8 random things

I was tagged by my loverly boho girl who thought I could use a little fun…and it’s true. It was hard to come up with this list for some reason and I bet after I post it, I’ll think of 87 things that would have been more interesting…

The Rules
-We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
-Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
-People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules.
-At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and they should read your blog.


1. Since I hurt my ankle on Wednesday, I have read Harry Potter #1 and #2 and Eclipse. (Yes, I just happened to be one of the lucky lucky happy lucky people to get a copy early, and no, I won’t tell you what happens, but I will say that I think I’m already in my post Eclipse depression.)

2. I’m glad that this is a ‘random’ list instead of a ‘favorite’ list—I hate choosing favorites. I can never do it, whether it’s colors, flowers, food…I prefer going with what I’m in the mood for. There’s always a perfectly wonderful reason to love every color, why limit yourself to one? There’s beauty in every single flower, I couldn’t be exclusive like that! And food, well there are endless flavors and textures that make me salivate. I love food (although I don’t like sloppy joes, no offence, little innocent {disgusting} sandwiches). Man, there's just too much beauty in the world to have to choose favorites.

3. I have wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember. Sometimes my 8 year old tells her friends that I am an artist when she introduces me to them, and it makes me uncomfortable, because I feel like I’m still “becoming” an artist and have a long way to go before I reach my goal, so I usually correct her with some other title that seems more acurate.

4. I guess people could (and do) consider me a little clumsy…I kick over glasses, break dishes (and bones), trip a lot, drool a lot, have gotten stitches 4 times (but probably needed them several more times since, but in my adulthood have stopped going to the hospital for deep wounds), and the list goes on and on…

5. Almost every time I go to the grocery store I grab myself a chocolate milk and drink it while I’m shopping. When I get to the counter, I pay for it and they throw it away for me.

6. I am legally blind without my contacts in. I have to find my glasses BEFORE I take my contacts out, or it’s a ridiculous sight, my nose an inch away from any surface and roaming hands… “Jake!! Help! Do you see my glasses??”


7. I got married when I was only 20 years old. It made me a little frustrated to fulfill the expectations of my seminary class who voted me most likely to be the first one married, but what can you do when it’s RIGHT? I haven’t regretted it a day since. We belong together.

8. I’m pretty quiet and shy (unless I know you well) and hate being the center of attention. I’d much rather sit back and watch. It’s very hard to make myself speak the things that go on in my head.

*bonus thing: I have never smoked or had a drink of alcohol. Literally. Although it has been a temptation at moments, I have stuck by my goal. It's always amusing to see docotors' faces when they ask me questions and hear answers like that.

Following the rules, I'm tagging Kara, Clairissa, Emily, Paige , Jamie, Delia, Thea, Jeni

There are a few good things that come from spraining and fracturing your ankle:

Surprise date night with my husband, even if it is at the ER

Watching a movie (okay, several) with your children

Sweet friends who share themselves with you

Sympathy gasps

The thought that maybe I can get really fast on my crutches like when I was in kindergarten and could win any race with a little hop in between each forward swing of the crutches (those are glory days—I never won a race previously or afterward. That makes 31.5 years of slowpokiness, people.)

Not feeling guilty about putting my feet up to read.

At least I can take off my fracture boot while I bathe

I get to be more like Caleb

Suddenly I have alone time for the next couple hours, so I better go and use them to the fullest!

What's Grosser Than Gross?

We’ve had some mice problems. Yes, I know that’s gross enough, but it’s to be expected when your house is almost 200 years old. The cats do their job pretty well, but I recently noticed that we had some unwelcome guests. My lovely man-of-the-house has been taking care of me and putting out the traps and resetting them. I don’t ask too many questions. I don’t really want to know the answers. I will just keep the bread out of the bread drawer for the time being and ignore the unpleasantries, thank you. That is until I can’t ignore them any more. I just opened the drawer to grab the jar of peanut butter for lunch and there was a fat little well-fed grey mouse! And he’s stuck in the trap! And he’s wiggling!

I just started screaming and slammed the drawer shut and danced a little jig from the willies. He’s still there. Jake won’t come home from work for lunch to dispose of the varmint, and I’m not….well, I can’t even think about it. Come to find out, my son has been feeding him bread so he could die comfortably. Needless to say, we had tuna for lunch.

Or

The other morning my little three-year-old came down stairs and wandered around all sleepy eyed for a while. I was about to start making some eggs, and when I turned around, her mouth was sucking on a straw that was attached to a glass of milk from the night before. That’s pretty gross and in my mind I was scolding myself for not taking care of it before the sweet little bitty got a hold of it. But then she spit it out right onto the counter and a nasty earwig came crawling and flailing out of the milk puddle! We all started screaming and she was crying as we came to the realization that the earwig must have crawled into the straw overnight and was sucked right into her precious little mouth! She kept wiping her tongue and I keep nearly gagging just thinking about it.

summertime bliss

ooooo ooooo.

