10 Clues That I'm Living in 2012

I'm hooking up with Stasha at The Good Life for Monday Listicles. And thanks to Robyn at Hollow Tree Ventures, whose hilarious lists made me want to join in the fun.

This week's prompt is 10 clues that you are living in 2012. Here's my list:

1. My preferred hairdo no longer resembles Betsy Ross. 
   
   
   
   Is that the San Andreas fault between my two front teeth?
   
   
2. Poison and Bon Jovi are now considered Classic Rock.
   
   
3. I no longer have cookbooks on my shelves because I have Pinterest.
   
   
4. I graduated to a bathing suit with a mom-skirt. Man, aren't these the best things ever? They hide all things bad in this world, namely, my butt. I wish they had been cool to wear in high school. Then I wouldn't have worn a t-shirt “to prevent sunburn” to actually hide my body. And of course the t-shirt was LARGE because everything in the 80's was large. I'd do a handstand in the water or some other show-offey acrobat and come up for air like a sperm whale entangled in a giant squid. Then I'd climb the ladder to get out, dragging my giant squid behind me, only to be overwhelmed by the weight and fall back in...repeatedly.
   
   
5. My calendar says it's 2012. It's a good thing I have one because even though we're about four months shy of 2013, I'm still accidentally writing 2011 on everything.
   
   

6. 

   Image: Cleaverb's TV Corner

   Blair, from The Facts of Life, is going to be on the next Survivor. Is this an indication of poor ratings? You know, if they really want to boost their ratings, they should have Tootie on the show and make all the contestants wear roller skates. Even better, have Mrs. Garrett or Cloris Leachman, dishing out condescending advice on life and make George (Clooney) the grand prize. I would totally watch that.
   
   
7. I don't have to use a phone to communicate to friends and family. I can email, Skype, Disqus, Pin, Face Time, ooVoo, blog, Facebook, Tweet, text, SongPop, and use carrier pigeons (I hear they're back in vogue).
   
   
8. We drive a car that gets 60 mpg. Granted in order to get that gas mileage it's guaranteed we'll be flipped the bird a few times a day. Like today for instance, I was in the left lane accelerating - or trying to without going into “Power mode”.  So Mr. 1960-something convertible passed me and waved a double high-five (speed limit 55) and a “move to the right lane” signal with his thumb. At least he was polite and didn't wave his middle finger. 
   
   
   Speaking of road rage...okay, that probably doesn't qualify as road rage, but I need a segue into this next story.  One time, years ago, I was driving home from work and a man was tail-gating me in the left lane. We were both exceeding the speed limit and my left turn was a mile ahead. He zoomed past me and cut me off and I gave him the most endearing, sarcastic wave I could muster. I stopped behind him at the next stop light and he proceeded to get out of his car and huff toward mine. Crap! All I could picture was this guy punching through my glass window and choking me. As soon as he got close to my car, I floored the accelerator and sped off between him and his car, barely missing his feet. In my rearview mirror he was raising his fist at me. I made a left turn into my neighborhood and drove around making unnecessary turns for five minutes fearing he might have followed me. I got home and broke down, crying and shaking.  I don't think I've used my endearing,  sarcastic wave since then.
   
   
   
9. You can get longer thicker eyelashes without even using mascara. Just use Latisse. I go on an internal tirade every time I walk through the mall and see Brooke Shields or Claire Danes advertising this crap. My thoughts usually go something like this: There are starving people all over the world that could be fed by the money funneled into Latisse! There's no cure for Malaria because all the  research money is spent on vanity! All that money being wasted makes me sick! Then I walk into Starbucks and by a five dollar cup of coffee.
   
   
10. A cup of coffee can cost five dollars.
    
    
    That was fun!  I think I'll try it again next week, when, per Stasha, the list should have something to do with school.
    
    
    Leave a comment telling me what clues you into knowing this year is 2012.  

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What Is the Greatest Physical Pain You've Ever Endured? (Blog Challenge Day 3)

Hmm...greatest pain...well, I hear giving birth is pretty painful, but I've never done that.  So, besides the few times I've been really constipated, I'd have to go with the time I fell off my bike when I was seven-ish and "cracked my head open" on a raised man-hole cover.

Image: Flickr.com

This is exactly what the crash looked like.  

