post nablo

so technically NaBloPoMo has ended. i posted every day in November, and Omor still has a few topics left to give. so a few of us are going to continue posting on a topic each day until they're gone. i've also agreed to do fitness-related posting through the month of december. part of me thinks i shouldn't even start because i'll never finish. and part of me needs to start because then maybe i will finish. i mean, i certainly can't finish if i don't start, right?

i know i went shopping for jeans this weekend and the size that should fit me did not. that was frustrating. i'm in need of another pair of jeans, so i'll end up buying a larger size ... but man, i hate that. i mean, i was trying on the exact same size as the pair i wore to work today. meh.

i also know i just heard something fall & break ... i should go check that out, eh? :)

i have this neighbor ...

to the west of my house, i have this neighbor whose kids played in my yard constantly the summer i moved in. okay, probably not constantly. but it seemed like i was telling them to get out of my yard at least once a week. and i know they're kids, but seriously ... the fence between our yards is a pretty obvious line not to cross. they either stayed in their own yard this summer or were more sneaky about being in mine. either way, i was glad.

to the east of my house, i have this neighbor who waves, smiles and says good morning. the entire family is friendly, and the littlest boy in the house is just adorable. and, of course, he always plays in his own yard. ;)

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three favourite words

seriously: by sheer volume of use, this is my favorite word. it can be a question, an affirmation or a cynical retort. seriously.

tartlet: tartlet. tartlet. tartlet. the word has lost all meaning.

home: i can feel the warmth just hearing the word.

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immunity vs.immortality

think of it this way: would you rather know your life would be completely healthy but end someday (immunity) or know you'll live forever but with the chance of illness (immortality)?

i'd pick immunity. i'd rather die having lived a healthy 30 years than live 630 years with a horrible illness. i mean, sure, if i could guarantee i'd never get anything worse than the flu or an occasional rash of the hives, i'd totally live forever. but what if i ended up with a terminal illness, but couldn't die? i'd be stuck forever in the last stages of a disease that has me wasting away to nothing ... only nothing would ever come? i think that would be horrible. i'd much rather it be short and sweet.

although, i would definitely keep my immunity a secret. because there's no way i'm giving back my five sick days at work. ;)

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biggest influence growing up

quite easily, the person who influenced me the most growing up has been my mom. she stayed home with us kids when we were little, and she was always there when i needed her. she could run the house with one hand tied behind her back, and she still had time left to have fun with us. and as i got into junior high & high school, she was clearly the 'cool mom' that most of my friends envied. she helped us plan pranks and whipped up mean chocolate chip cookies. and through it all she taught me how to love, how to be gentle with people, how to be responsible for my own actions. she's taught me that friends are important and family needs to be held close. she's taught me to celebrate the triumphs and cry at the defeats. and then to get up and try again. she's always believed in me, even when i've been convinced there was nothing in which to believe.

i haven't yet caught onto the depths of her patience ... but if i can grow up to be half the woman she is? i'll be doing pretty good.

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gratitude

today, i'm grateful for:

my amazing family. the opportunity to help big-hearted friends serve thanksgiving dinner. gayety's chocolates delivered to my house. a steady paycheck. co-workers who are seriously fabulous. card games with mom & dad. pumpkin pie. flannel pajamas. music. mathematics.

and, of course, blogging friends. :)


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37 years

happy anniversary mom & dad!

movie cast

official topic: who would portray each of us in a movie? (as many people as you know in the group)

i'm going to claim jill hennessy (crossing jordan) for myself. she's intelligent, witty and has a good edge of sarcasm and cynicism. sure, she'll need to gain a bunch of weight for the role ... but given the obvious success of NaBloPoMo: the movie, she won't mind.

