Not greedy, I promise!

Today, my errands were all about wedding gifts. My wedding gifts.

Wedding gifts are a total free-for-all these days. Brides&grooms don't want to appear greedy, but people want to know what to get you. The couple who's been living together in a small apartment might not want much, but writing checks isn't as fun as thoughtfully shopping. A salesman & I were just saying how you never know how much to spend on a wedding gift, and I can honestly say I have not felt jilted by people who didn't give a gift, or gave a modest check. As Miss Manners says, you decide how much you want to spend to feel like a good host, and your guests decide how much they want to help you create a home and/or life together. It is not a trade-off.

We have been thrilled with everything we got from our registry (and virtually everything not from our registry, too!). But there remained a few items too big or specific for the registry. We got small frames, which are great for wedding photos, but what about the poster and painting we've never gotten framed? We got so many new kitchen supplies, but nowhere to put them! And I forgot to put a new colander on the list.
Thus, the checks come in quite handy, vis a vis, the curtains we put up and the butcher-block kitchen island we now have. And I finally checked off a couple more to-do's today.

The frame for my found-on-the-street-in-2008 Japanese woodcut will cost $200. But it won't look like I found it on the street anymore! In a fit of my notorious indecision, I used my spankin new smartphone to email pics of the options to Mr. Husband. He then didn't receive the email, but left it up to me. Sweet to trust me, but not helping the decision-making! I chose the cheaper but fancier gold frame cuz as long as we were spending that much, it may as well be eye-catching. (Of course, I then opened a Crate & Barrel catalogue and saw that all of their frames are the painted-black wood I would've gotten if it'd been cheaper.)
But anyway, frames? Done.

Crossing the street to the kitchen store, I looked for colanders, but first perused for wedding gifts to give my 5 engaged friends. Being around the corner from our place, I'll be back armed with their registries. The salesman pointed me to the low rack of colanders I didn't see, which unfortunately, convinced me to leave the store, because I knew exactly where the one I wanted was. You see, I'd ruled out the recycled plastic colander for fear it would look, well, cheap. (If you have the excuse to outfit your whole kitchen, you should gets what makes you feel special, I think.) But having seen the lovely plastic ones the store had - the plastic really was a cute option. The one I got? Looks like watermelon, with it's muted red color and teardrop/seed-shaped holes. Plus, it can stand up to the 5 pounds of potatoes I'd had in mind whilst shopping.
So, Colander? Done.

And then, finally, I had thank-yous to send. The post office has these beautiful "Love" stamps with flowers on a teal background that matched our cards perfectly, so I waited in the epic line to get them. Except, they didn't have them. But perfectionism gets you nowhere, right? So, non-matching, too-big stamps are what those cards got. But hopefully, our sincere thanks shows. And now I get to thank more  people for what they helped us get today!

How much do I care about health?

I care about health a lot. I read about it. I love healthy food. I go to the gym because of it.
But I just lost my wonderfully free government insurance, and now I have to put a price tag on my own health. Turns out, joining my husband's insurance is one of the most expensive options. Looking into it, it seems that our now-combined income is too high to get what I consider reasonably priced insurance. I'm not sure I'll use enough healthcare to be worth $550/month for the rest of my life, and that's a middle-of-the-road rate.
Okay, I thought, people seem to be happy with indemnity insurance. And as it stands, paying for my one prescription and even the odd doctor's visit out-of-pocket is much less than insurance. So I'll just protect against disaster, and that seems to be reasonable.
But today, two unsettling pieces of news popped up:
1) A capable, intelligent friend broke her foot in 2 places by simply dancing around the room - something I do all the time.
And much more serious, 2) a woman I used to baby-sit for, with children still at home, died from a cancer they thought she'd beaten.
Obviously, the second is much scarier, and my heart truly goes out to her family and loved ones.

Of course, now I'm reevaluating. I think the indemnity insurance would cover cancer. But what if it's discovered too late because I don't have regular check-ups? I've already had a slow-growing, non-life-threatening - but still actual - skin cancer. This woman's second cancer was in her spine, where they hadn't even checked.
And then, what happens if I break bones in some stupid way, and suddenly have to pay for something before they'll treat me? (Actually, I don't really know how this works. I've been to the emergency room once, and that was covered by workman's comp. Eventually.)
Or what if I (really not ready for it!) got pregnant, and then my premiums are even higher for OB visits, etc.?

So it's back to the drawing board, trying to find some way of covering regular check-ups without spending my entire yearly income. (I kid you not.)

Starter

I love my dad. And he is to the bread of this blog, the yeast. 
This might be a rough start. I swear, the writing will get more polished. But at our Backyard BBQ Reception (a/k/a Chicago Reception), my dad says, "Yeah, maybe she needs a blog!" in his so-obvious-I-should've-done-it-already tone. I said, "I don't have anything to blog about," and he actually looked shocked. Well, first sarcastic, then shocked when he realized I was serious.


I guess that "She Should Write" idea has merit, since even though people have praised my travel emails (back in the dark ages of 2004 before I'd heard of blogs), I seemed to think I wasn't worthy of a blog. I have a life outside the blogosphere, though my love of reading and smart, feminist, romantic, creative women has gotten me lost in the interweb's siren song on several occasions. But I travel, I audition, I read, I sell vegetables - I do things people like to hear about. 
But enough about me resisting being a writer. I don't like pity-parties, and I don't like reading about how people are good writers - Show, don't tell!


So, here goes.


My life now consists of a fledgeling career in theater, the weddings and adventures of my loves ones, and the experiences fostered by recently marrying a British businessman who loves food & music as much as I do. We live in a 5th-floor walk-up in the prettiest neighborhood in Brooklyn, and we are generally cheerful people. I am a tour guide who's interested in nutrition, environmentalism, art, science, politics, and plants, so this blog may well contain entries on all of those things. Possibly even at once.


Most of all, I'm a sharer, so while I will endeavor to keep personal details out, I hope to share things that I find amazing and/or fascinating. For example, currently simmering in my pressure-cooker brain are posts on the Moon Court at the Met (Museum of Art), the relative merits of butter and olive oil, new gadgets in the camera/music/cooking departments, and fracking, in all its forms.


If you're somehow reading this, see you tomorrow.