Except the manhole was under my head

and raised four inches off the ground...

...and maybe the gender, decade, and the fact that a car wasn't

involved are also different, but that's irrelevant to my story.

So obviously this was long before the helmet law.  Because I was a law-abiding citizen and would have never gone without a helmet...when my mom was looking.  So, Janice (my partner in crime) and I went to the top of Norton Road, a very steep road (my mom was at work) and rode down it.  Half way down the hill mountain, the chain casually slipped off my bike and the foot breaks (the only breaks) went with it. That's when I lost control, wobbled, met the manhole, and cracked my head open.

"Cracked my head open," was the way I referred to it to all my friends.  Like I was Humpty Dumpty laying on the ground with my skull split in two jagged halves and my brain exposed.  I was totally cool for about 12 minutes.

Although the impact with the iron manhole hurt and there was a trail of blood down my shirt that, from a distance, could have been mistaken for a ZZ Top beard, the real pain was in the emergency room.

Image: Photobucket.com
See the blood running down that man's shirt?...Wait, that's a beard.
Well, mine was blood.
...and it was down my back.

The doctor, whom I did not like, mainly because of what he did to me: jammed chopstick-sized needles into my head with no anesthetic (that I recall), and I'm sure there were other reasons, like he probably cheated on his wife, beat his kids with those same needles, and various other not nice things.

I did everything I could to kick off the doctor and the four orderlies holding my limbs and head down, while I screamed (as if I were giving birth).  But they were strong and undeterred.  I think it was over in less than five minutes, but it felt like five hours in my seven year old head.  I mean how long could five stitches take?

I remember, later over ice cream, my dad telling me how brave I was.  I thought, what...?  Did he...?  Was he in the room with me or some other kid?  Because I was a freaked out screaming maniac.  Perhaps my dad was referring to the calmness I displayed before the doctor did needlepoint on my head.  But, that wasn't bravery, that was merely ignorant bliss.

So, yeah, that's the most physical pain I've endured...but that constipation was pretty bad too.

What's the greatest pain you've ever experienced?  And childbirth doesn't count because that's a given...unless it was some crazy situation where your body was split in half.

Leave a comment and I promise I'll comment back, unless I get taken away by aliens and in that case I'll try to bring my iPad, but I can't guarantee that they have wifi on Mars.

I fixed the glitch in regards to leaving a comment, so it should work for everyone now.  Yay!  If it doesn't, email me.

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10 Signs That You Might Be Addicted to SongPop

This post is dedicated to all my SPFs (SongPop Friends).

10 Signs That You Might Be Addicted to SongPop

1. You decide, “we're going out for dinner” because it would take up too much of your SongPop time to prepare something.
   
   
2. Your wrist is screaming in pain to stop playing, but you convince yourself it's from all the dishes you've done...even though you've eaten out every night the past week.
   
   
3. Instead of listening to full songs on your Ipod while exercising on the treadmill, you listen in .6 to 11.8 second intervals while playing SongPop.
   
   
4. You can talk intelligently to your teenager about Waka Flocka Flame and Nicki Minaj, even though you never heard of them before three days ago.
   
   
5. The number of games you've played in the current tournament challenges the National Debt.

6. You're in the minivan and when you turn on the radio you scream out the artist's name and turn to the passenger and shout, “Beat that!”
   
   
7. Currently, your entire social life involves only friends that play SongPop (or maybe that's just me).
   
   
8. You recharge your iDevice before your husband gets home, so he won't know how long you've spent playing SongPop.
   
   
9. You stand outside in the dark being attacked by mosquitoes in order to play SongPop because it's the only place quiet enough at your house to hear the songs.
   
   
10. When you're laying in bed playing SongPop against your husband and one of you needs to leave the room so the other can't hear your songs, you volunteer and run down to the basement instead of turning the stupid thing off and waiting until tomorrow. (Again, maybe that's just me)
    
    
    Anybody else showing signs of addiction?
    
    

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My Blog Was Nominated for a Liebster Award!

Yay!  My Blog Was Nominated for a Liebster Award by Claudia over at Lashes + Beard!   Isn't she sweet?!

What is a Liebster Award, you ask?

The Liebster Award is given to bloggers by bloggers. It's given to up and coming bloggers with fewer than 200 followers.  It's a way to acknowledge and encourage each other, and its a great way to spread the word about smaller blogs who deserve a larger audience.  