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favorite authors

i have had a tendency my entire life to latch onto authors. as a kid i was at the mall every month buying Ann M. Martin's newest Babysitters Club book. as i got older i fell for anything written by Francine Rivers or Max Lucado. And, of course, there was my affair with the books of Sabrina Ward Harrison (refer back here.) currently i'm more likely to skip around. i've read a few books by J.K. Rowling. and i've enjoyed what i read, but not enough to finish the Harry Potter series. the same holds true for Stephanie Meyer's writing; i've enjoyed it but haven't picked up book 3, yet.

i am, however, fairly incapable of NOT reading anything Michael Rigg has written. he's this local author who's creative as all get out, and i love his work. he's been posting first-draft novels as blognovels for the past couple of years - and i love it. there's something about knowing a new chapter is being published tomorrow that makes me need to read the current chapter today. there's an urgency to it that isn't there when i can pick up the entire book at once, knowing it will still all be there tomorrow. he currently has two blognovels available: august winter and an angel for sara dawn. check them out. get hooked. but read quickly; i hear there's a new one on the horizon.

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random, non-nablo post

anyone else curious what they're going to blog about once november's over? i'm thinking about finishing off the topics inside omor. in order to meet my goal of posting 260 times this year, i'm going to need to keep a fairly consistent schedule through my birthday. i've also thought about doing Topic Tuesdays - where i blog about random stuff most of the time, but pick a topic each tuesday. or i could turn the blog into the Countdown to 31 and chronicle the final 55 days before my birthday.

or i could just tell you which episodes of friends i watched at the end of every day. ;)

panic

on my way home from work tonight, i had a moment of total panic. my mind was wandering, and i suddenly realized there was a car driving alongside of me. there should not have been a car there. it's a two-lane road! i was driving into oncoming traffic!

no, i wasn't. it's a four-lane road. i was fine.

and, after that little shock, i was also more attentive to the road. so i guess panic is a good thing, right?

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current passion

official topic: what are you most passionate about at this time in your life, and why?

this follows the same line of thinking as "what cause is closest to your heart" for me. i could think about it all day, but in the end i'll think my answers aren't as honorable as other people's answers. i'm deciding i'm okay with that.

right now, i'm passionate about not letting my job eat away at the very core of my being. i've been less than successful at this recently, but monday's a fresh week. anything can happen.

i'm passionate about listening & re-listening to the jonathan coulton cd mikey gave me. i'd really like to internalize the lyrics to a talk with george.

i'm also currently passionate about getting my christmas cards made. :) i'm very close to be done. yay me!

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if i had a ... (literal)

okay, i had some trouble choosing which way to go with this topic. so if you want the non-literal version, look below this post. but, the truth is, if i had a ... i'd carry it with me everywhere i went. i love the ...

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if i had a ...

time machine: i'm not sure if i'd use it to go back in time or forward in time. and if i went back in time, would i go back to a time i wanted to change or one that i want to relive? if i went forward in time, would i then want to go back in time to change what happened when i went forward in time? what if i went forward to Time Y ... and then back to Time X & changed something? and then i went back forward to Time Y to see how it changed (which, i suppose wouldn't be Time Y, technically, anymore. but, for the sake of argument, let's leave it as Time Y, shall we?). and then i could go back to Time X and change things again - just to see how it affected Time Y. but if i spend all my time living my past & future ... who's living my present?

transmogrifier: i'm pretty sure i'd turn myself into a well-cared for cat. they seem to have a pretty good life. or a ring-tailed lemur; they always look like they're plotting something.

teleportation device: i'd definitely spend a lot more time in san francisco. and sanibel island. and possibly use it to the get the bunco group to chicago next month without having to pay for parking. :)

telekinetic gift: i'd use it to influence the lottery so i could quit my job. i'm curious what kind of person i would be without an obligation to that particular company.

tea party: the tea would taste suspiciously like rum & diet coke. i don't drink much tea.

television service provider: i would never get anything accomplished.

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favorite book & why

"i'm feeling rather disheveled and slightly crooked.
(i seem to be seeping out at the edges.)"

