Domestic Putterings

Ch-ch-ch-changes

It's hard to believe that a year and a day has passed since John and I stood before Canton mayor William Healy and got married.

It wasn't the wedding I envisioned when I was younger, or even when John and I got engaged. The original plan was a simple ceremony at Grand Pacific Junction, followed by a reception at the Grand Pacific Hotel right down the road. Maybe 100 people, tops. I even had a lovely dress picked out.

But when I lost my job, it just didn't seem sensible to spend at least $6,000 on a wedding.

Scaling back plans, however, was not a huge sacrifice. The small, intimate, family ceremony we ended up having at Bender's in Canton turned out perfect. It was relaxed, and happy.

So much has happened since that wonderful day. I've gone from unemployed to freelancing to back to work. We've both had to make the change from living apart to living together. Even after being together for almost five years, that was still an adjustment.

A Very Conscious New Year

Well, 2009 is officially in the history books and we're in the 2010s.

Many of us were happy to kick 2009 -- as well as the previous decade -- to the curb. Between terrorism, war, the economy and job losses, we had to look even harder for the silver lining.

Even in the midst of hard times, it's hard not to get a wee bit excited about the new year. Twelve months, 52 weeks, 365 days, shiny and new. Nothing bad has happened in them yet. Anything is possible.

During my career, I've written a few New Year's resolution stories. I've kind of soured on traditional resolutions, because very often they're made impulsively with no real idea on how to carry them out.

This year, I'm looking at the resolution thing a little differently.

The Honeymoon's Over

Before I started my new job at the Chronicle-Telegram last month, John and I finally took our honeymoon.

John really wanted to honeymoon in South Beach and I was fine with that. But one layoff later, we scaled back the wedding and postponed the honeymoon until the fall.

We'd gone to the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York a few years ago. John is an oenophile, so he wanted to find out more about the wines of the region. That trip was wonderful, so we decided to do an expanded version of it for our fall honeymoon, and timed it so it'd be around peak foliage time. A longer trip meant we could go to the Lake George/Saratoga region, where I lived while I was working at the Post-Star in Glens Falls. I hadn't been there in almost 12 years.

Going Home ... and Coming Home

In case you're wondering about the long break between posts, your Domestic Putterer took a little vacation. And, it turns out, just in time.

I'd decided over the summer that, since I was out of work anyway, it'd be a good time to take a trip back to Connecticut to visit my family and friends. I'd missed my 25-year high school reunion last fall, and hadn't seen my grandmother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew in almost a year. Mackenzie and Nick are growing up so fast; I don't like missing such a big chunk of their lives. And, when your grandmother is in her mid-90s, you know -- but don't want to admit -- that opportunities for time together may be dwindling.

When plans started being made on Facebook for an all-years reunion for Pomperaug High, I figured I'd come back for that and stay about five or six days. Then it was announced that the Homecoming game for my college alma mater, Central Connecticut State, was the following weekend. So the trip got extended another five days. It'd leave me lots of time for family, but also time to see friends and just hang out. I knew that I wouldn't do half the stuff I'd want to, which led me to skip trips to New York City or the shore, and focus on people time close to home.

Career in a Box

Somehow, that doesn't sound quite as fun as what Justin Timberlake has in a box.

I've begun tackling the Wall of Boxes in the guest bedroom. As it turns out, at least four of them were filled with Inside & Out sections and clips from my sportswriting career. They're the big storage bins, too, and heavy! The bedroom is becoming an even worse wreck, which is to be expected. In a project like this, where you have to empty every box and bin and sort through the contents, deciding what stays and what goes, things are going to look worse before they look better. Lenny is very displeased with me for usurping the bed, her favorite napping spot. I decided to tackle the clips first and get the biggest, and most emotional, part of the purging out of the way first.

I've been ruthless in terms of culling the piles. I don't need every NYSPHSAA State Basketball Championships game story I ever wrote, nor every All-CNY team I ever put together, and not every piece I wrote for Inside & Out was deathless prose. After one day, I had filled five trash bags of stuff I don't need to keep, and there was lots more to go. I'd really love to get my clips down to one smaller storage bin, if possible, but I'd settle for two. I'm only keeping what I'd let a future employer see, my award-winners, and some older pieces for sentimental reasons.

Bill Kennedy: A Great Guy, a Great Loss

The week began with some very sad news. Bill Kennedy, a photographer and photo editor with the Plain Dealer, lost his long fight with cancer on Monday.

My Facebook feed is filling up with tributes to Bill from PD colleagues. It's hard to explain to outsiders how working in a newsroom creates a tight bond between colleagues. We work nights, weekends and holidays scrambling to put out a new product every day. The passion for the work translates into a passionate caring for each other. That day-to-day interaction with all those good, talented people is one of the things I miss most since I was laid off.

All About Me

Some of you may know me in real life, or as an "invisible friend." You may know me as Melissa, or Missy, or, if you knew me prior to 1983, Ish. But if you don't know me, an introduction is in order.

I'm a reporter by training and temperament, but not by trade anymore. I spent 10 years as a sportswriter, first in my native Connecticut then in upstate New York, picking up a few nice awards along the way, before moving to the sports copy desk and moving to Cleveland almost 10 years ago. The sports desk job was all right, but I missed writing and wanted to do something new. I'd always loved home stuff, decorating and design, largely due to the influence of my sister, Deborah, who is an interior designer. So when the Plain Dealer launced a weekly home/garden section, Inside & Out, in 2002, I moved over there to become the homes reporter. Those were some good years, as the advertising came in and we did lots of great stuff like the old Sophisticated Home magazine. Then the economy changed, the industry changed, and the axes started to fall. In December, the ax fell on me and 26 other good, talented people.