From the keyboard of a married woman

Lots of things have happened lately but I don't want this to turn into a long-winded post (mostly because I want to post before we leave for dinner with friends tonight).

Wedding: Pulled it off and it went terrific! There were glitches but we took them in stride. The weather was perfect. I do wish we had had more hours in the afternoon to really get into the letterboxing but that's the way it goes. I have absolutely no pictures yet; I didn't even take any photos with my own camera during any of the events, including the relaxing camping trip we did with some other people Saturday through Monday. So now it's back to "real life" - with new stuff to sort through, dirty clothes to wash, and rings on our fingers. But really, as expected, we were already practically married so actually having a wedding didn't change a whole lot. There is a sense of "things are easier" - not having to struggle with the inadequate names for each other, like "boyfriend." One word of advice I have for those planning weddings: Get a room with a hot tub. I'm not being dirty here; lying in the hot water is the *perfect* way to relax after the stress of The Big Day.

Job: It appears I don't actually have a job this fall semester. It's very vague and confusing. I plan to find out more when I'm in on Friday. More details as I learn them.

Hearing aids: Earlier last week I finally got my new hearing aids! I had had the same Phonak Powerzoom analog hearing aids for TEN YEARS. It is nothing short of a miracle that they lasted that long. They're still fine, but I wanted to be proactive and get new hearing aids *before* I couldn't hear with my old ones anymore.

I'm still adjusting to these new Phonak Naida S V UP digital ones (they're ALL digital now, or at least the ones that will work for me). Some things are much easier: they're water resistant (no need to dry my hair before putting them in), they don't have interference with my cellphone, and listening to people with any amount of background noise is soooo much easier. Being in the car is distracting; the hearing aids go back and forth between dimming the noises and picking up Colin's voice. I don't like it at all, it doesn't seem safe for when I'm driving, but I've found when I put the hearing aids in the one other mode that's on them (so far) it's much more consistent - this is kind of funny because the mode is meant for blocking out background noise but I find that the normal mode is much nicer in crowds. Also, I still struggle with how different things/voices sound and how loud or soft my own voice should be in situations. Ooo, and the new ones are this dark transparent blue!

Webcomics: While not technically a life update, I've discovered two webcomics lately that I've been going through. One is "Scandinavia and the World" and the other is "Girls with Slingshots." The webcomic above is from "Girls with Slingshots;" I'm finding a lot of the story lines seem to resonate with me right now. As for the other one, I'm only sad that I didn't discover it earlier because it is helping to satisfy my craving for connecting with my strange and mysterious Scandinavian heritage.

Google Plus: One more thing! I'm enjoying this new feature and I have high hopes for it. I would love to cancel my facebook account but for social reasons I can't (at least not yet - can everybody switch to Google Plus? please?). I haven't posted much yet on Google Plus, but I check it regularly. My main battle is when I try to decide whether to post something on Plus or Twitter. I'm holding onto both at least for now. As for a blogging alternative, I'm not sure I'll ever get rid of this blog at least in the foreseeable future, but I'm intrigued by the idea of using Google Plus for shorter, more frequent posts without being limited to 140 characters.

Also - three red tomatoes in our garden!