"i often feel an overwhelming pressure to 'have it all together'
what is 'it'?"

"i have been feeling so blank and full of muted tones.
i feel just sort of beige."

"the truth is we all ache.
we all have growing pains
and wonder if we are
okay and enough & loved.
the thing is - we are.
really.
without the silver shoes
and leopard print sheets.
we are enough without
all the things we buy
to make us much more
than we are or need to be
we are simple
and complex
and rare
as is."

- Sabrina Ward Harrison, Spilling Open (the art of becoming yourself)

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grammar police

i had a dream about this topic last night. in the dream, i was at work and came across an official memo that misused "your" in place of "you're". while i really do understand that we all make mistakes, especially when we're working quickly, poor grammar in professional communications drives me bonkers. do i want little men in uniform to come a-runnin' when someone confuses "they're" and "their"? no, probably not. but i do think we'd all benefit from double-checking ourselves and using our noodles.

note: i'll re-read this post at least twice in hopes of not having grammatical errors in a post about the grammar police.

note 2: why do i picture the grammar police as being tiny men? in my mind, they're about the size of 12point type - as if they're going to run across the screen and fix the mistake, while taunting the typist.

note 3: i will definitely be on the lookout for poor grammar today and report back if i find anything good. :)

grammar - it's more than a cracker.

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peg leg or hook?

official topic: which would you rather have first - your peg leg or your hook?

notes: the topic assumes you will receive both. and i think i'm changing my answer to my own topic suggestion.

i had every intention of getting my peg leg first. i had my reasons. i think i would be easier to get used to a peg leg than a hook, and why not ease into pirate body modifications? besides, i want both hand available to me while i carve my peg. because if i'm getting a peg leg, i want it installed as a blank so i can carve it down myself. it'll be piratey goodness AND a way to amuse myself during long meetings all at the same time. plus if i can get a peg that starts mid-thigh, i don't have to worry about taking chunks of flesh out with my hook.

however ...

the logical approach for captains creating a ship of pirates would be to give them their hooks first, and i think i'll take that line of reasoning for myself, too.

first off, installation of the hook is probably an easier and quicker process. the wrist is a smaller body part to saw through, yet still traumatic enough that the patient is going to pass out pretty quickly, eliminating the need for anesthesia. plus, between metal hook & wooden peg - i'm thinking the body is less likely to reject and or/fester over the metal hook. and i want my premier modification to be successful.

so the surgery is over. i'm groggy, but with a little stretching & rubbing of my eyes - i'm awake enough to realize what's happened. especially since i just rubbed one eye with a hook. and now i'm ready for my eye patch. i'm two thirds of the way there!

at this point, i think the logic for the captain is fairly clear. assume you run into a potential pirate that's not sure about their body modifications. by starting with the hook, which leads fairly quickly to an eye patch, you've got the pirate cornered. what else are they going to do with a hook & an eye patch? they'll be begging for their peg leg so they can start their new life aboard the ship.

i, of course, am a willing participant. so i'll take my hook first - but i hope i don't have to wait too long for the peg.

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the present

the most recent 24 hours of my present have looked something like this:

7:30am - draw today's NaBloPoMo topic.

8 - remember i hadn't put my clothes in the dryer; rectify the situation.

8:30 - take a shower.

9 - retrieve freshly dried clothes from dryer; proceed to get ready for work.

9:30 - stop at the wal for paper plates.

10 - arrive at the office.

10:30 - fill in spreadsheet with final auction bids.

11 - avoid my to-do list by re-counting the auction money.

11:30 - decide i should make a to-do list for at home.

12pm - sing happy birthday to a co-worker after failing to duck out before the song organizer saw me.

12:30 - enjoy some delicious white castles for lunch.

1 - restart my computer, hoping i haven't just been fired as my password has stopped working.

1:30 - realize i have a 2pm meeting.

2 - chat with co-workers about signage for the new year's day event.

2:30 - chatting about ny event turns to chatting about spring events.

