Taking Chances

This week has been filled with discoveries for me and much-needed encouragement for Zack.

I'll start with Zack. Last week was frustrating for him. He didn't do as well as he was hoping to on quizzes, and got behind on essays for bar prep. He also didn't sleep through the night at all, and got stressed and worn out like I've never seen before. Yours truly finally got fed up with the tossing and turning all night, and the cranky husband all day, had a few un-Proverbs 31 woman moments, and then went out and bought him Melatonin for this week. He has successfully slept through the night, and done better than needed on his checkpoints this week. I'm pretty sure he's awesome and that he's going to ace this thing, he's not so sure, but after some small victories this week he's coming around to my way of thinking.

My week started out just as poorly as Zack's. Monday morning my beloved iPhone fell. I picked it up without looking at it. It wasn't until I left for work that I saw the chunk of glass missing from the screen.  This presented a dilemma, since we were planning on letting our contract with AT&T expire in 2 months so we could switch to Sprint (unlimited fast data) and get the iPhone 5, due out in September. Well, now I had to find a phone, and renew a contract for 2 years, which meant paying the cancellation fee in 2 months (we can't stay with AT&T, no service in our apartment). Oh, and all on one tiny income in one of the most expensive places to live. I was feeling understandably down until I found out what a broken, used iPhone was worth. Within seconds of posting an ad on Craigslist, my phone blew up and it still hasn't calmed down. I sold my broken phone for enough to pay for an upgrade, and I had people offering me $50 more than that. I wouldn't have promised it to the first guy who met my asking price if I'd known what a hot commodity I held. After my relative success, I decided to do the same thing for Zack since we've already had to extend our contract, he gets his new phone tomorrow. My phone is still going off constantly. I finally just shut it off. It's amazing how crazy people on Craigslist are! I had someone offer me $60 less than what I was asking for Zack's phone, and when I texted back to say I had offers for my price, he upped his offer by $10. Really, dude?

Back to my original predicament, I ran to J. Crew (I don't just work there, I pretty much love everything there) after work today and picked up a gorgeous little iPhone case. No more taking chances! Well, with my phone. Because me walking anywhere in Manhattan in taking a big chance. I proved that by walking out of the J. Crew store and going the wrong way, and then not realizing my mistake until I was two avenues over from where I needed to be. Whoops. I realized my mistake next to an F train station. I've never taken the F train anywhere, even though it's the closest one to our apartment. I'm always a little nervous and excited about taking a new route on the Subway, fortunately this one worked out to my advantage. There are some areas and routes that are not frequented by tourists, and you know where these are because you'll inevitably see that one crazy kid walking between cars while they're moving. I was on one such route. I get beggars and performers going between the moving cars, but not those people who move from one car to another, just to sit down, heave a sigh, and open their paper. What sense does it make? Some New Yorkers are plain crazy and weird, as opposed to the midwestern-transplant New Yorkers, who are awesome.

The more I live here the more I am inspired to be more than just creative, to be artistic.  Walking through the West Village tonight and seeing all of the artists reminded me that I found my sketchbook and pencils while moving, and left them out intending to use them. Writing has helped me channel some of my renewed creative energy, but I'm excited to try other expressions. I really want to get back into painting again. Watch out, I'll be sporting a beret and dreads yet.