share your world – week #24

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share your world

Welcome to Tuesday, a fresh new start. Praise Ceiling Cat. Since nothing much interesting has happened yet this morning, other than a 20 minute walk (yay!), I think it’s safe to post my entry for Cee’s Share Your World question thingy.

What’s your favorite charitable cause and why? I’m not sure if I have a favorite one, though I am more inclined to donate to the local homeless and women’s shelters than just about anything else. Because they are local, and run by folks here, I know that my contributions stay in our community and help people I may well know.

What color do you feel most comfortable wearing? I wear most any color, though I do tend to gravitate towards black pants and purple tops, especially for work clothes. I will say that I seem to prefer wearing solid color tops and then getting my color in with bright funky jewelry.

If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? (guest can be dead, alive, famous or someone you just know) Robert A. Heinlein (my favorite sci-fi author, dead), Weird Al (I think he is cool as fuck), and my dad (I want to see how he’s enjoying the afterlife).

List:  What are at least five places you’ve enjoyed visiting? Oh boy…

1. South Padre Island, TX – the time I went over spring break as a kid and we stayed at my grandparents’ winter condo and celebrated my birthday.
2. Winter Park, CO – Rob and I went out and met some of his family for a long weekend for my birthday the one year. Snowmobiling was involved as was shopping at some of the coolest little places ever.
3. Orlando, FL – Josh and I took the kid to Disney and Universal Studios a few years ago. If Josh hadn’t spent most of the nights drunk it would have been an amazing trip.
4. Minneapolis, MN – Rob and I spent a week up there. We saw Cirque du Soleil, took a boat ride through a canal, and went to lots of yarn shops. It was awesome.
5. Belize – My first husband was born there to ex-patriots and his dad still lived there. It was beautiful. We spent a little time on one of the islands and went snorkeling, hiked in the rainforest and played in waterfalls, and got to see animals in the wild that I’ve only ever seen in zoos. However, his dad lived in the middle of the bush and had no modern plumbing and I was having my monthly visitor. So that part utterly sucked.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? I’m grateful that the class I taught went really well and was well received. This week I am looking forward to trying some new recipes and hopefully losing a little weight.

how much crap can we shove into one post? LOADS of it!

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lipton plunge, love/hate, random shit that falls out of my brain, share your world

I wouldn’t normally do this, but I have a little time right now and I want to get all of these posts in so I’m just going to do it and put them all together.

Share Your World, Week 23

For your blog do you basically use Mac or Windows applications.  What type of device laptop, desktop,tablet, phone or pad? I pretty well always use a Windows machine. At work it’s a desktop and at home it’s a laptop. I do have the WordPress app on my iPad and my phone, but I tend to only use it to check notifications. I just can’t really type worth a shit on anything that doesn’t have a keyboard big enough for both hands at once.

If you were to treat yourself to the “finer things” what would you treat yourself to? In all honesty, I have pretty simple tastes so when I feel like I need to be pampered it isn’t expensive and I tend to just go for it. My two biggest splurges most of the time are getting my hair colored/highlighted and pedicures.

Can you change a car tire? I know how to but it’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve needed to.

Love / Hate – tagged by the Indecisive Eejit

Love

1. My mom
2. Interesting jewelry
3. Nutella Pie
4. Comfortable sandals
5. Sugar skulls
6. Making things with my hands (drawing, knitting, crocheting, Legos, making jewelry)
7. Warren Zevon
8. Coconut oil (as a moisturizer)
9. Learning new things
10. Lilacs

Hate

1. People who think it’s any of their business whether another person prefers to have an appropriate intimate relationship with someone of the same gender
2. Lima beans
3. People who think it’s ok to abuse other people, children, or animals
4. People who litter. If you’re going to smoke in your car buy a fucking ashtray and then use it.
5. People who prefer to pass the buck rather than assume personal responsibility when they know damn good and well it’s their own fucking fault.
6. The smell of Josh’s coffee when it’s brewing. Smells like rabbit shit.
7. How trashed sandals seem to make my heels
8. Feeling helpless
9. People who discount how much of a struggle living with a mental illness really is
10. My first ex-husband