3 - stop dragging out meeting unnecessarily; return to my desk.

3:30 - discuss possible Christmas ideas with april over e-mail.

4 - start re-writing my work to-do list to see what i need to accomplish before leaving.

4:30 - purchase bottle of caffeinated beverage from soda machine.

5 - make first & second attempts at printing rack cards; fail un-understandably.

5:30 - chat with april before she leaves; discuss more Christmas ideas.

6 - make third & forth attempts at printing rack cards; encounter more frustration.

6:30 - realize the paper was cut to the wrong size; chuckle & roll eyes.

7 - begin cutting vegetables for dinner.

7:30 - realize that clove of garlic was larger than it needed to be for the pasta salad.

8 - peruse the basement for Christmas card bits & pieces.

8:30 - start watching documentary on helvetica.

9 - wish documentary was shorter.

9:30 - happily miss part of documentary to retrieve missed pieces from basement.

10 - call it quits on the Christmas card making for the night.

10:30 - catch up on other NaBloPoMo blogs.

11 - type what i'm doing into a blog post about the present.

11:30 - enjoy oreos while starting season 8 of friends, again.

12am - try another idea for the Christmas cards.

12:30 - write note reminding self that today is garbage day; head to bed.

1 - lie awake as I Feel Fantastic runs through my head.

1:30 - sleep.

2 - sleep.

2:30 - toss & turn.

3 - dream about garlic, with helvetican subtitles.

3:30 - sleep.

4 - sleep.

4:30 - wake up suddenly for no apparent reason.

5 - sleep.

5:30 - sleep.

6 - sleep.

6:30 - start snoozing my alarm repeatedly.

7 - dream about chocolate chip cookies in nine minute intervals.

7:30 - post about the present; draw a topic for tomorrow.

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eye-fry: unbalanced (haiku)

unfair to allow
one detail to create a
life so unbalanced

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what hair color would you really want?

quite often, i wish i could change my hair color the same way i change my hair style & my glasses.

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5 ways to lose a fight

#1. pick the wrong opponent: don't willingly get into it with a brick wall. not at first, at least. start with some thin drywall. or perhaps a nice jello salad.

#2. eat too slowly: you'll never win a battle for the last piece of pizza when you already have two left on your plate.

#3. ignore the power of sarcasm: use it to your advantage, people. or, if you're on the receiving end of the sarcasm, pay attention!

#4. over-focus on the the details: frankly, it doesn't matter what design is on her steel-toed boots as she kicking you in the shins with them.

#5. forget to watch your back: but as you're doing that, don't forget your front, okay?

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a cause close to my heart

i'm torn. and i'm tired. i don't have a specific cause that immediately comes to mind when asked what cause(s) are close to my heart. sometimes i think that means i need to have more heart. i need to wake up & see what's going on around me. i need to commit to making a difference by supporting someone who's actually doing something.

and, other times, i just think it means i haven't found it, yet.

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different life than anticipated

umm, erin, i love you ... but i have no idea what you're talking about. my life is exactly how i anticipated it would turn out when i was in high school.

i mean, c'mon ... i went to a nice college where i met a nice man. it was love at first sight, and we were married within months of our first date. (why wait when it's perfect, right?) he was a couple of years ahead of me in school, and of course his dream job was practically waiting for him to graduate. since he makes such good money, i was able to quit school and stay home to raise the kids.

sure, we don't do much traveling, but we've got a sweet house with a fenced yard. and a dog door for the pup. i've never been a big fan of traveling anyway.

besides, who has time to travel? i've got so many social obligations here, it's a little ridiculous. besides the PTA, girl scouts and general soccer-mom appointments, all my high school friends have KIT'd just as they promised. and all the girls who LYLAS'd me? we're still BFF's.

SSS, but i think the puppy just swallowed the goldfish. TTFN!