So, my blog has probably been a little on the boring side lately, but I gotta say—there’s just not that much crazy stuff to write about. We’re either at the beach or the lake, or showering all the sand off from the beach or the lake. Or we’re eating ice cream. Or wishing that I brought more food with us on our outings than just cherries to snack on because children eat three times their normal intake when they are at the beach. Or I’m vacuuming the floor because of all the sand. Or we could be learning about monkeys from a DVD. Oooo oooo. Or you might find us swinging or pulling weeds. Mostly if we’re at home I try to keep the fighting children to a minimum…and the jumping on the beds and couches…and the whining, too. But if it’s a good day, we’re mostly happy and content in our little lives of summertime bliss.

Things of note:
~hmmmm, I’m thinking, hold on….
~oooo, I read Fairies of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor. Great read, although it is a book for children, MY particular children are a little on the fraidy-cat side, so I just enjoyed every word all on my own. Go out and get a copy—a very fun summer read.
~now that I have admitted that fantasy books may be enjoyable to read after all, I have just started Harry Potter—the first one. At least by the time I get to #7, I won’t have to wait.
~I haven’t mentioned Jake because I never see the dude. If his councilors don’t get back from vacation soon and he doesn’t do a good deal of delegating I may just have to…complain some more or something.
~seriously. I’m having a hard time thinking of noteworthy things that are appropriate to share with the blogiverse, so I’m just gonna go and pick some blueberries from the backyard. (see? Summertime bliss.)


getting over the latest fight

Goal: I will be responsible for me

I’ve done it myself, just so you don’t think I’m being hypocritical, but here’s my question: Why don’t we take more responsibility for ourselves?

Why when we’re unhappy, do we not make a change? Why don’t we dig until we find the missing piece? Why do we let things go until it’s just too late? Irreparable?

Yes, sometimes it takes a while to actually see that, hey, wait a minute, something’s wrong—I’m unhappy/depressed/angry/{fill in the blank}. I can see that. But once we come to an understanding that something is out of place, why don’t we open ourselves up to change? Why don’t we take some responsibility and stop pointing fingers?

Just wondering.

Self Portrait Challenge: Elements {Water}

the surface
reflects all other elements

earth
atmosphere
light

only penetrating the surface
do you plunge into
hidden depths

and begin
to understand
life that is teeming within

Resting upon the earth
Floating through the air
Penetrating fire

take in the
life-giving particles
allowing the element
to become part of you

more elements here

color: pink

this was supposed to be yesterday's color--the last one of the week. But I've been super busy, so here it is a day late. Here are some links to some other people who participated in color week--it was fun to see. It was an interesting distraction for me; I've had quite a traumatic week, but I'll keep that out of the blogosphere for now. I've never taken pictures looking for a specific color before, and I quite liked it.

color: red

Far away
This ship is taking me far away
Far away from the memories
Of the people who care if I live or die



Starlight
I will be chasing the starlight
Until the end of my life
I don't know if it's worth it anymore



Hold you in my arms
I just wanted to hold
You in my arms



Starlight by Muse

Dirty Bill Goes Down

Well, here is my entry to the adult pinewood derby last night. Its official name is Down With Dirty Bill and I am very proud to announce that it came in dead last.

color: orange

Well I had a dream I stood beneath an orange sky
With my brother and my sister standing by



I said Brother, you know you know
It’s a long road we’ve been walking on
Brother you know it is you know it is
Such a long road we’ve been walking on



But sister you know I’m so weary
And you know sister
My hearts been broken
Sometimes, sometimes
My mind is too strong to carry on
Too strong to carry on



When I am alone
When I’ve thrown off the weight of this crazy stone
When I've lost all care for the things I own
That's when I miss you,
You who are my home



And here is what I know now
Goes like this...
In your love,
my salvation lies in your love
in your love

Orange Sky by Alexi Murdoch

Color: black, white & brown

Have you ever thought

about what protects our hearts?

Just a cage of rib bones

and other various parts.



So it's fairly simple

to cut right through the mess,

and to stop the muscle

that makes us confess.




And we are so fragile,

and our cracking bones make noise,

and we are just

breakable




breakable




breakable

girls and boys.





Breakable by Ingrid Michaelson

color: green

"Color week" is going on, and I thought I'd join in the fun. I missed blue and yellow, but better late than never...















I guess it's easy to find green where I live...maybe I'll have to get creative tomorrow...

Grateful Friday

The wee ones have been finding little mini toads. They head back to the woods and then capture the tiny hoppers.

Spending two whole weeks with my sister and her family

Because she was here, I saw all kinds of fun people that I normally don’t get to see

Sweet jake

Kisses from little tiny people

My precious ipod

Jake’s web album

I can just walk out to the vegi garden and eat peas or gather lettuce. Even though little punky animals are trying to harvest faster that I can, I still think it’s pretty great that there is organic food growing in my back yard.

The hammock is such a perfect place to read

Thunder storms the past few days

My camera

So many blessings—so many I keep private. I guess even though I have a blog I am a pretty introverted person. But here is an attempt at sharing. Have a wonderful weekend!