The Lipton Plunge, taken from Their Own Manner of Devotion

What is your favorite word? Fuck
What is your least favorite word? Retarded
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? I find inspiration almost everywhere. Interesting use of color, shape, juxtaposition. Spiritually I find that being open to new ideas about the cosmos and what’s shaped it are quite appealing. Emotionally I look for people who aren’t afraid or ashamed to express their emotions but aren’t overly aggressive either.
What turns you off? Aggression, abuse of any kind, people who are convinced they’re right even when faced with evidence that proves them wrong, and people who are rude.
What is your favorite curse word? Fuck
What sound or noise do you love? My nieces laughing
What sound or noise do you hate? Angry yelling
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I think maybe website designer. Right now I know just enough to be dangerous, but I would definitely like to learn more.
What profession would you not like to do? Anything in the medical profession. I don’t have the right temperament for it, though I have a ton of admiration for those who do.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? “You never did pay attention, Erin. The bus to Hell is over there. Your friends are waiting.”

share your world – week #22

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share your world

Sadly I have just realized that I totally blew by without doing this last week. I might suck a little. Anyway, here is this week’s entry for Cee’s Share Your World prompts. Enjoy!

Complete this sentence:  Never In My Life Have I…. 

Lived farther from my childhood home than a 30 minute drive. I’ve done a fair bit of traveling in my time but I’ve never liked anywhere else enough to move a great distance from here.

Complete this sentence:  My neighbour wants me to help her…..

We aren’t actually tight with our neighbors, but one of my co-workers who is a friend lives in the next subdivision to the north of us and will be borrowing my card table and chairs this weekend for a graduation party that Josh and I are attending. I’m looking forward to it.

Complete this sentence:  When I was little I wanted…

To be a teacher, and that’s really what I am. I’m a lot of other things as well, but I do teach training sessions and when I’m doing consultations with the faculty those are basically mini training sessions. I love it and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Complete this sentence:  Will you come here to…

Let me give you a hug, feed you a home cooked meal, watch a movie together, talk about our projects, show me how to draw a better looking rose, tell you how good you look in that shirt…

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was incredibly grateful to find out that Josh is a candidate for the surgery and that the doc thinks it would be helpful. Knowledge is a powerful thing. This week I am looking forward to the appointment with the dermatologist to see if there is anything we can do short of the surgery that would bring him relief. I’m also anticipating making good progress on both my weekly goals and the 28 Day Challenge.

share your world – week #20

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share your world

It’s that time again, my answers to Cee’s questions for Share Your World, week #20.

What is the most important thing that you ever learned? (I bet it’s not something you learned in school)

That I’m a hell of a longer stronger than I ever thought. I can do absolutely anything I want if I’m willing to work for it.

What feeds your enthusiasm for life? 

My family, my friends, being able to create things with my hands. The creative thing is a big part of that. I thought I’d lost all of it when I started taking lithium, but it’s come back in a big way.

What’s your most memorable (good or bad) airplane commercial or private flight?

Good – flying in a very small plane from the mainland of Belize to one of the islands.

Bad – flying home from Belize (same trip), the leg that took us from New Orleans to here. My (then) husband spilled soda all over me.

If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?

The human mind. There’s so much we don’t know about how our brains work, and for someone with some fairly major brain issues I think it would be awesome to know more about what makes me tick.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful to get that fucking presentation done and over. I was also grateful that Josh didn’t end up in the hospital. This next week I’m hoping for life to maybe return to what passes as normal.

share your world – week #19

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share your world

Here are my answers to this week’s mini-themed Share Your World questions put on by the very talented and always lovely Cee.

Would you prefer a one floor house or multiple levels?

I live with Mom in the house I grew up in which was built in 1979. It’s a split level and that means, for those of you not familiar with the term, that it’s kind of as odd as it sounds. The “floor” you come in on is level with the garage and only consists of a small entry area. There are stairs leading down to the basement, but only 6 I think, and stairs leading up to the main floor, but again only about 6. On the main floor is the living room, kitchen, dining room, and a bathroom that my parents added later. Up another small flight of stairs from the living room are the 3 bedrooms and the 2 full bathrooms.