I feel so honored that Claudia would nominate me because I really do enjoy her blog, read every post, and think she's a good writer.  Plus she said I'm "cream of the crop."

Here's what I (the recipient) have to do:

1) Each person must list 11 things about themselves.

2) Answer the 11 questions that the tagger has set for you PLUS you MUST create 11 questions of your own for the 11 people you will nominate with this award.

I know this reeks of chain letter, but believe me, it's so much more.  So much more.  Really.  It is.  Okay, maybe it's not, but at least Claudia thought I had something worthwhile to say that should be said to a larger audience!  So, I'm doing it.

3) Choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to your post.

4) Go to their pages and inform them of the nominations.

5) Absolutely NO tag backs.

6) Remember to ONLY tag bloggers with less than 200 followers  

First, the 11 random facts about me...

Bonus!  Already did it a few days ago with the 30 Day Blog Challenge.  If you missed it, just click on Does This Make Me a Narcissist?  But, I only wrote 10, so I need to add one more...

11.  When I was five or six and people used to ask me where I got all my freckles, my answer back was always, "The sun kissed me!" (my husband might not even know that one)

Now to answer Claudia's questions:

1. If I were an instrument what would I be?
   A banjo. Because it has roots in hillbillyishness (that's a word, right?) and it's kind of awkward and doesn't fit in many places, but likes to have a good time.
   
   
2. Coke or Pepsi
   Coke.  Unless we're talking Cherry, then I go with Cherry Pepsi.  I did the Pepsi Challenge at the Taste of Chicago a few years back and I chose Coke.  I always thought I preferred Coke, but the taste test confirmed it.
   
   
3. What was the last song you listened to.  
   Night Fever by The Bee Gees.  During the song, I was thinking how I wish I could have been quick and witty enough to Facebook something like, "I've been Jive Talkin' about Robin Gibb all day in his honor", on the day he died.  It's probably a good thing I missed my opportunity because it's only witty in my own head and I'm sure some of my "friends" would have defriended me over it.
   
   
4. What purpose does blogging fulfill for you?
   Well for the first five years it fulfilled our desire to share about our adoptions with our family and friends.  It was a way to update everyone at once and was great to share our experiences in almost real time. The past few months my blog has been more about practicing writing and sharing it with others in hopes that they get some kind of entertainment out it.
   
   
5. What did you want to be when you were 5?  10?  15?  Now?
   Age 5 - Peter Pan. He could fly, he could fly, he could flyyyyyyy.
   Age 10 - A dentist.  I have no idea why.  Maybe because my uncle was one and I always thought it was cool to have my uncle as our dentist.
   Age 15 - I may have still been working the dentist thing.  I remember filling out one of those career path questionnaires and purposely answering all the questions to lean toward my future as a dentist.
   Age Now - A mom and a writer.  I'm doing both...most days.
   
   
6. What is your favorite snack food?
   Chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie.  I have one almost every day.
   
   
7. What is one tradition you had when you were growing up that you'd like to continue with your family?
   We always visited extended family on major holidays and I still like to do that, whether locally with my sister, or out of state with other relatives.
   
   
8. If you were a pirate looking for buried treasure what would that treasure be?  
   Honestly, I'd probably be too cynical on the whole thing and think there was no treasure, so I wouldn't bother.  I'd be one of the pirates who don't do anything.
   
   
9. What is your favorite quote and why?
   Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
   
   
10. When is your favorite time of day?
    My morning quiet time, of course...when I get it.  If I don't, then right before I go to sleep when I'm laying in bed reading a book.
    
    
11. Do you prefer to use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram?
    Facebook is #1 for me for socializing.  Pinterest is awesome for bookmarking and finding new recipes.  Twitter is on my blogging bucket list.  Instagram...that has something to do with photos, right?  I'm not very good with the camera, so that one's not really for me.

And the nominees are...drumroll please....

A Day in the Life

The Anon Bloggers

Big Foot Tribe

Caffeinated Chronicles of a Supermom

Dawn's Disaster

Heidi is Taking the Plunge

One Realistic Mom

Splash of Whine
Sunnys Thundercloud

Talk of the Trains

There are thousands of blogs out there, but these are ones I actually follow and enjoy that have fewer than 200 followers.