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the most interesting thing - part 2

okay, i think the trip to west lafayette to get a moe's burrito for dinner tops the weird dream about an old co-worker ... much more interesting to make the drive for a joey bag of donuts. :)

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the most interesting thing to happen today

yes, i'm aware it's only 7:30 in the morning ... and so there's a big chance things will get much more interesting today. however, if i don't post now i'll forget the interesting things that have already happened, which means they won't have a fair chance at being properly judged on the scale of Interesting Things.

so far, i've watched reese witherspoon save the world from aliens (and been utterly disappointed in paul rudd) and had an unsettlingly complimentary conversation with an old co-worker. granted the first was in a movie and the second was in a dream ... but still. so far, they top the list.

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eye-fry: blur

i want to control the blurring in my life. i want to choose which events are blurred into the background and which are given sharp focus and detail. i want to walk out of the office and have all of the frustrations blur out of my vision. and when i'm in the office, i want to focus on the task at hand ... not the outside forces that make those tasks twice as difficult.

for my NaBloPoMo buddies - no worries, the soundtrack post is right below this one. i didn't completely blur that out today. :)

7-song soundtrack

i thought awhile about this one and couldn't decide how to approach it.

do i make a 7-song list chronologically with the first song being my babyhood & the last being my death? this list would undoubtedly include C is for Cookie, the BeeGee's Closer Than Close and end with I'll Fly Away.

do i choose the 7 songs most likely to just randomly pop into my head for no good reason? this one would have songs like 500 Miles (by the proclaimers) and Sleigh Ride (Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, Ring ting tingling too. Come on, it's lovely weather For a sleigh ride together with you).

but then i couldn't focus long enough to finish either list. sorry. it's been a blurry couple of days.

according to my itunes my most played songs are:
Guilty Pleasure (Cobra Starship)
Angel With An Attitude (The Ditty Bops)
Neighbors (The Academy Is ...)
Nine In The Afternoon (Panic! At The Disco)
Powerless (Nelly Furtado)
Fresh Off The Boat (Nelly Furtado)
Maybe (Kelly Clarkson)

although, my itunes at work would probably list something like:
Attack (30 Seconds to Mars)
24 (Jem)
The Kill (30 Seconds to Mars)
Black Horse & The Cherry Tree (KT Tunstall)
So What (P!nk)
Here I Stand (Madina Lake)
Poison (Alice Cooper)

so while my current musical obsession is Jonathan Coulton ... the above lists are probably much more accurate.

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past

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conspiracy theory

i believe my dreams have a conspiracy against me.

i'm a visual person. i like to see things. i can understand directions when they're told to me ... but i'll be 100x more confident if there's a diagram or illustration included. i can sit for long periods of time and just observe. i love to people watch. losing my eyesight is, quite frankly, one of my biggest fears. i think it's because of my visual nature that i enjoy dreams so much. i mean, they're like little movies played out in the personal theater of my mind. i actually think i snooze my alarm so many times in the morning because the nine minutes of sleep i get each time seems to be overflowing with dreams.

so where's the conspiracy? within about 2 minutes, i can't remember what happened! sure, there are bits & pieces that stay with me. and sometimes i'll be able to really tell the story to someone. but for the most part it's just fragments and feelings. i know i was somewhere ... with someone i know,i think ... and we were ... doing ... something? i think. i remember enjoying it. and it smelled like fresh rain. or baking bread. or ... something. yeah.

so i really think my subconscious is aware of how much i love dreaming ... and therefore takes it away in an act of evil entertainment. as i struggle to remember why i was enjoying being asleep so much, my dreams are busting up laughing as they play hide-and-seek in my mind.

and before you say that every one experiences this, that it's normal and therefore cannot be a conspiracy. perhaps you need to contemplate whether your dreams have a conspiracy against you, as well.

(side note: after i publish this i'm going to back-date a second post on "orange". i was going to post it last night, but it turns out i'd left my camera turned on all day, and the battery was dead. so i let it recharge as i recharged (and dreamt about matt's parents tending their tomato garden while waxing philosophic) and the youtube video is uploading now.)

