a year of happy

ten random things about me

One of the great things
about blogging is
becoming part of a wonderful
virtual community of friends.

Sometimes, I feel like we're
sitting around a table at Chili's
eating Molten Chocolate Cake
and talking and laughing
until they finally kick us out
because they want to
sweep under our table
and go home for the night!

But in reality,
we're sitting at home,
in front of our computer screens
and leaving comments on each others' blogs.

We're in countries all over the world,
from Norway to Australia,
and all across the U.S.

But we're still talking and laughing
and getting to know each other better,
just as well as if we really were
sitting around that table in Chili's!

So today let's imagine we're there.

Here's your Molten Chocolate Cake....

So have a bite, and let's chat!
To start things off,
I'm going to tell you
ten random things about me.

And then I hope you'll take a minute,
and tell me just ONE random thing about you.
Really, just one!

If you're new here,
or if you usually don't make a comment,
please just pop in and say hi!

I'd love to get to know you!

So here we go....

Ten Random Things About Me

1. I love crab legs. Dipped in butter. I rarely get to eat them, but they are my most favorite food, ever.
   .
2. Almost thirty years ago, when I was first working as an oral surgeon's assistant, I helped pull the tooth of a grizzly bear. In his cage. With my hands in his mouth. Seriously.
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3. I love to travel. My dream trip is to go to Italy, but I don't want to go until I've learned to take really great pictures.
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4. I like to write. But I don't think I'll ever be able to write good fiction, because I hate conflict. And no conflict makes for a really boring story.
   .
5. I have a pet peeve. I hate it when someone sees a good movie or reads a good book and then tells me everything about it. If you do that to me, you'll probably see my eyes glaze over...and I might even start twitching. You have been warned!
   .
6. I hate to fold socks. This stems from the days when our little dog would take socks and hide them in the garden or other odd places. There never seemed to be matching pairs. Those days are gone, but I still hate to fold socks.
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7. I love to play the piano. When I'm frustrated or in a bad mood, all those emotions can come out through my fingertips onto the keys and then just disappear. It's music therapy!
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8. I love to wear jeans. I wear jeans everyday.
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9. My favorite room in my house is my office. When my daughter got married, I took over her room--I painted the walls this wonderful shade of green, and I bought myself a desk and chair and even some bookshelves. And for Christmas a year ago, I got my very own computer. That I don't have to share with anybody. Perfect.
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10. I'm allergic to mold. I found out the hard way. Yuck.
    ,
    .

Now it's your turn!
Please take a minute
and tell me just one
random thing about you!

on being a morning person

Morning in El Salvador by "A", my 17 year old son

..
List 8: What I Love About Morning

• the sounds of the early birds outside my window, especially when it's warm enough to sleep with the window open.
• watching the sunrise.
• being up before anyone else. ("D" is more of a morning person than me, so I rarely beat him up. But still. I used to love getting up before my kids...I'd try to quietly ease out of bed in hopes that I could do it without waking them up!)
• quiet streets.
• getting an early start. (Anything you get done before breakfast feels like a win!)
• waking up early enough to read in bed.
• hearing the murmurs of groups of women walking early on a cool summer morning. 
• watching the world wake up.
• on a clear day, that band of pink and blue that rings the horizon at dawn.

Why do I have mornings on my mind? This week our theme for Team Up Thursday is "Morning". How do you say morning with just one photo? Check back tomorrow to see how I say it in Utah and Arizaphale says it in Australia!

Are you a morning person?
What do you love about mornings?

a saying for every occasion

"D's" Grandma Brown
is legendary for her
traditional sayings
that have been passed down
through the generations.

Her daughters remember them all
and they use them too.
It seems like for every occasion,
there's an old adage to go with it!





For instance, if a couple got married
who didn't seem well-matched,
Grandma Brown might say,
"She probably
married him
to get rid of him!"
Or:
"There's a Jack for every Jill."
Or even:
"She jumped over
all of the daisies
and landed in a cow pie!"

She had sayings
to go with housework too.
When her children were playing
when there was work to be done,
she'd say,
"This and better might do,
but this and worse will never do."

And if one of her children
tried to take a short-cut on chores,
and had to come back to do it again?
"Lazy people always
have to work the hardest."

For today's list,
I'm going to give you
a whole slew of
Grandma Brown's sayings.

We'll call it:

List 7: Grandma Brown's
Sayings for Every Occasion

• A stitch in time saves nine.
  .
  
• That's the pot calling the kettle black.
  .
  
• Pretty is as pretty does.
  .
  
• What doesn't fatten helps to fill.
  .
  
• There is no disgrace in honest labor.
  .
  
• Birds of a feather flock together.
  .
  
• There is no use crying over spilled milk.
  .
• No use closing the barn door after the horse is out.
  .
  
• Kids and fools should never see anything until it is finished.
  .
  
• It's not what you want that makes you fat, its what you get.
  .
  