Nominee questions to answer:

1. What is your favorite book of all time?
2. Who is your favorite comedian?
3. What made you want to start blogging?
4. What is your least favorite food?
5. Introvert or extrovert?
6. Where did you grow up?
7. Where was the last place you went on vacation?
8. What is your biggest pet peeve?
9. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
10. Who's your favorite Olympian?
11. What did you eat for breakfast this morning?

I can't wait to read your answers!

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Five Months as a Family of Five Update

It's hard to believe it's been five months since we were sitting in an office, waiting with butterflies in our stomach for Autumn to arrive. She has changed our world and we are so blessed because of her.

Here's what life is like after five months. By the way, I skipped the four month update because not much had changed.

Communicating with Autumn

She understands most English words we use around the house, but we still don't understand a lot of what she's saying.  We've been working on her speech together and she'll be starting speech therapy soon.

She's begun Operation: Intense Whining. Even when she's trying to say a word, it often comes out as a high-pitch whine. She's trying so hard to communicate, but gets frustrated and therefore whines out her request. Poor thing. ...I'm talking about me.

And today, I confirmed that the Mandarin Chinese I spoke to Autumn for the first three months we had her, was indeed her third language learned. I met a woman at McDonald's today who was from Shanghai, very close to Yangzhou, where Autumn lived. She spoke Autumn's dialect, which is not Mandarin. Autumn had a lively conversation with her in not Mandarin. Which explains why Autumn gave me so many blank stares early on when I spoke to her in what I thought was her first language.

Autumn's Activity Level

This has not decreased. She still has to be strapped down to go into any size store. She is never ever...ever...ever content holding my hand and letting me lead her.  When we don't go her direction, she collapses to the floor and I have to drag her or pick her up. Lately she's been casually letting go of holding my hand and folding her arms, as if to say, Thanks, but this is more comfortable for me.  Um...you're three!

Around the four month mark I started feeling like I should begin seeing signs of obedience. Well that mark came and went. In the mall the other day, she took off running and I said, “Autumn, come back here. Autumn! Lie. (Come, in Chinese). Lie! LIIIIIE!!!!! She finally stopped. So yeah, that's encouraging. At least she obeys when I scream.

Then the other day I was working in the garden and turned around to find her playing in the compost bin. Nothing like playing in a barrel of rotting food. She really does get into everything.

Her grandpa took her fishing recently and she was leaning in too far and fell in the water.

Before she fell in the water.

After she fell in the water.

Her cleft lip/palate

We took her to see our oral surgeon and he said that she doesn't need any work other than speech therapy for a few years.

Potty training

That's a pretty lofty choice of words considering it simply means she's wearing Pull-ups. Am I supposed to physically put her on the potty? I mean, I could be playing SongPop or watching Project Runway or clipping my toenails. So, I just tell her to let me know when she needs to go. She hasn't yet. But at least she stopped the Pull-up fling in the middle of the night.

My mom was staying with us for a few weeks while she recovered from emergency gallbladder surgery. I was able to do a little organizing and found a training potty tucked away that I had forgotten about. I showed it to Autumn and thought I would up the potty-training a notch by offering it to her to try out. I set it in the middle of the foyer at the foot of the stairs. (And no, I don't know why I didn't put it in the bathroom – hindsight is always 20/20.)

She was excited and sat on it and after a few minutes peed! I helped her pull up her Pull-up then tugged on the basket containing the pee to get it out of the potty. Of course when I tugged it, it jerked out and the pee went splashing across the floor. I ran to get a cleaning wipe in the kitchen, only to find that the container was empty.  So I ran up the stairs to get some from the bathroom.  When I came down the stairs I was so focused on Autumn that I stepped right in the pee!  I looked up at my mom and said, "I stepped in it," as if to say, what do I do now, Mommy?  She started laughing and then I started laughing, which made her laugh more which wasn't good because she had just had surgery and it really hurt when she laughed, and trying not to laugh always makes me laugh more, which is what I did. She had to leave the room.

I should probably be a little more aggressive with the potty-training because one day last week I found poop on the carpet, the couch, the wall (in three places), the furry Elmo chair, Sheehan's favorite stuffed animal (and it wasn't his poop), streaked across the counter of the bathroom sink, and on the remote control. Once that was cleaned up, Josiah announced he had a bloody nose which dripped across the same bathroom sink, floor, and couch I had just cleaned.