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orange: part 2

this clip is why i'm fairly incapable of saying "orange" as a one-syllable word.

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orange(y)

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health care & heath bars (part 2)

alright, so after i posted this morning i read melanie & erin's posts. and as i was getting ready for work, i realized that perhaps scientifically establishing a link between health care & heath bars isn't the way to go. why not simply establish the connection with a really good marketing campaign?

it seems to me that there are a lot of people out there that want to talk about health care, but when's the last time you had a water cooler discussion about chocolate-covered toffee goodness? it's been a long time, right? that could easily be remedied with a little creative marketing from heath. and, according to melanie's post, they've relied on a health based campaign in the past. so, i'm here to say: heath, it's time to get back to your roots.

why shouldn't heath be the official sponsor of a nationalized health care plan? now before you groan or cheer about national health care, understand i'm not praising or poo-poo-ing it. it's just being used as it relates to the topic. and nationalized health care needs a good sponsor. Health Care & Heath Bars ... They Go Hand in Hand! perhaps a series of print ad featuring celebrities munching on heath bars with the slogan, "a heath for your health." who wouldn't trust the candy that backs the president? and that the president endorses in advertising in return?

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health care & heath bars

i find it nearly impossible to believe that a link may not exist between health care and heath bars. i mean, for pete's sake, did you not notice how close their names are? that'd be like saying there's no link between black beans and back bones. or ... other things with which have similar names.

now i did a quick google search for previous scientific research in this area, and i only came upon one site that even mentions it. as my hopes for scientific stardom started to fade, i realized it was just mikey's site, exploring today's topic as well. (great google listing, man. you were like fifth on the list.) so, i'd say the world is just begging for the research to be done. not that anyone was actually asking for it. but how can they know to ask for that which they aren't aware they need?

we'll need a test group. and a control group. and some fancy calipers to gauge results. and a way to make a heath bar substitute. you know, the "sugar pill" for the part of the test group that thinks they're getting a heath bar, but they're really not. what's the name for that? a placebo! right. we'll need a placebo ...

why didn't i make a gadget yesterday that would create a heath bar placebo? drat ... so much work to do ...

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if i had a gadget ...

this is the 'becca hittle how-much-of-this-project-will-be-a-waste-of-your-time meter. don't you wish you had one? simply aim in the direction of the person/note/e-mail explaining the project and the meter quickly registers how much of the information you can believe. because let's face it, re-doing projects gets on all of our nerves.

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frenemies

or: those things with which i have a love/hate relationship.


my alarm clock.


halloween candy.


my job.


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random to end the day

april commented on omor ... saying she was looking for the "like" button and then realized she wasn't on facebook. for those of you who aren't facebookers: any time someone changes their status, shares a video, posts a photo, rambles on your wall, etc ... there are two options. you can comment on it or you can like it. the like button is useful for giving something a thumbs up (literally) without having to use any actual words. because frankly, sometimes you just like something ... and there's no need to expound. i, too, am a big fan of the like button. in fact, i was driving to work last week and i saw a neighbor had added some tasteful halloween decorations to his yard. the first thing that went through my head? man, i wish there was a like button in real life! it made me start visualizing an ad campaign or a series of photographs with a large like icon (a thumbs up, literally) being carried around. maybe i should take that series of photos myself ...

i had every intention of going to bed early tonight. it's not exactly late, yet, but it's later than i planned. i popped a movie in and then decided i'd rather play guitar hero. i started my solo career and played four shows. pretty much i rock. i mean, the video game says so after every song. and i totally customized my rocker & her sweet guitar.

