God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen

"Gentlemen and Birds" by Patric Bates

Who are these merry gentlemen?

In the poem “Lone Gentlemen” (or “Gentlemen Alone” depending on the translation), Pablo Neruda writes of the “gay young men” who, like everyone else it seems, spend the night like “raucous cats that cruise my garden in the shadows,/ like a necklace of pulsating oysters of sex/ surround my lonely residence,/ like enemies lined up against my soul,/ like conspirators in bedroom clothes/who exchange long deep kisses to order.”  By the light of the moon there is “an endless movement of trousers” and in the movie theaters “the heroes are studs or princes mad with passion.”

Are these the gentlemen?  These gay young men?

Under the flashing colored lights pulsating with the rhythm coursing through our bodies from the baseline in our foot soles to the vibrating fingers to the buzzing of our teeth, we dance.  Brian and I.  Two gay men in the middle of a straight night club in downtown Provo.  We laugh, we sweat, we live.  Tired, I lean against the stage and Brian, tired too, rests his head on my shoulder.  The blue and green lights move about the dance floor in the shapes of stars—restless constellations refusing to be charted.  A pair of boots, jeans, a belt buckle and finally a scruffy-faced man in a cowboy hat has fully approached us through the stars.  Brian removes his head from my shoulder.  I tense as I’m suddenly face-to-face with this stranger.  His hand moves forward; I flinch.  “Keep being true to you,” he mumbles quietly.  I shake his hand.  He tips his hat.  And just like that he’s disappeared in the shadows of the endless movement of the night.

Surely this man was a gentleman.  So are my male friends who tell me the strange symbol on my dashboard means my tire pressure is low and then offer to fill them up for me.  Gentlemen like my friend Austin who tries so hard to schedule double dates with me and Brian and he and his wife.  Or Dink who helps me with difficult watch repairs, even though he works at the jewelry store across the hall.  Or guys like Jordan who go out of their way to tell me that I'm a good writer, even though I don't know him that well.  Gentlemen like my father who ministers to the poor and the needy, telling them that God loves them no matter what... even if they are gay.

In the Patric Bates print “Gentlemen and Birds” which hangs on my wall at home—the one I bought from the artist himself at the Provo Farmers Market this summer—the central figure is dressed in a top hat and scarves that wrap around his neck and shoulders and arms like a straightjacket.  Others in the crowd face him.  They seem to suffocate him with their stares and their bird beaks and their hands like claws.  The man’s eyes are full of sorrow.  The sorrow of the world, it seems. 

God rest ye, merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ, our Savior,
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy.

Two nights before Christmas, Rusty and Maxwell, two gay men in Salt Lake City, experience a similar night of dancing under the pulsating neon lights of the club.  Only this club is a gay club—Club Jam.  Tired and sweaty, they leave the club, like raucous cats, and cruise the streets in the shadows.  “Hey, faggots!” they hear.  They continue to walk home, which is just across the street, ignoring the childlike taunts of their tormentors—the jabs of the beaks.  They arrive at their own driveway.  “Get out of here, faggots,” one pursuer shouts.  “We live here,” they say, voices trembling cold under the stars.  A punch to the head and Rusty falls to the ground.   Another man jumps on Maxwell, hitting him repeatedly with his fists—a steady baseline to the furious rhythm of his hate.  Only sadness in the eyes of the gay young gentlemen now.  Their arms are strapped down, not by scarves but by other hands—hands like claws—hands of their enemies mad with passion.

O tidings of comfort and joy. 

When can we ever find rest?  Or merriment?  We were promised it long ago.  Must we forever be gentlemen alone?

Thoughts on Being the Class Queer

Brian, Mia, Tiffany and I watching the Crowley County Days Mud Races.

In case you are unawares, I've been feeling older than dirt lately (assuming, of course, that dirt is only 27 years old).  This fact was highlighted for me when I attended my ten-year high school reunion.  Class reunions are decidedly for old people only.  How on earth did I graduate a decade ago?  And what have I done since then?  Yikes.

I can't remember who it was, but somebody asked me, upon returning, if any of my classmates had problems with me being gay.  I wasn't "out" in high school so, to be perfectly honest, I was a little afraid of that as well.  Of course many of them are friends with me on Facebook so it wasn't a new thing.  But still, seeing that an old acquaintance is gay via social media is not the same as hanging out with him and his gay husband for a weekend.  People might be stand-offish, right?