• Waste not; want not.
  .
  

I'm sure you've heard
some old sayings
that aren't on my list.
Please share--
I'm sure Grandma Brown
probably said it
at one time or another!

ten things to do if you come to visit--or even if you live here

There are probably
at least a dozen travel books
that could tell you what you should do
when you visit Utah.

But wouldn't you rather hear it
from someone who lives here?

So here's my list:

List 5: Ten Things to Do in Utah
If You Come To Visit
(or Even If You Live Here)

1. Visit a National Park. Utah has amazing scenery of all kinds--and a National Park for everyone! Like Arches, Capitol Reef, Zion's, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and more--I haven't even been to them all.
   
   
   
   
2. Have a root beer freeze with french fries and fry sauce, a Utah delicacy!
   .
   
3. Try speed skating at the Utah Olympic Oval, or if you're really brave, try the luge at Utah Olympic Park.
   ..
4. Go for a bike ride up (or is it down?) Gravity Hill in Salt Lake City. A few blocks northeast of the Capitol building, there is a small road that goes around a park in lower City Creek Canyon called Memory Grove. It seems like you are going downhill when you are actually going up!
   .
5. Go for a hike in the High Uintahs. Have you ever hiked above 10,000 feet? This is what you might see--it's beautiful!
   .
   
   
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6. Go for a walk in The Avenues of Salt Lake City.
   
   
   
   
7. Visit the famous Temple Square and attend a Thursday night practice session of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
   .
   
   
   
   
   
   
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   .
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8. Hike Mt. Timpanogos (in the summer).
   
   
   
   
9. Go to Smart Cookie for frozen hot chocolate.
   .
10. Go to Lavell Edwards Stadium and take in a BYU football game--go Cougars!
    .

.

.

Okay, now it's your turn!
Tell me three things
I should do if I visit you!

remembering 1979

 

Today I sat down
and listened to some music
with my 17 year old son
who will graduate
from high school
in a couple of months.

We listened to his IPod
and he played the guitar
along with some of his favorite bands.

Believe me,
I really enjoyed the moment.
Times like that
with a teenager can be rare!

It also made me think about
what life was like
the year I graduated from high school.
That was way back in 1979.





So for today's Wednesday list,
I'm going to tell you
some of the things I was doing
the year I graduated from high school.


List 4: What I was doing in 1979

• I was listening to the BeeGees on my Walkman cassette tape player.
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• I was cheering at basketball games in my red quilted corduroy jumper with the pep band playing Hawaii 5-0 and Sweet Caroline.
  .
• I was reading "Gone with the Wind" for the seventh time.
  .
• I was singing along with The Commodores to "Three Times a Lady."
  .
• I was so excited that we got a microwave.
  .
• I was also excited that our town got its first McDonald's.
  .
• I was wearing cowl neck sweaters, Saddleback jeans, mood rings, Gunne Sax dresses, Love's Lemon Fresh perfume, and a battery-powered t-shirt that lit up and said "Boogie".
  .
• I was exercising in a pair of long rubber pants that promised to make you sweat off ALL the extra weight!
  .
• I was watching Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Dallas. 
  .
• I put smiley face stickers on everything.
  ..
• I was sleeping on a waterbed.
  .
• My best friend and I were trying to raise sea monkeys.
  ..
• And...I was making sure my hair was puffy enough, had enough hairspray, and was exactly the same on both sides.

...

What were you doing
the year you graduated
from high school? 

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.

5 times on the road to hana

 

I'm not famous for much.

But I'm famous
(in circles that matter)
for all the places
throughout the world
that I've thrown up.

In fact, I've become
something
of a family joke.
And people are
just a tiny bit nervous
to travel with me.

So in a totally happy,
positive, and optimistic
sort of way,

for this week's Wednesday list,
I'm listing
all the places
in this whole wide world
(at least the ones
I can remember)
that I've thrown up.


We'll call it
List 3:

Five Times on the Road to Hana
and all the other places
in this world
where I've lost my lunch.

1. Utah (Behind a dumpster. Pregnant and I forgot my bowl.)
2. Utah (Coming down the canyon from Sundance. Again, pregnant.)
3. Utah (At work. Yes, again, 9 month morning sickness.)
4. Utah (every house I've lived in, every pregnancy.)
5. Utah (okay...there's a list a mile long of all the places in this state.)
6. Idaho (Rexburg, the last time I ate Bit o Honey candy bars.)
7. Idaho (Boise. I think.)
8. Idaho (In the hall at Lincoln Elementary. So embarrassing.)
9. California (Somewhere between LA and San Diego, with Huey Lewis playing in the background...)
10. Washington (Expo '74, at the World's Fair, in a motor home. Poor family.)
11. Hawaii (Maui, that twisty, turny, winding road to Hana. 5 times to be exact. Do they have a t-shirt for that?)
12. Mexico (Cancun. A whole vacation's worth. See that pretty picture up there? That's about all I saw of Cancun. Throwing up with a beautiful view.)
13. Taiwan (Hsinchu--after eating some weird fish thingy.)
14. Taiwan (Hualien--after eating at a traditional Taiwanese wedding.)