my computer was in "observed mode" at work this afternoon. that means someone was remotely accessing my machine. possibly upgrading a program, possibly just watching what i was doing. there's a little icon that show up at the top of my screen when it's in observed mode. it didn't really bother me ... but the feeling of being watched followed me home. my newspaper was directly in front of the front door - how did i miss that when i left this morning? and the front door seemed to open just a little too easily - was it really locked? to top it off, the light in the bathroom that burned out this weekend? it's working again. add to that the fact that i was so amazed by the magical light that i didn't hear my phone ring. everything was just a little off.

i should be thinking about tomorrow's topic of "frenemies" - but i'm having trouble wrapping my head around it. perhaps i'll post about having trouble wrapping my head around it. i think i'm most looking forward to how patti will artfully blog about it.

meet omor

omor is the keeper of the topics for NaBloPoMo.

potential resolutions for 2010

i'd say i don't make new year's resolutions ... but that's only true in the most literal interpretation. i don't make resolutions on january 1st. instead, i make them all on january 24th, my birthday. for the past four or five years, i've made a list of birthday goals. the number of goals on the list correlates to how old i am. it's a slightly faulty system that gives me more goals the older i get ... but it's fun, nonetheless. :)

this january i will turn 31, and i've decided that each of my 31 goals should include the number 31. goals that are currently in the running for the birthday list:

- blog 31 days in a row
- make 31 new recipes
- ride my bike to work 31 times
- go 31 days without watching my friends dvds
- visit 31 places i've never been
- take a total of 31 photographs for the year
- watch 31 movies in which johnny depp appears
- meet 31 people with 31 letters in their names
- drive U.S. Route 31 from northern michigan to southern alabama
- be a vegetarian for 31 days
- spritz daily with Rose 31 perfume
- try all 31 flavors at baskin robbins
- read chapter 31 (and only chapter 31) in 31 different books
- learn portuguese so i can watch the movie 31 & understand what's being said.
- high-five 31 random people

okay, some of those might not be serious. i mean, can you really see me going without meat for 31 days?

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unique holiday tradition - part 3

we did celebrate Festivus at work one year. we had feats of strength (thumb wrestling) and an airing of grievances (why we thought to do that with mary & cindy in the room, i'll never know). it was a good time.

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safari wins? ugh ...

okay, i can only comment to beth & melanie's pages from safari? ugh.

as a side note to beth: i couldn't copy & paste into your comment field in firefox, but i could in safari. what browser are you using?

what's the deal with that? a lot of us are using blogger ... so it can't just be a blogger thing. unless it's a quirk with new blogger blogs? and because i'm on a mac? that's so unfair.

blogger help?

okay, anyone know what i need to do to be able to comment on melanie & bethy's blogs? everytime i click submit it reloads the page & clears the form as if it's been successful ... but the comment never shows up. i've tried using my google account, openid and name/url ... none of them work. any help?

unique holiday tradition - part 2

okay, my National Tater Tot Day got some reactions. :) something i probably should have mentioned is that we haven't actively participated in the holiday for the past several years. i know i brought them into my current place of employment once - but it may have been only once. so if you weren't there that day, you probably never knew the holiday existed. we began celebrating the day when my mom was working at mcdonald's ... so, in honesty, the majority of the trays went to work with her.

laure, you'll just have to be in the region around groundhog's day some year to take part. :)

and jen, if we have a game night around groundhog's day, i'll definitely make 'em!

now if my siblings would post, i'd know if i could tell you another one of our traditions. it gets tricky having four of us all posting about the same thing. i don't want to take away their material. :)


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unique holiday tradition

i wish i had a photo for this one. i really do. since i don't, however, let me just start by saying that what you're about to read is 100% factual. while i gave great thought to fabricating some ridiculous holiday tradition ... i've opted instead to reveal a tiny bit of my family's penchant for the strange and unordinary. i present to you: national tater tot day.

each february as families across america (and the maple leaf state) are pinning their hopes for spring's arrival on the skittishness of a groundhog, my family is carefully preparing tater tot treats. these tiny treats of tastiness sound simple enough: adorn the tots with melted chocolate, allow the chocolate to set up, enjoy. but the results are beyond spectacular. we make trays and trays of these babies. we've shared them at work, where every year we have found more people who have never heard of this holiday. it's become a personal mission of ours to spread awareness of national tater tot day and help these diced potato delicacies finally get the attention they deserve.