Is anybody else out there a slacker potty-trainer like me?  Someone please say yes.  Because really, I think I'm the only one.  Did I miss a class on this or something? You'd think that with all my frugality that I would be more on top of this. But gosh, it's just so much work.

How the rest of us are doing.

Do you ever make a grilled cheese sandwich and forget the cheese? No?...um, me neither.  Last Monday the boys were to begin an all-day summer camp. I packed their swimsuits, towels, and lunches, applied sunscreen, lectured them on obedience to their counselor, and drove them to camp. When we got there it looked like the Wally World parking lot - empty. We were a week early.

I didn't cry...outwardly. But, I did take them home and yell at them to go in the backyard so I could have a temper tantrum in private. I threw my tantrum then apologized for yelling. I had a scheduled doctor appointment for Autumn that morning, so I had to drag the boys along at the last minute. They sat in the waiting room playing with toys while I took Autumn in to be examined. The first time I looked out they were playing nicely. But the second time, Josiah was laying on the floor across the doorway from the waiting room to the exam rooms like he was laying on pillows waiting for someone to put grapes in his mouth. When he saw me he said, “I'm soooo bored. When are we going? Can I have something to eat?”

And therefore, I find myself staying home a lot. Mostly to avoid public humiliation. So I came up with a list of a few benefits of being a hermit:

1. Nobody ever sees how really out of control your kids are.
2. You can catch up on all those episodes you missed of Project Runway.
3. Vitamin D gummies taste like candy.
4. You never get sunburned. Besides, the sunken eye look is in this season.  Like, sunken eye is the new black.
5. It's easier to focus on your narcissism. Nothing helps you think more about yourself than being alone.
6. You don't have to have a heated argument with that other mom at the McDonald's Playplace about whose kid is the bigger bully, especially when you get home and find out that it was indeed your kid that pulled the first punch.

I've had a twitch in my right eye for the past three weeks. Lack of sleep? (blasted Olympics!) or maybe stress? So if I'm shockingly out of my house and you see me, I promise I'm not winking. It's either from the lack of sunlight from my hibernation or it's my eye twitch.

I no longer where earrings. Somebody stole all of them. And the culprit wasn't Steve, Sheehan, or Josiah.

Josiah and Autumn are getting along very well. Josiah tackles her and she screams. Then she takes off with his toys, laughing, and he screams. The other night Josiah was dressing Autumn up in her dress-up clothes and was bringing her downstairs and presenting her to us as the Queen. A few minutes later he came down wearing Autumn's ducky one-piece bathing suit. Uh...

Sheehan is still the Hall House police officer even when mom and dad are present. He reminds us of the rules, about every six nanoseconds, that she is breaking or he thinks we are letting her break.

Steve has found a new level of work/life balance since time at both places are equally stressful and exhausting. He's stopped trying to find peace and solace at either location and is simply cherishing his 25 minute commute with his Ipod. Which is why he wants to move to Galena (three hours away).

So overall, things are getting easier...but my expectations are getting higher, so really we're in the same boat as two months ago.

Cheers!

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The Freedom of Limitations

This morning, during my quiet time, I was confronted with the ugliness of some sin I've been letting fester and how it's been hurting me and others.  

Photo: Steve Hall

I felt sad and embarrassed. I wanted to hide in my house and shut off communication with the world until I was fixed and free of the sin.  

But before I was able to gather enough water and canned goods to survive an extended period hunkered down in my basement, God reminded me that recognizing my sin is the beginning of change.

That's when, instead of beating myself up, thinking I should be able to fix myself or not sin without His intervention, I need to ask Him to help me change.  I need to recognize that I sinned, ask for forgiveness, and acknowledge that I can't do it on my own - I can't change without Him.  Peter wasn't even strong enough to not deny Jesus three times, even with all his confidence and hanging with Jesus in the physical sense.

On the surface, it sounds depressing to think that I can't make myself more righteous by anything I do.  The only thing I can do is cling to Jesus.  He's my only hope.  It forces me to realize how small I am, how little power I have.  I walk along thinking I'm Napoleon, but then realize I'm only an infant, incapable of doing much other than peeing and pooping, and depending on my Father for everything else.  It's hard.  It's hard to be confronted with your smallness.