There could be more...
oh I'm sure there is.
But that gives me:

• three countries
• two islands
• and five states.
  
  

And just for the record,
I've made it
through two Central American trips
without throwing up!
Dare I try
for a third?!

___________________________

What are you famous for?

facebook: a teenager's virtual playground

I sat down with
my seventeen-year-old son
the other night
to make this week's
Wednesday list.

He has been telling me
about all the groups
on Facebook
that teenagers love.

These groups have
hundreds and thousands of fans.
And the biggest reason is
that they are so hilarious!

"A" helped me
make a list of these groups
so that I could share them with you.


List 2: Facebook Groups that Crack Me Up

1. I redo high fives if they weren't good enough the first time.
   2,597,383 fans
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2. Walking the wrong way on escalators.
   939,925 fans
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3. Flipping the pillow over to get the cold side.
   3,415,345 fans
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4. I hate that Sunday night "school the next day" feeling.
   1,474,034 fans
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5. My room is not messy, it's just an obstacle course designed to keep me fit.
   41,951 fans
   .
6. I wish music played during epic moments of my life and not just in movies.
   2,195,231 fans
   .
7. Don't complain about grading 150 essays over the weekend, you assigned it.
   16,535 fans
   .
8. Trying not to answer your parents with sarcasm when they ask dumb questions.
   5,190 fans
   .
9. It's funny how sitting boy girl boy girl used to be a punishment.
   697 fans
   .
10. I eat too many chips at Mexican restaurants and get full before my food comes.
    13,292 fans
    
    
    
    Are you making a list today?
    
    Leave a link
    in the comments
    so we can check it out!
    
    
    
    
    

all in a life's work

Yesterday, I told you
about my penchant for
making lists.

Today, I'm starting
Week 1 of the Wednesday Lists. 

List 1:: My Jobs - 15 to (almost) 50

• janitor
  .
• potato harvest combine worker
  .
• bookstore sales clerk
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• clothing store sales clerk
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• reading tutor
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• wedding announcement proofreader
  ,
• oral surgeon's assistant (still do occasionally)
  ,
• secretary
  .
• full time homemaker and mother (still do!) (everything else on this list, I have done as a stay-at-home mother.)
  .
• typist for college students
  .
• hair bow maker
  .
• editor and proofreader (still do)
  .
• data entry clerk
  .
• piano teacher
  .
• freelance writer (doing now)
  
  
  
  

My least favorite job?
Potato harvest combine worker.

My favorites?
Oral surgeon's assistant
and freelance writer.

Shortest job?
Wedding announcement proofreader
1 day
I didn't dare
walk home at midnight
every night.

Longest job?
Oral surgeon's assistant --
if you count the 18 years
in between when I stopped
working to stay home with my kids
and when I started again!

_________________________

What about you?

What's kept you busy
all these years? 

And what
has been your favorite?

_____________________

One of my photos
is being featured today
as the group photo
for the One Hundred Photos Project!
Check it out here!

confessions of a list maker

.

I am a list maker.

 

I love making lists.
I like the feeling of control
a good list gives me.

I like using a colored pencil
to check off each item
when it is done.

I like the sense of accomplishment
I get when I get to the bottom of
a really long to-do list.

I have been known
to make all sorts of lists.

Grocery lists
To-do lists
Packing lists
Christmas lists
Gift return lists
Blog idea lists
Homework lists
Job lists
Lists of lists...

Some of my lists
have become very complex.

When life gets really busy,
I make lists with
several columns,
like:

To-do at home
To-do shopping
To-do for work
To-do for kids
To-do for Church

It's always a great feeling
when I get done with that list!

I hate it
when I lose my list.

So sometimes
I'll make my list
on my Ipod.
That list is not going anywhere!

My friend Relyn
also loves lists,
and she shared a great idea...
a series of 52 lists.
One a week for a year.
Sounds fun, doesn't it?

If you are a list maker,
you should join us!

You know you are a list maker
if you answer yes to
any of the following questions.

1. Do you carry a notebook around just to write lists in?
2. Do you write items on your to do list that you've already completed just for the thrill of marking it off?
3. Do you currently have at least three different lists going?

I answered yes to all three!

Tomorrow will be my first list:
A List of Jobs: 15 to (almost) 50.

Are you a list maker?
What's on your list today?

______________________________

Have you read
my Life Changing Moments Series?

1. Life Changing
   
2. An Open Heart Experiment
3. I Heard It on the Radio
4. New Normal
5. My Brother's Keeper

.
If you haven't,
you might want to take a look...
then later this week,
I'll tell you
what I've learned about
CHANGE
from my life changing moments!

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