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welcome, blogger 15!

our NabloPoMo Daily Topic group has grown to 15 members! holly has joined our ranks and will be blogging on topic daily through the month of november.

my irrational fear of ...

when i read today's topic, i wondered if anyone really finds his own fears to be irrational. of course, i wondered that aloud on facebook, and fred told me that she knows one of her fears is irrational - yet the fear is still strong enough to make her very nauseous. so there went that theory.

i have a fear of germs on my desk at work, specifically related to food. i'll eat at my desk, but if a piece of the food touches the desk it has to be thrown away. doesn't matter if it's a french fry or a skittle. once it's touched the desk, it gets trashed. water bottle caps, too. if they land top-side down, it's okay. but if they land so the open end is touching the desk (or floor, for that matter), they lid can't go back on the bottle. i mean, there's a lot of germs on a desk. so that's not irrational at all.

along those same lines, my silverware doesn't touch the table at a restaurant. and if a chip falls out of the chips & salsa basket onto the table? it gets set to the side, not to be eaten. this one is probably a bit more irrational - as i know the restaurants wash the tables between customers. i mean, i'm sitting at the restaurant watching the tables around me being washed. but still ... people are dirty.

and on the opposite end of those two fears - my food can touch my own counter, table, floor ... and it doesn't bother me at all. not that i'm licking caramel off the carpeting or anything, but still. i don't have the fear at the houses of people i know, either. yup, i'd eat a chip off your floor. unless it was covered in dog hair. :)

my fear of bats living in the attic is probably irrational. i've never seen a bat in the attic. i've never seen evidence of a bat in the attic. but somehow, i just know they're there. shifty li'l creatures.

i have a fear of non-operational warnings at railroad crossings. not enough of a fear to stop before crossing the tracks ... but enough that in that split second that i'm on the tracks, my heart skips a beat because what if the signal was broken and i'm now in harms way about to pummeled by an oncoming train that i somehow managed to not hear coming as i approached the tracks? that might be irrational. but trains kill people! so maybe not irrational?

i have a fear of needles. hypodermic needles, at least. when i was 17, i remember telling my mom that if the doctor wanted to draw blood, i didn't mind the lump in my throat so much & we could just ignore it. of course, he wanted to draw blood. and, of course, we didn't ignore it. that was the first time i'd ever had blood drawn. the draw went well, really. if i remember correctly they got the blood on the first try. (a feat that would not be repeated often.) but as i walked from the lab in the back of the clinic to the front desk, the hallway started getting dark & fuzzy. i remarked about that aloud and was promptly told to sit & put my head down while my mom paid. it helped. i didn't actually pass out. but i think the experience fueled the fear. for the next 8 years or so, once i made up my mind to go get blood work done, my body would start building up anxiety. first were the little pains in my arms & neck (neck, weird, right?) - as if a needle was jabbed in. then my extremities start getting cold. then i get light headed. all before i actually made it to the doctor's office. the past few years have been better. i don't have to lie down anymore as they draw the blood. and once the needle is in and the blood is flowing, i can glance over at the collection tube for a second or two. :) but that doesn't feel at all irrational. i mean, there's a piece of jagged metal puncturing my skin to suck out my life juice. that's worth a little fear.

i have a fear of lit cigarettes that are thrown from the vehicle in front of me. i just know that at that exact moment my car is going to spring even the tiniest of leaks from the gas line. and that lit cigarette is going to be just enough to send me into the air as a ball of flames. that could happen, right? okay, that one might border on irrational, too.

i have a fear of posting real information to a public blog. yet i'm sort of heading up this NaBloPoMo Daily Topic group ... now that's just plain crazy. :)

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