Wrong.  Nobody gave a shit.  Obviously my more liberal, Denver-living, pot-smoking, Obama-voting classmates didn't care.  Not surprising there.  But neither did my "I listen to Christian rock stations every morning as I drive to work" classmates.  Or my "I'm still living down here, working the farm" classmates.  Not even my "I stabbed a guy once, served some time, and now I work at a gas station" classmates.  Seriously, nobody cared.

This made me happy.  And I truly had a fantastic time at my reunion.  We gathered together on a Friday night out at Mia's family home near the lake where we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, reminisced over old yearbooks, met people's significant others and children, got reacquainted, drank beers, built a float and danced a little out in the barn.  That's how small towns do reunions.

The next day was Crowley County Days, a big celebration in my little hometown of Ordway with a parade and everything.  Our class won "Best Class Reunion float."  Suck it, Class of '64!  And later on, watching the good ol' boys race each other in beefed up trucks through pits of mud, me and my gay husband sat in the back of a pickup truck amongst Confederate flags and the most hillbilly of hillbillies, feeling absolutely content with the world.  At least I did.  Brian was probably wishing he were back in Utah and far away from Confederate flags ("We're not even in the South!" he exclaimed in astonishment).  But yeah.  It felt pretty good to be home.

Would I ever move back?  Hell no!  But still... it felt nice.

Not long after that, back in Provo, some friends and I took a night drive in a yellow convertible.  Cruising down 500 West, laughing and feeling free, singing along to the radio we heard the unmistakable shout of "Faggots!" from the vehicle in the lane beside us.  It looked like a man was driving with his wife beside him.  In the backseat, a high-school-aged boy had the window rolled down and yelled at us again.  His parents laughed.

My friend shouted "I love you!" as we sped ahead.  We blasted Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" for the rest of the drive back to my house.  Of course we just laughed about it.  The whole thing was pretty ridiculous.

But I'm still a little shocked and a little saddened that hatred like this still exists.  That parents would encourage that kind of behavior.  That bullying is seen as okay.  I'm reminded of how much work needs to be done to make Provo a safe place for the LGBTQ community.  I'm reminded why I ever got involved with the Provo Pride Council to begin with.

Next weekend is our Second Annual Provo Pride Festival and this year I'm festival director.  That means I've met with the mayor and various city officials to get permits, shot off emails to the police department in terms of security and barricades, drawn up the festival map, met with a guy who can get us food trucks, contracted port-o-potties, and met with the rest of the amazingly dedicated council week after week to insure that this year is even better than last.  All this I try to do between college classes and full-time hours at work.

Why?  Because Provo needs it.

Last Sunday I watched a high school kid win a youth drag show that we put on.  He's a kid who regularly gets bullied for his fashion choices or his actions.  Who gets bullied for being gay.  And in that moment of coronation--of recognition and respect instead of judgment and ridicule--I saw his happiness.  I felt his tears.  I wore his smile.

It felt nice.

Swallowing It

If you've somehow missed the news, the jewelry store I work at was the recent scene of a crime. A coworker was showing a diamond ring to a man who said he was waiting for his girlfriend to arrive in any minute. He kept looking towards the main mall entrance, until suddenly, ring in hand, he booked it outside.

"Help!" my coworker screamed as she ran around the jewelry counter, chasing after him. "He stole a diamond from us! Call 911!"

And do you know what? Several bystanders did just that. Someone else saw the guy get into a car--a white Pontiac G6 with pink sticky notes covering the license plate--driven by a woman. Within a half-hour they were found by police but the ring was not. At least not until after some questioning and an x-ray proved that the woman had indeed swallowed the ring. You heard me right. SWALLOWED.

I, for one, struggle swallowing any pill that's bigger than an ibuprofen. It often takes me multiple attempts with plenty of water gulps before I achieve success. Sometimes the pill has already partially dissolved in my mouth and I can taste the awful medicine within. Sometimes I have to give up entirely and just stay sick. I honestly cannot imagine swallowing something of that size and shape. It boggles my mind.

Yet she did it. She swallowed it. For whatever desperate reason, she swallowed it good. Police say they are now waiting for the ring to pass.

This was not my only run-in with law enforcement this weekend, although I wish it was. One of our roommates broke a rule that for others in the house was a definite deal-breaker. When it was discovered, all hell broke loose. Through miscommunications and quick judgments, the situation snowballed  into one of shouting and screaming and fear. Compromise seemed unreachable. A lifestyle change, impossible. Forgiveness, out of the question. My friend was left standing there broken and vulnerable and painfully aware of all the many times he had felt wronged, or cheated, or robbed of that thing called happiness he so desperately sought after.