But it's also freeing.  I'm free from the working, the trying hard, the comparing, the earning, and the striving.  I can relax in my Father's arms and let him do the work in me.  He transforms my heart and my desire for that sin lessens.

What "freedom moments" has God revealed for you recently?



Linking up with A Little R&R.

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What Are You Afraid Of?

The Ever-Popular
Slug Mating Ritual
Image: FCPS.edu

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 2: Three legitimate fears and how I got them:

1.  Slugs

As a child I prayed, God, please remove all slugs from the earth.  Apparently, He honored that prayer...kind of.  He moved me to a part of the country where they don't exist - or at least I haven't seen them.  I've detested them since that one evening my friend, Dana, and I were out in her back yard playing on her retaining wall.  I laid my hand on the wall and felt a wet slimy bump spread out under the pressure of it.  I shined my flashlight on the wall only to find 20 three-inch long slugs stuck along the top and sides like leeches sucking on a person's leg.  I ran inside the house screaming.

From then on, I had visions of slugs waiting to hitch rides on my back and suck the life out of me.  Never mind that they only eat plants.  I figured I would be attacked by the lone mutant and be found dead next to a damp wall somewhere, paper white and shriveled.  The thought of having one near me scares the crap out of me.

2.  My husband's driving

Steve is known to enjoy beautiful scenery.  So much so that on a trip to Alaska 12 years ago, while gazing at the majestic snow-capped mountains, he veered into the neighboring lane of oncoming traffic.  When he looked forward again, a car was coming at us blaring it's horn.  He quickly steered back into our lane, but not without forcing us to make a pit stop so I could change my pants.

Steve is just curious about things going on outside the car. It's not uncommon to find our car running over a curb or crossing a yellow line a few times a month.  Therefore it only makes sense that I would either fear for my life or always stay alert.  Like when he turns his head at a 90 degree angle to have a conversation with me while tailgating a 1984 Cadillac Seville at 50 miles per hour.  Who's watching the road?  I am.  So if a deer jumps out or a buffalo, or granny suddenly stops to turn in for an early bird special, I can scream, and he'll immediately slam his arm across my chest and screech to an immediate halt.  It's a team effort.  

Admittedly, he may have a slightly different perspective on his driving.  But...whatever.

What Steve looks like when he's driving.

3.  Roller coasters

You could not pay me enough money to get on a roller coaster.  Seriously, I think I'd die of fright or a heart attack just from the anticipation of the click, click, click, going up the first hill.  Unless, of course, its Spacely's Sprocket Rocket in the kid's area at Great America.  That one I can handle.  

Spacely's Sprocket Rocket
Image: Theme Park Review

But, honestly, the real horror at Great America is when you're excited to have three free tickets and you think how that's a savings of at least $120, but then you still spend $220 on two tickets, parking, and food with prices that rob your wallet.  And don't forget the $15 locker that could hold a small child, but you only need it for your Razr phone and credit card while you're standing in the 30 minute line, where your sons are invading the personal space of the bikini-clad college girl in front of you with their incessant fighting and knocking each other over into her rear end.  All this so you can spend five minutes, being shoved and splashed by foul-mouthed 12-year olds, on your lazy river raft, while one of your children is screaming off and on and off and on the entire float because he has something (maybe water?) in his left eye.  

But this is actually good compared to where you are two hours later.   Standing in a 45 minute line in 90 degree heat to take a two minute ride that gets your socks and shoes soaked, so when you walk you squish water out the sides of your Asics for the rest of the day, only to find that when you peel the soggy foot sweaters off your feet that night, your toes are white and have been rubbed raw.  The blood stains on your socks are from the water park pool floors which are made of something akin to crushed glass.  All of this after getting only four and a half hours of sleep because you stayed up until 2am watching designers make dresses out of Jordan almonds and gummi sharks on Project Runway.  

Please remind me never to do that again...like I did last Friday.  That is the real horror.

So what are you afraid of?  Leave your fears in a comment.

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Does This Make Me a Narcissist? (Blog Challenge Day 1)

Today is the first day of my 30 Day Blog Challenge. Does doing a blog challenge where I talk about myself for 30 days make me a narcissist?  Probably.  But really isn't that what I'm doing on my blog anyway?  So why I hesitated to do this challenge, I'm not sure.

