day without a car. So we get really excited and start looking, only to be smacked in the face by reality. After spending our last precious Arizona hours looking for a car, that we didn't end up buying Tom and I started to praise the freedom of not owning a car. This is a typical Tom/Jenny cycle. We claim we need a car, we get excited thinking about all of things we can do if we have a car (roadtrips, going to church, grocery shopping at the nice store, etc), We go to a dealership, look at a few cars, do the math, realize we can't afford a car, walk back home, talk the whole way home about how we "didn't really want a car anyway". The "we didn't really want a car anyway" phase last the longest. After we realize we can't afford a car, we feel kind of sad but are able to be buoyed up after the pep talk we give each other by telling each other all of the things we can either do or get if we don't get a car. So by the time we walk home we don't feel bad at all because each of us is thinking about what we are going to buy with the money we didn't spend.
Now that we are back, it's nice to be in our own house. However, I did have a rude awakening upon our return. I had to go to Manhattan to get some things for Haylie. I took the subway. Usually the subway is crowded, and you end up holding on to a poll, with several other people. It's normal, you get use to touching and being touched by people you normally wouldn't associate with. So I'm on my way back from Whole Foods, with two very full/heavy bags. I get on to the train, and it's quite full, so I weave my way over to a semi uncrowded area and get comfortable, standing up with one hand gripping the poll and a grocery bag. The other bag is cloth and I managed to sling it over my shoulder along with my purse. I'm standing there minding my own business when I see a woman giving me dirty looks. I glance over at her and notice that one of my bags is every so slightly touching her. She turns to me (she is wearing all black, and sunglasses, almost a little bit like that girl from Matrix) and in a bitchy voice says "Do you mind?". What?! Do I mind? I should have lashed back with some witty retort, but I was tired from the long flight, so I just shifted the bag away from her. But the whole time I was angry, thinking of what I should have said! Who the heck was she, if you can't handle being touched accidentally on the train, maybe she should have splurged for a taxi, or hired a car service. Do I mind, heck yes I mind!