+5 to Spontaneity

I'm usually a very cautious person.  I like to sit in the background and observe before I dive into the action.  I want to make sure that I won't get in trouble for doing something before I do it.

Unfortunately, this can make me come off as boring and a bit of a prude.  But every so often I cast off my social inhibitions and have quite a bit of fun.

Exhibit A: We went to a toy store to get presents for our nephews and niece.  Somewhere in the midst of this I decided to pose with this Lego fireman.  My (plastic) hero.

Exhibit B: We went to a wedding reception for two chemistry graduate students and they had the best wedding favors ever: a package of Dots with toothpicks as a "molecular model kit" and test tubes filled with Nerds.  Naturally, our nerdy selves came out and we made Lewis dot structures with the candy and lamented the fact that my mother would have never let us have such things at our wedding reception.

Directly after this we went to Wal-Mart and purchased hair cutting supplies so I could cut Blue's hair.  We'd had a Relief Society activity about how to cut hair, and Blue was willing to let me try, so I went for it.  I think it was a ~2 hour job because I was so nervous that I would mess up.  In the end, it turned out pretty well, with no glaringly obvious errors.  I didn't take any pictures of this adventure, but perhaps I will next time I cut his hair.

Exhibit C: One Sunday evening we were driving home from dinner at my parents' when I noticed lanterns floating in the night sky.  Curious as to the source of the beauty, we tracked the lanterns to their origin in the law school parking lot.  There were a bunch of students lighting lanterns and watching them drift away, small spots in the black expanse, until they burned out.  I wasn't brave enough to ask anyone why they were lighting lanterns, but it was a pretty and refreshing way to end the evening.

Exhibit D: Blue and I were playing tennis at the park when we saw a hot air balloon descending nearby.  Blue thought it would be fun to chase the balloon, so we ran home, jumped in our car, and headed off in pursuit.  We picked up a couple friends along the way, and luckily they had their camera with them to document the event.  The balloon landed on a street just a block or two south of our apartment, barely missing trees and power lines.  We got to help catch the balloon to keep it off the pavement, gather the fabric, and put it away.  We got ice cream afterward.  It was one of the cheapest and most exciting dates we've ever been on.

e.e. cummings may have said it best:

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."