Depression is real, my friends. As is addiction. And sometimes life isn't anything more than a series of grab-and-runs.

When he stormed out into the night, with the threat of suicide still hanging in the air, we were forced to call 911. In less than a half-hour, our friend was found by police. He was alive. He was safe. We held each other in the stairwell and cried. I couldn't hold onto him tight enough.

"I thought this was my safe haven," he said through tears.

"I wanted it to be."

But now he's staying somewhere else, once again feeling betrayed. Once again reevaluating his future. Once again starting over.

He's just swallowing it.

I Should Be Something

"I love reading your blog," my Aunt Laine mentions as we're chit-chatting in the park, waiting for Holman family photos to be taken.

"I hardly ever write it," I admit, slightly embarrassed.

"But when you do, it's awesome," she smiles.

And then another month or more went by. Looking back, my last post was in May. No June. No July. Where have I been? What have I been doing all summer?

The answer is nothing. Not a damn thing. I was going to read a lot over the summer. I'm two-thirds of the way through a memoir called This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff.  I've been reading bits and pieces of it for months. I was going to write a lot, with the ambition of finishing another draft of my ongoing novel. Nope. I was even going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo (the summer version of November's National Novel Writing Month), but I didn't. I reworked the first few chapters for the umpteenth time and that's about it. Do I want to tell the thing in first person or third?? I can't decide! I was also going to draw another season of Chihuahua Comics, chronicling my relationship with Brian and our marriage (since the character versions of us haven't technically been married yet), but I roughly sketched out the first few panels and decided I didn't have time. And who reads it anyway?

Maybe that's also why I haven't written on the ol' blog. Who the hell reads it anyway? And even if some of you do, does it matter? What's the point of documenting my life here on the interwebs? What's the point of sharing photos or anecdotes or comics or poetry? Maybe that's my problem. I just don't seem to get the point.

I turned 28 last Wednesday. To some of you, 28 isn't very old. I still have my youth. My whole life before me. That's what some say. But to me, 28 feels very old. 28 feels like I'm holding onto the leash of some very large dog that comically takes off after a cat and drags me along behind scraping in the mud. The audience laughs. There's going to be a sequel. But I can't shake the feeling that I should have accomplished more in part one. I'm not ready for part two. I feel like I should be something by now.

But what should I be? Or better yet, who?

Mormon Housewife

They jokingly refer to me as the Mormon housewife, and I'm not quite sure who should be more offended. The Mormon?  The housewife? Regardless, it bugs me because it's true, except for the parts that aren't. I'm baby-hungry, but a horrible cook; I spend my free time doing laundry or sweeping the floors, but only to an extent. Only because I have to. I do, however, enjoy strolling the home goods aisle at Target, convincing myself we can afford one more end table. I can even make myself think it's a necessity. Yet when the home is complimented and praise directed to me, I defer. I understate my involvement. Why am I so bugged to be called housewife?

There are lots of bugs in this house.  Spiders that crawl quickly out of sockets, flies that bang blind into window panes, and beetles that look bored as I paint or stain or whatever womanly project I've undertaken. Womanly. What happened to my feminism? My rejection of misogyny? A tiny black beetle crawls slowly over the throw pillows I've so carefully chosen, considering pattern and color, yearning for style yet restraining myself to what I consider a masculine color pallet or a bold pattern. Perhaps this is why I'm uncomfortable when my roommate dons red heels and boasts of his shapely legs. I want to crawl away and hide in the walls of my own do-it-yourself, follow-the-instructions gender norms.

I gently lead the bewildered beetle into a glass cup and carry him outside to the grass. And just like that, over time, I remove the unwanted parts of me from the presentable household I'm keeping.

Metal Meets Metal

Lazy Sunday
swaddled in blankets
like baby Jesus,
binge-watching Glee
(unlike baby Jesus)
when Wes asks
to borrow my car,
the maroon one
with the funny
seatbelts.  Sure,
I say, why the
hell not?

Mouth stuffed
with chips and dip,
fingers fumble
for the controller:
Hulu is having trouble
playing this title right
now.  Stupid Hulu.
Phone vibrates
on faraway end
table.  What the hell
does Wes want?
I wonder.

