...But the beginning does not necessarily have to begin in a logical spot. As it so happens, this particular beginning picks up on a warm June evening on my front porch. Despite temperatures reaching the mid-nineties earlier this afternoon, it is now cool enough to be sitting comfortably at the small patio table with my laptop and a plastic wine glass of a vodka-and-cranberry juice cocktail. Swanky, huh?
Today was an ordinary enough day, and this was the close of an ordinary enough weekend. My roommates are out of town for about the next ten days. One, XXX, is out to sea with his job, and the other, Charleigh, is home in Maryland visiting her parents. Obviously, these are not their real names, but then, you don't really think I'm Tara, do you? Left to my own devices, I did whatever I felt like doing, of course! I slept in, brought the cat to the vet, mowed the lawn, and took myself out to a matinée for the afternoon. A quick stop though the local Barnes and Nobles for a couple of books I had on order and a side trip to Michael's for a hot glue gun were warranted before I was off to home with dinner on my mind.
Today was much of the same. I slept in as late as I absolutely could (9:30! Oh the bliss of staying in bed!) and most of today was spent watching the episodes of season two of Sex in the City I couldn't stay awake for last night. But of course, a girl has to eat, and 6:00 p.m. found me in the frozen food aisles of the local Food Lion searching for dinner. To make matters worse, I had to tell the cat where I was going before I left. I have become that single twenty-something girl who spends her days off doing housework and watching bad late-night HBO programs you missed when they were actually airing on TV. The problem with this picture is that I have been happily married for five months now.
So where is hubby in all of this? And why do I live with roommates, and not him? Simple. Diego is in the Marines and is learning how to fly. Therefore, he is living very far away from where I work, and there is literally no hope of us living together for at least the next two years. C'est la vie. Absence makes the heart grow fonder!
So, who is Tara? And what makes me so colorful, aside from the fact that I live with a married couple instead of with my own husband? Well, let's see. I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in English (yes, you read that right), I work in a job where I am trying to be an engineer and everyday is an uphill learning curve, I believe Pride and Prejudice is the greatest book ever written and have no fewer than sixteen copies of it, and, despite being three weeks from my twenty-fourth birthday, I still sleep with stuffed animals and play with dolls. I love vampires, but have had a deep appreciation and understanding for them since before Bella Swan ever existed. I love to cook, but don't know how to cook for fewer than six people. My husband has never read the Harry Potter books (despite being four years my senior) and so to remedy that, I read a chapter or two aloud to him a couple of nights a week. We are currently on chapter five of The Prisoner of Azkaban. On that note, I am halfway through knitting myself a Gryffindor scarf and about a quarter of the way through a Quidditch sweater. A favorite way to spend time with my husband is to watch old episodes of Star Trek and make fun of how cheesy they are while still thoroughly enjoying them for their campiness. My favorite Disney character is Stitch, and I absolutely love Disney World! Is all of this enough to make me colorful?
But on that note, the time as come to go inside. My cocktail is gone and the bugs are now out for my blood. And with that, I will sign off.