All of that to say, I’d really prefer living in a home that was all on one level.

If you have a TV, would you prefer the TV in the living room or another room?

There are TVs in damn near every room in our house. I tend to do most of my viewing in the dining room at dinner time. I could probably be quite content to not have one at all to be honest.

When you leave a room, do you turn the lights off behind you or keep the lights on throughout your house most of the time? Explain your answer.

I try to turn the lights and ceiling fans off if I won’t be back to that room within a few minutes. Electricity is expensive, and I enjoy the challenge of navigating in the dark. 😉

What’s your favorite room in your home?

Because I grew up there, and because none of it looks the same, I don’t know that I necessarily have a favorite room. I do like the way I’ve been able to setup the basement, I think it’s quite comfortable. If I absolutely had to pick it would be Mom’s office because my dad’s urn is in there.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful that the semester was officially over and that I got an A+ in my course. This week I’m looking forward to getting a pedicure with Mom on Saturday and seeing my nieces at their gymnastics performance.

share your world – week #18

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share your world

Welcome once again to Share Your World, the prompted post brought to us by the always lovely Cee.

What type of pets do you have or want?  Or do you not want pets?

I’ve always been more of a cat person. Currently in residence are Evie and Sissy, sisters from the same litter of kittens who were born in the bottom of my closet 16 years ago.

Sissy

Dr. Evie Cat prescribes two belly rubs and a box of bandaids

What was or is your favorite cartoon?

Back when cartoons were actually decent, Garfield was my favorite. I even had a little stuffed animal of him that I carted around for a long time.

When you’re alone at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?

It depends on how warm it is. I have a pair of fur lined clog slippers that I wear when it’s cold, slide on / open toed slippers for when it’s not as cold, and then I’ve been known to wear my cheap flip flops in the house in place of slippers. I prefer not to go completely barefoot for too long as it tends to hurt my feet and back. And I rarely wear socks unless it’s really cold.

Are you a traveler or a homebody? 

Day trips are awesome and short weekend drive trips are fine, but trips that involve an airplane also involve Xanax for me and that’s not that awesome.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful to get to spend the day with my 83 year old grandma on her birthday. She’s my only remaining grandparent, and cute as a button.

This week I’m looking forward to getting many craft projects done.

share your world – week #17

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share your world

I missed doing this last week, well, I missed doing a lot of things last week. But I’m back. So here are my answers for Cee’s Share Your World for week #17.

What is your most favorite smell/scent?

Lilacs, no doubt about it. We have a row of them growing along the entire length of the back yard. Mom planted them the first summer we were here, so that would have been in 1980. This is my favorite time of year because you just have to walk out there and inhale.

close up of one of the bushes right after a rain on 4/18

 

 

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself? 

I’ve had both and I actually seem to go in cycles with it. I like my hair really short or reasonably long. It’s that in-between shit that annoys me. The length my hair is now is really pretty nice because it’s still easy to take care of (what I love about short hair) but still long enough to afford a variety of style options.

this is about where I like it best – not too long and not too short

 

Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know?)

I am SO a planner. I don’t need to have every single detail planned down to the minute, but I like to have a reasonable idea of what I’m doing and where I’m going. And I find that having a plan usually makes it easier for me to be spontaneous, which likely makes no sense to anyone but me.

What is your favorite outdoor activity?

This year I am getting into gardening. I’ve made a few decisions about what to plant and where and I’ve been helping Mom take care of the plants. I’m really enjoying it. There’s just something very rewarding about seeing something you’ve nurtured grow and flourish.

small piece of the big flower bed in the backyard

 

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am extremely grateful that Mom and I were able to take our bus trip to Pella. I hadn’t realized just how much I needed a little time away. And because we were out of town there was no way for anyone to fuck up our fun.

This week I am looking forward to continued productivity. I woke up extra early today and have already been kicking ass and taking names. I’m going to try to keep that rolling.

Mom and I in Pella

share your world – week #15

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share your world

Bet you thought I’d forgotten again. HA! Here are my answers to Cee’s Share Your World Week #15.

Regarding your fridge, is it organized or a mess inside?