Just minutes before,
(mere blocks away)
metal meets metal,
one car meets
a second, and in
seconds my lazy
Sunday is no more.
Hulu starts up as
my car dies, and while
Rachel melodramatically
sings, Wes' voice
comes in clear.

I wrecked your car,
he says, I'm so sorry.
And I am, too.
Sorry it happened
to him; sorry
it had to be me.
Don't blame yourself,
I want to say,
It could happen to anyone.
But all I manage is
a whispered Jesus
as Hulu pauses again.

DIY: Modern Wood Wall Art

Truthfully, I haven't been nearly as crafty in this new house as I thought I would be. I envisioned myself finding old, used pieces of furniture and carefully refinishing them; I once even thought we'd build our own dining room table when I saw housewives on Pinterest were doing it. But in reality, I ended up buying a ton of factory-made, assemble-it-yourself pieces from Ikea and Target. With the exception of staining a shelf from Michaels, I haven't been very DIY at all.

Two new wing-backed dining chairs I purchased online from Target were delivered yesterday and they look pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I think the rustic old table (from Payson Indoor Yardsale on Facebook) and the industrial metal chairs (also from Target) look pretty cool combined with something so classically refined, don't you think?

Anyway, the chairs came in a big box with lots of thick cardboard and two pieces of thin wood.  The wood seemed like the perfect size for some wall art.  Finally, it was time to get crafty!

1. Get a sheet of plywood or something.  I was pretty lucky getting mine for free.
2. With painter's tape, tape off a funky grid.
3. Stain it!  A little can of wood stain is only like $5.  I got our gray stain from Home Depot, and decided to do a few random squares in a darker walnut.  After it dries go ahead and peel away the tape. Ours bled a little, but we liked the effect.
4. Hang it up!  I just screwed it directly into the wall.  I figured the screw heads were kinda rustic industrial.
5. Now your modern wood wall art is ready to enjoy.  Ours is in the dining room above the bar.

To Borrow

A "painting" of our new abode, using the Waterlogue app.  Isn't it pretty?

To Borrow

Houses are rentable, yes,

and cars are too, I hear,

although I’ve never rented one.

My own car is so run-down 

it's just sad.  What’s sadder

is I bought it that way,

with a seatbelt that goes across

my lap and a separate one

for my upper body.  I joke

I’m buckling up to blast off

into space where the house

I’m renting looks like the ones

you play Monopoly with,

only mine’s blue not red.

It’s also run-down, the house,

but in a beautiful kind of way—

the way a mother looks

in line at the supermarket

with a cartful of diapers

and Hamburger Helper,

one hand lovingly laced

around the fudgy fingers

of a messy child,

clutching clipped coupons

in the other hand as if one

might be Wonka’s golden

ticket promising to whisk

her away in The Great

Glass Elevator up to a place

where cars never break,

roofs never leak

and run-down isn’t even
a possibility.

Not-Quite-Paisley

I realize I never fully updated everyone in regards to the job situation. I was eventually offered the job at American Eagle, but unfortunately the exact job title and responsibilities changed from when I first interviewed to when I was offered it weeks later. Meanwhile, Zales was able to give me full-time hours again, so it turned out that sticking with Zales would be more lucrative. So I stayed.

In other news, our house is looking awesome as we get more settled. We've been here almost a month now and we absolutely love it. Brian and I are also in finals week for this semester at UVU, so we're only a few tests away from freedom! Oh, and I had two prose poems published in UVU's Touchstones, one of which won Honorable Mention. Pretty cool, huh? It's quasi-autobiographical, documenting a less-than-awesome chapter in our relationship... but it sure made for a great piece of writing.

Siân Griffiths, the judge who critiqued my piece, said, "I was so taken by the way this poem turned. If ever I made the mistake of thinking I might know where the poem was headed, I soon saw my error. Yet each surprise felt utterly earned. In other words, the poem didn't surprise for the sake of surprise, but rather it surprised because life is surprising..."

She's right.  My life surprises me all the time.

Not-Quite-Paisley

You weren’t with me the day I picked the green-blue, not-quite-paisley curtains which frame the not-so-great view of a dentist’s office. But he was. He whispered his advice on accent colors and pulled me away behind discounted duvets and we both know that I let him, his hands ticking over me in slow, circular motions. Framed, near the window, is a photo of a younger me pulling you back into an embrace, kissing your cheek. Other framed photos, mostly from New York City, where we were wed, frame the mirror—black-and-white images of trees, buildings and an abandoned bicycle.  “I’ll return the curtains,” I suggest, replacing the batteries in our clock.  “No need,” you say, with injured eyes, pulling me back to bed, back to you, all interlocking arms and legs, disturbing the duvet.  I cry as you kiss my neck and out the window I only see mountains and blue, limitless sky.  We both agree the view is better from the bed.

