2nd Anniversary - Cotton

Almost two years ago, Abe and I got married. One of our favorite pictures from the day was this one:

photo by (and mustaches courtesy of) Melanie Dodds Photography

Since the traditional second wedding anniversary gift is cotton, I decided to design a t-shirt for Abe. Here's how it turned out. (Artwork by me, printing by CustomInk.)

Finished shirt

Close-up of design

How awesome is this wrapping paper? Half Price Books!

Even though I'd like to consider myself a competitive gift-giver à la Leslie Knope, I suck at waiting to give people gifts, so I gave Abe his shirt about ten minutes after the mailman delivered it.

He approved.

And because it wasn't too much more (and I already had the credit card out) I got one for me, too.

I'm threatening to force Abe to wear the shirts every time we go on vacation so we look like we just stepped off the weirdest most awesome tour bus ever.

Happy Distractible Household Anniversary everyone! Have a great weekend!

Put down the tablet, Jane

Dear Self,

Put down the tablet.

I mean it.

Put it down.

Love,
Yourself

Conflicted

Dear Internets,

I *hate* conflict. When someone yells at me, I have a tendency to withdraw completely like a turtle in her shell rather than dealing with the person head-on.

I'm learning that it's OK to stand up for myself and work through the situation, and that usually, people are not as upset as I initially think they are. I can send an email to apologize (and also explain myself, since I'm too generally too anxious to do it over the phone or in person), and usually the response is "tee hee, we all make mistakes, I should have started with talking, not yelling, let's be besties." Dealing with conflict is not that bad.

However, whether I go for ignoring the conflict or resolving it I still end up feeling drained and ready to curl up in the corner and take a nap. I don't think it's perfectionism on my part - I don't mind being criticized, as long as there's no yelling involved.

How do you deal with people who yell first, ask questions later, Internets? Any tips that might come in handy?

Yours truly,
Jane

Meeting Notes

Dear Jane,

Please stop taking notes like this in meetings. It is going to get us in trouble.

Meetings 101: One doodle per page, Jane!

You say doodling helps you concentrate on what people are saying.

They have a hard time believing that when you write "Zzzzzzzzz" under your pictures.

I just think it's probably a good idea to take a little break from the doodling, Jane, and focus on your work.

Love,
Your Brain

P.S. I do kind of like this fox, though.