The fridges, both of them, are usually pretty organized. I tend to have most things in my life as organized as I can get them because chaos just cripples my brain. I like to know when I open the fridge to find something that it will be in approximately the same place every time, especially my big bottle of tea.

Have you ever been a participant in a parade? What did you do?

The high school I attended did a homecoming parade and I was in it all 4 years. Freshman year I was a Smurf with the French Club, sophomore year I was in the flag corps with the band, junior and senior years were back with French Club and saw me on roller skates the one and dressed as Jean Harlow for the other, complete with black patent leather pumps. The parade route was about 2 miles long.

senior year, me and one of my best friends since 3rd grade

How do you stand out from the crowd?

I stand out only part of the time, when I feel comfortable. In those times I will make jokes, laugh, be more assertive (appropriately). I’m also a problem solver. When someone tells me about a situation they need help with my brain starts churning through possible solutions. It’s not so much that I think outside the box, I just refuse to acknowledge the box even exists.

How many bones, if any, have you broken?

To the best of my knowledge, none. I suspect that I have broken a few toes, but toes aren’t something you generally seek medical attention for.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Since the last time I did one of these posts I am grateful for having been able to spend time with my nieces, for getting the remainder of my homework done, and that my portfolio passed. In the coming week I am looking forward to spending Monday with my nieces.

share your week #11

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share your world

I almost forgot to get this posted this week. Here are my answers to Cee’s questions for Share Your World.

List 2 things you have to be happy about?
I saw T-bone on Wednesday and we had a great session, I have a 4 day weekend coming up, I’m getting my hair done on Friday, Mom and I are getting pedicures on Saturday, and I’ll see shrinky-poo on Monday. Huh, that’s way more than 2…

Do you prefer ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise?  
Ketchup is for french fries, mustard is for sandwiches and burgers, and mayonnaise is for macaroni or crab salad. I keep very strict boundaries with these condiments.

If you were to paint a picture of your childhood, what colors would you use?
I’d have to remember my childhood. My memories are honestly rather shot. So let’s see, there would be blue because I remember the shag carpet at my grandma’s house being blue and green and my bedroom was kind of aqua blue for awhile. There would be black because my thoughts were quite dark for a spell. And there would be lots of yellow for all the summer road trips we took. My childhood was really just fine, my parents were great people and I wasn’t abused or anything. My brain has just been, well, MY brain since I was a kid.

Do you prefer a bath or shower?
I can’t take a bath anymore, nor can I get in a swimming pool. The skin condition I have is made about a million times worse by getting bacteria into the open sores. That’s why I use a clean wash cloth and towel every day, antibacterial soap, that Hibiclens stuff, clean PJs every day… So yeah, I shower. Every damn day.

share your world – week #10

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share your world

Welcome to Mama’s answers to Week #10 of Cee’s Share Your World.

When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?

Around here we tend to lose electricity in the middle of the night when we’re sleeping anyway, so it’s not often an issue. I do have several good sized candles and there’s a flashlight in 3 rooms that I can think of. But having lived here since I was a toddler I don’t usually have much trouble getting around in the dark. I do remember one morning when I needed to get ready for work and the lights hadn’t come back on so I ended up showering by candlelight.

You are given $5,000 and the chance to exchange it for one of two envelopes. One envelope contains $50,000 and one contains $500. Do you make the trade? Why or why not?

Let me quote Steve Miller here… “go on, take the money and run.” I’d rather take a sure thing than risk getting screwed. I’m just not much of a gambler when it comes to money matters.

What’s your first memory?

My memory is pretty well shot from all the meds. I’ve reached a point where I’m honestly not sure if some of what I think are memories are really just scenes my brain has fabricated to fill in the holes. But I’ve asked Mom and I do have a real memory from shortly after we moved into this house. Before all of the furniture arrived she and my sister and I had a picnic lunch under the kitchen table.

What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something?

If it’s like Sunday night and it happens when I should be falling asleep then I flop around like a dying fish, trying desperately to get comfortable so that I can maybe get a little sleep. If it happens on the other side of the night, say I get up at 3am as usual to pee and can’t get back to sleep, I’ll often just get up and find something quiet to do so as not to bother Josh or Mom.