Poem for Jessie

April has brought a lot of really fun and awesome things into my life, but it has also brought some terrible ones. Well, one terrible one in particular, and that is the death of a good friend of ours, Jessie. We met Jessie about a year ago when our friend Emily started dating her. The two of them seemed perfect for each other, which I know is cliché to say, but it was the absolute truth in their case. They were both so happy, so in love, and when they asked us to be in their wedding this coming May, we were overjoyed. But then real life came in to remind us all that things aren't always so perfect. Things are often difficult. Things are often sad.

Jessie passed away to Gastric Cancer on April 3, 2014. I remember her laughter and her spontaneity the most. And boy, could that girl dance. Emily would text me almost every other weekend: "What are you boys doing? Let's go clubbing!" And we'd go out and Jessie was always the life of the party. I remember whenever "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus came on she would get especially excited. People always told Jessie that she reminded them of Miley. A far more beautiful Miley in my opinion. The song still makes me think of her every time I hear it.

This one's for you, Jessie.

Stolen

The club lights

flutter their aroused,

anxious butterflies;

their sweaty, shining

palms leave stolen

kisses of every hue

on your dancing body,

blushing timidly

as they do, but only

for a moment.

Only on their turn.

For who could hope

to keep you?

You, an angelic

trickster, taking

silky drags from your

e-cig, running long,

slender fingers through

stylish, cropped hair,

blowing puffs

of hefty exuberance

into the air with every

laugh.

The lights have found

new you to kiss… your musical

eyes, your glittery teeth.

You smile and sing along,

moving your body to the beat.

We can’t stop

and we won’t stop.

Constantly in motion,

moving and grooving

—a solar system

in tight, ripped jeans

and boots.  Feathers

dangle from your earlobes.

You ignite the night

with the lighter that

is you.  Hot and bright.

The club’s lesser lights

enjoy the chase, reaching

for you always but only

catching smoke.

The Blue House on the Corner

This, dear readers, will be our new home for the next phase of our lives.  (Photos taken from the KSL house listing.)

My strategy the last few days has been to stall.  While Brett was awaiting the word on whether he'd be Washington-bound or not, I didn't want the renting company to get worried that the four of us might not be as stable as we told them.  I also didn't want to lose the place to other renters, so I stalled with questions.

"Yes, we're still very interested, but what about this... or what about that...?"

The leasing agent originally offered us the place at a higher rent, so I tried my very best to negotiate.  Today she left me a voicemail while I was in class saying that the owners approved my final attempt at compromise: higher rent through the summer, back to the original in August if we prove to be good renters.  Perfect!  But I needed to stall again.

"Yes, we'd love to sign the lease, but I don't think the four of us can get together until the weekend..."

But less than an hour later, I got a text from Brett letting me know that he didn't get the Washington job and I immediately called the leasing agent up again and said, "Yes, we want it!  When can we sign?"

No more stalling.  No more waiting. The blue house on the corner is ours.  We sign the lease tomorrow and move in on the first!

How To Put Air in Your Tires and Other News

If you were wanting some sort of update on my last post, well, you're just out of luck.  I'm so sorry.  I'd give you one, but I'm still waiting.  The house we wanted to rent in Provo is actually willing to rent to us... but there are new complications now so we're waiting on that.  And as far as the other job goes, I'm still waiting to hear back from that as well.  I did have a second interview since I last wrote, but yeah, still no job offer.  Our friend Brett is also waiting for a job offer, one that might suddenly whisk him away to Washington, which is one of the "new complications" with the house.  The other complication is that they want to up the rent because we're not a family.  If I got the new job the rent increase wouldn't be so bad... but without Brett we can't get that house at all... and you see now why we're still waiting.

We wait and we wait.

Waiting.

Do you know how waiting rooms have magazines in them?  I read an issue of Martha Stewart Living cover-to-cover simply because Brian's dad bought it for him because there were macarons on the front cover.  Martha Stewart claims you can make macarons for just 18 cents each!  HOLY WOW!  But then you read the article and they're like half the size of ours and she gets really skimpy on the almond flour and, well, I guess you learn all kinds of frugal tips when you serve a prison sentence.  It's weird because I never once saw a character eating macarons on Netflix's Orange is the New Black.  Season 2 starts on June 6th in case you were wondering.  Just a little FYI.