I got the idea from Claudia over at Lashes + Beard. Her posts during this challenge have been a lot of fun to read, so that made me want to do it.  I'd love to have you participate by commenting with your answers to the daily topic.  I'll comment back. If you have a blog and want to do the challenge along with me, let me know and I'll put your blog link in my sidebar. To see the entire list go to the tab at the top of my page marked “Blog Challenge Daily List.”

Oh, and I probably won't be doing this daily. It will probably take me at least three months to complete this with other stuff thrown in between. I'm more of a two to three posts per week blogger.

Here we go...

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 1: List 10 random facts about yourself.

1. I rocked the cover of a magazine.
   
   
   

    

   
   That's me, age 5. Look at me work that camera. Raw emotion. And yes, I had had enough...enough of that woman taking my picture. I just wanted to eat pizza. My parent's realtor offered to take photos of me because she was a photographer or something and then went and put my photo on the cover of her cult's magazine. My parents freaked out and the magazine printed a retraction the following month. But the damage was done. No matter that the magazine had a circulation the same size as my blog - I was a star.


2. I've never had a cavity...just four root canals. And the lack of cavities has absolutely nothing to do with how well I brushed as a child. I recall a few months or maybe a year going without brushing my teeth. I would go into the bathroom, run the water, and then swish with Scope. It was yummy and minty fresh!  Didn't every kid do that?
   
   
3. I'm a winner. You know how people say, “I never win anything, whine, whine, more whine”? Not me. I win things all the time.  Here's a list of some things I've won:
   • Black cat cake in 2^nd grade Halloween cake walk
   • Giant bag of peanuts (5^th grade)
   • Tuxedo for my prom date – which turned out to be an awesome bribery tool to convince a guy to go with me.
   • ROTC coffee mug - everybody in ROTC was mad I won because I wasn't even in ROTC
   • Ohio University pull-over jacket - okay, that one I cheated on, but I did eventually feel guilty enough to give it to my boyfriend to justify my stealing.
   • And it's not just me. Winning runs in my family. My sister won the Baby Got Back video on VHS and a t-shirt because she knew Bill Cosby was color-blind. Sorry if you never win anything.  It's fun.
   
   
4. I can juggle. I learned how to juggle in my 10^th grade English class. Our English teacher, Mr. Sarsfield, used to be a clown. So he taught us how to juggle. I couldn't tell you a single thing about Greek mythology...or great literature, for that matter, but I can juggle. And which one impresses people more at a party...or anywhere? Juggling.
   
   
5. I can blow bubbles off my tongue. It took me a while to master this skill, but with a little orange juice to get the saliva to just the right sticky consistency, I can add this talent to my bag of party tricks.
   
   
6. Top it off with the fact that I can make my tongue into the shape of a three leaf clover, and Kate = Life of Party. My talents are endless.
   
   

   

   I got a cramp in my tongue when I posed for this.

   
   
7. I became a Jesus follower through a book I found in a toy box as a teen. I was at a low point in a melodramatic, angsty, nobody loves me, everybody hates me, teen kind of way and I was cleaning out my sister's toy box because we were preparing to sell our house. I found a book called Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately? I looked around the room, and thought, okay, who read my mind? Hello. Jesus did. The book was all about Jesus, and it changed my life.
   
   
8. I met my husband at a job interview. I got the job...and my man.
   
   
9. Until three years ago, I thought “Manwich” was “Mamwich”. You know, like your mammy made you a sandwich. I also thought that Chester drawers was a brand of dressers rather than a unit of measure. And I pronounced Econo Lodge as Ek-ah-no Lodge.
   
   
10. I'm addicted to Chapstick. Okay, anyone who's spent longer than 20 minutes in my presence knows this because that's about how often I reapply. I started making my own because I began to think about how much Chapstick I was consuming and who knows what chemicals are in there. This video tutorial at Ponderthepath.com taught me how to make all-natural lip balm that I actually like.

So that concludes Day 1 of the challenge. Leave a comment with some random facts about yourself.  And for those of you who know me personally, were there any you didn't know about?  

Next challenge: Describe three legitimate fears you have and how they became fears.

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