7 Random Things

Once again, I've been tagged (thanks, Hipchick) to give 7 random things about myself. So here they are:

1. I love to bake, so every year I prepare to make dozens of Christmas cookies, and every year I get sick of doing it before the task is completed. Big thanks to Trouble for her help in the cookie endeavor this year. It's so good to have her home for the holidays!!

2. Sadly, I appear to be having blood sugar issues again. My family has a huge history of diabetes and I've had problems in the past with my blood sugar (although I've never been formally diagnosed as diabetic - I take it that I'm like my mom and "borderline" depending on stress, health, etc.)

3. I've always been overweight and always felt is was a problem. I've been on a number of diets and "programs" but none have ever stuck for very long for a variety of reasons. Now that I'm getting older and having more problems, the time may be here to REALLY do something about it. I just don't know how to find the motivation that will make it stick (but I'm open to ideas).

4. I LOVE Christmas - the music, shopping, decorations, food, and the way people tend to do more nice things for each other this time of year always brings me joy. Since my dad died 6 years ago 2 days before Christmas, that joy seems to have a shadow and I sometimes wonder if that's ok.

5. My favorite color is purple, especially a dark, rich eggplant kind of hue. Trouble's favorite color is orange and I find that no matter what hues we work with, there's not a good way to make orange and purple look good together. Good thing we're both willing to compromise with other colors in our house!

6. My wedding day was definitely one of the happiest days of my life. It was sunny, we were outside in a beautiful public park surrounded by roses that a friend had actually tended and most of my close friends and family were present. Someday I hope to have a renewal of vows that makes this marriage legally mean something.

7. I'm getting commissioned as a Deaconess in the United Methodist Church this spring, if all of my paperwork and final process stuff goes through ok. Part of me is very excited and part of me wonders if that's really what I need and want to do with my life.

These were probably more deep and serious than was originally intended - sorry about that! Now to pass it along, I tag Big Unit, Rachael, Rachel, and Scott Sharp (mostly to see if you guys will actually post!).

OMG - I actually hugged Emily Saliers!!

Yesterday was Trouble's birthday, and I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to detract from her blog, but her big birthday gift from me was that we went to the Indigo Girls concert here in KC. They just happened to be playing on her actual birthday - how cool is that? But to make it even cooler, I was browsing their website one day and found this little blurb about them starting a Green Team. They were looking for fans to pick up their recyclables after the show and take them to a local recycling center so that their tour could be a little more eco-friendly. As a thank you, whoever volunteered to do this would get free tickets to the show or some other token of appreciation. I sent an email figuring someone from KC would have already jumped on it since the concert was only a month away and tickets had been on sale a while, but a week and half ago I got an email asking if I still wanted to do it. HOW COOL IS THAT?? Since we already had tickets to the show, they gave us backstage passes and right after the concert we got to meet Amy and Emily. There were other people in line waiting for the After Show stuff, but we were specifically called up by ourselves. Trouble and I were already giddy (the concert was absolutely AWESOME and we were only 4 people back from the stage) when we went upstairs to meet with them. We got our picture taken with them (to be seen later when we have our home computer hooked up again after the move) and chatted for a couple of minutes before they told us they already recycled their stuff and there wasn't anything we had to do. Trouble insists it was the best birthday EVER (I had to do something good to repay her for my big 30th bday surprise party a couple of years ago).

I'm still kind of amazed that I actually had the opportunity to talk with them, but didn't ask them any of the millions of questions I had or gush about how great they were. I was so worried about not coming off as a crazed fan, I don't know if I said much of anything (other than making a joke that Amy didn't break a string - which looking back on it, seems lame). I know they're just people - and they're definitely laid back and not as "famous" and some other celebrity types - so why did I get so dumbstruck?? What is it about people who are famous that gets the rest of us all in a tizzy? I don't know - I just thought it was interesting that when we walked out of there last night, I felt like a jubilant little kid on Christmas morning. I honestly expected to get a signed photograph or something - not to actually meet them. I knew it was a big moment for Trouble, and was surprised at how much it affected me too. Guess I'm just another fan after all.

Friday Fun Stuff

You Should Try Kite Surfing

Surfing to the extreme! Catch some air, but don't get carried off!

What Extreme Sport Should You Try?

You know, I really have wanted to try this - if only I had some vacation time and place to go...

What kind of pie are you?

You Are Mud Pie

You're the perfect combo of flavor and depth Those who like you give into their impulses

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Diversionary tactics

My last attempt to get my mind off of my own troubles was a little on the heavy side. This blog entry, not so much. I thought it might be fun to share our favorite "fooling around" on the internet spots - places we go when we need to get our minds off of other things or just kill time. Below are some of my favorites, but I'd love to hear some of yours! And before anyone else mentions it, I have not included YouTube or other such video sites due to the fact that I still operate on dial-up and it takes forever to download video clips. I know, someday I need to upgrade and join the rest of the industrialized world, but I also don't have cable tv and don't like the idea of spending the money to get either/both.

1. MuffinFilms an interesting animated collection devoted to the goodness that is those delectable baked treats. Especially check out "the muffin tree" which is a take off on "the giving tree" which is a popular story from my childhood -- but really they are all quite entertaining!

2. Sudoku - this particular site offers games at varying levels and times your work so that you can compete with others or just with yourself.

3. Yahoo! games - variety of games, many free on the web. I particularly enjoy the puzzle games (especially Shape Shifter) and arcade games (like Zuma, which was a popular diversion in the class rooms of SPST for a while).

4. Northern Sun - a very fun website/store to browse lots of tshirt designs, bumperstickers, buttons, posters, etc. with a progressive mindset (BigUnit may want to avoid). Even if you don't buy anything, you can come up with great new slogans for your signature line on your email! :)

5. Johari window - This is where you can contribute to mine, as well as make one for yourself. There's also the "darker" nohari window which basically takes the same concept and flips it around. I know these went around via email a while ago, but also know that not everyone chose to participate for whatever reason. I'm all about giving more opportunities. Plus I'm a big fan of self awareness and diagnostic tools.

So those are the ones I feel like sharing at the moment. Looking forward to seeing what recommendations you add to that conversation....