And when your front left tire is super low, resembling a stack of really burnt pancakes, you probably shouldn't wait a week or two or three to fix it.  But, you know, since waiting is my new mantra in life I decided to wait until Brian finally said to me, "Listen, I'm not going to take care of it for you.  You're a grown man, you can figure it out yourself."

"But, I don't know how."

"Google it."

So I did.  The internet really is a remarkable place.  I found this helpful YouTube video in the blink of an eye (or maybe a little longer because the mall wifi was being slow):



Dave's not very exciting, but he taught me how to do it in only 54 seconds, so points for being succinct.  I was embarrassed at how incredibly easy it was.  Also embarrassed that I've never had to put air in my tires in almost 28 years of life.  Crazy.  I've also never had to survive in the wild or juggle chainsaws on a tightrope either.  I guess I just ain't living.

Also, I'm still waiting to borrow that Waiting... DVD.  What the heck, Krystal?

Waiting...

My coworkers and I signed the wall of our Zales store on its last night.  It's being turned into a T-Mobile.
The final snapchat of our apartment before we turned in our keys.

"Crap, I forgot to bring Waiting... for you.  I'll bring it tomorrow."

My friend and coworker Krystal has been saying that to me a couple times a month ever since Brian started working at Mimi's Cafe.  Now that he's a server, she thinks he'll really appreciate the 2005 comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Justin Long.  It's about waiters if you haven't figured it out.  And yes, the ellipses is really part of the movie title.  Look it up on IMDb if you don't believe me.

I just laughed and told her we couldn't be friends anymore.  Waiting for Waiting... is the last straw of our friendship.  That's it.  I'm done.  I've waited too long.

And that's how I feel with life right now.  Tired of waiting.

Since I haven't blogged in over three months (I just now realized that all six of you in Cyberland who read this have been waiting anxiously for my next post... I'm so sorry!  And if you didn't even notice my absence, just humor me), you probably don't know that lots has changed in the lives of Jack and Brian.  Where to begin?  Let's see.  Christmas was fine and dandy, New Year's was great, and then BAM!  "We're sorry to inform you that the Provo location is closing in two weeks.  You can interview for a transfer to the Orem Zales."

Yep.  My Zales location shut down at the end of January.  Thankfully, I was able to keep my job.  And I really am very grateful.  The only real downside is that the Orem location is already fully staffed, so they only had room for me and the other Provo workers to come in part-time.  My hours got cut from 40 hours to a mere 25.  That's a big deal.  So with me not making as much money and Macaron hitting a slow patch in terms of sales, Brian and I are broke!  Which leads me to the next big change for us...

We're now back to living with the in-laws.  Brian and his mom got to talking and decided that the apartment we lived in was too pricey (they even wanted to raise the rent again this year) and it would be a good idea to move back home for a bit to save up some money and look for a cheaper place.  In order to help make our living situation as cheap as possible, Brian and I have decided to get roommates.  I know what you're thinking, "A married couple with roommates?  That's lame."  And you're right, it kinda is.  But so is being 27 years old and living at home.  Brian and I are learning to embrace our lameness.

I bet you're waiting to get to the part about us waiting, right?  So here's the deal.  Brian and I looked at a house for rent near downtown Provo that we absolutely love.  It's an old home built in 1910, has tons of charm, tons of space, is walking distance from great restaurants and shops, and is generally just the bee's knees.  Brian's cousin Brett and our friend Aaron will be living with us and between the four of us, the place is very affordable (for us, almost $300 less a month than we used to pay).  We've filled out the application and now we are just waiting to hear back from them.  We filled it out Friday morning and I've literally been a nervous wreck ever since.  I cannot stop thinking about this house.  I just want to live in it!  PLEASE?

To add to the waiting, I had an interview with American Eagle on Friday afternoon for an assistant manager position.  It would be full-time hours and a pay raise, plus an opportunity to move upward in retail (an opportunity that Zales sadly doesn't seem to provide; always bringing in management from the outside).  My interview seemed to go really well and afterwards my friend Kylee, who is the other assistant manager there, told me that her boss loved me.  He said I was the "smartest applicant yet."  So now I'm waiting to hear back from that as well.

So here I am.  Waiting.  The weekend seems to drag on and I just hope come Monday or Tuesday I will know about the house and know about the job.  Please, if you're reading this, cross your fingers for me!