Waffle fries

By Beckie Carlson


I read a book a while ago...wait. That's a lie. I heard about a book a while ago that I never found. It was called "Men are Waffles, Women are Spaghetti." I may have mentioned it before. It was one of those books where the title said it all and I didn't really need to read it. But if you sent it to me, I would read it.....
The basic concept is that women have a million things going on, like spaghetti falling off the sides of a plate, while men are in little boxes. If a man is at work, he is at work. If a man is watching TV, he is watching TV. Sounds sexist, doesn't it? You know it's true.
I used to be a bowl of spaghetti with a few meatballs thrown in for good measure. I did it all. I volunteered at the kids' schools, I had playgroups, I served at church, I planted flowers in the front yard, I even cleaned my house and cooked every day! I skipped the pearls with the apron because I'm not fond of necklaces, but I was close. I don't remember ever being bored. I was even spaghetti when it came to reading. I would read an average of three books at a time. One upstairs, one downstairs, one in the car and sometimes one in my purse. Reading was the only way I could squeeze in 'me time.' Those were the good old days. Days of long hours, little sleep, kids running everywhere and date nights with my hubby.
Lately, I've found myself becoming a bit more masculine. No, I haven't sprouted the 'mature ladies stache' yet, I'm talking about how my life is run. I have become a waffle person. When I'm at school, I'm at school. When I'm doing homework, I'm doing homework. When I'm ....wait. That's about all I've been doing. I guess it's been one really big waffle hole for a while.
I went back to school after Brad died in '09 and that has been my waffle hole every since. I have learned SO much. I've even learned some things about math and reading and history! I've learned a lot about myself, the world, my children, and how to not go crazy when a deadline is looming and the person that can explain the really hard project you HAVE to do is on vacation and a complete flake of a teacher when she's around. (oops...hope she doesn't read this....) It has been a crazy wild ride....one that I don't know if I ever really expected to get off of. Getting a degree this late in life (I'm not THAT old) is almost like drawing out the plans for your dream house that you know deep down in your heart you will never actually build. How would you pay for it? Who would decorate it? Not you, you don't have any taste! Who would clean all those rooms? You can't even take the trash out of your own master bathroom on a monthly basis. Seriously!
I'm at the end of this chapter of school. There is always more school one can do if one is crazy, I mean...'driven' enough. I could go on and get my masters, doctorate, etc etc etc. But....I'm a little burnt out. I took a 'crap load' of credits last year and I'm kind of wondering what the world looks like without textbooks blocking the view. I've finished my classes and the crazy projects, filled out my forms and taken my tests. All I have to do now is wait for the term to end and that coveted paper (diploma) to be delivered to my door (by handsome footmen, in a golden box smelling of jasmine.....).  I'm waiting for the next chapter of my life to begin.
What waffle will I jump into next? Will I revert to my spaghetti days? Maybe I will find myself in a writing waffle. I think I'd like that....if I could make some money at it. We do need to eat....I suppose. Maybe I will find myself in a teaching waffle box, running my own classroom. That could be fun. Maybe I will pull my kids out of school and go on a global tour til July. That would be amazing....and expensive...and we don't have passports yet.
I really don't know what waffle or spaghetti I will be enjoying come January. I'm hoping the spaghetti in my head will somehow form itself into a new age art form of waffles and make some sense of itself. The odds are against it...have you ever seen a spaghetti waffle? But new things are being created every day. One must never mock what one cannot imagine.....you can quote me.....cause I said so.
photo credit of: www.hypebeast.com