Friday

Five Crazy Things I Did When I Was Little

Rules:
1. Follow this format
2. Copy/Paste the rules
3. State who tagged you and add a link to their blog
4. Write 5 crazy things you did as a little kid
5. Tag 5 people

tagged by Anilee

Actually, believe it or not, I was a mostly calm, rather dull child. I am much more crazier now then I was when I was younger; back in those days I was quiet, shy, very "teacher's pet"-ish and altogether too concerned with following rules and behaving. I did NOT like to be the center of attention (my, how that's changed!!). However, there are a few noteworthy tales to share.

1. As a toddler, I used to have this little plastic yellow ride-on toy. It was a school bus. I LOVED that thing, and even more so, I LOVED riding it through the kitchen, down the hallway and directly in to the door which leads to the garage. Over and over and over and over. "VROOM VROOM VROOM THUMMPPP!" could be heard all day long. My poor father tried everything he could to stop me from denting, scratching and otherwise ruining that door, but nothing worked. I kept crashing in to it. Eventually he put a metal door in place of the old one (I throroughly ruined the old one) and even that didn't stop me!

2. At age 3, I decided that I really, really, really wanted to hug my cat, Sydney. Sydney, however, did not want to be hugged. EVER. But somehow, I got it into my head that this would be a good thing to do. You would think, that after I'd chased him around the house and he kept running away from me that I would have figured out that, well, obviously, he doesn't want a hug right now. But I, being the determined and stubborn child that I was (ok, that I AM), wouldn't give up. Somehow I managed to lure the poor cat into my room and close the door. To hear my father tell the story, the hug was apparently successful, though I really think it depends on your definition of "successful". Seeing as I really don't remember much of the event, we're going by his interpretation. All we know is that is that I eventually opened my bedroom door and came running downstairs, completely covered in fur and sobbing, "SYDNEY SCRATCHED ME!!!!". Sydney hid in basement for three days before he dared emerge.
Lesson learned: Do not try to hug a cat who does not want to be hugged

3. Another memorable time was the summer day when I really, really wanted to go sledding. Obviously, sledding in 90 degree weather is a little trickier then it is in the winter; probably due to the lack of snow. At any rate, I would not be deterred. I found old pieces of plywood and created a makeshift ramp in the backyard (which already slopes downhill; I made it slope even further. There was quite an unbelievable angle there, mark my words) and went sledding down on a skateboard with rollerblades on my feet, too (just for good measure). And no knee pads, of course. I sort of forgot that it might be a little tricky to steer. I still have that scar.

I can't think of anything else majorly "crazy" that I did when I was younger...I'm sure there were things but I can't think of them!!!...., but here are some much more recent examples, from this past year :) :

4.I helped...commandeer...a golf cart and drove it around girl scout camp at midnight. But that was rather recently and I don't think I should disclose details :)

5. I randomly developed a high-pitched British accent this summer and I very much enjoy talking in it, just to annoy people. As such, I get great pleasure out of answering the phone in a variety of fake accents.


I tag...Somnium and anyone reading this who hasn't done it yet.

Despicableness

Ok!!
Let's say I asked all of you if you would eat something without knowing what it was. Would you?Let's say I described this mysterious substance as, "thick yellowish-brown paste with a sharp taste". Would you eat it?

Be honest: How appetizing does that sound???



Want to know what it is?
Mustard.
I kid you not. That's how wikipedia describes mustard.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEW.


I hate mustard. Hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it.

I've been on this rant for three whole days, now. I really, really, really hate mustard.

I have ALWAYS hated mustard, mind you; this is no new fad or random passing phase. However, as of late I've simply become much more passionate in my intense hatred of mustard and also much more educated in how utterly revolting the substance is.


This latest jump in dedicated rage directed at a condiment began on Wednesday, when I was having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day. I was seriously contemplating moving to Australia, in fact; it was that bad. I was obviously in a rather cranky mood and was thrown completely over the edge when I opened the fridge (admittedly rather harder then necessary) and a bottle of mustard jumped out of the shelf on the fridge door (cackling evilly, of course, because everyone knows that mustard is pure evil) and lept on to me, covering me from head to toe (practically) with oozing, yellow nast.

As you can imagine, this didn't exactly improve my mood any.

Adding to my discomfort was the fact that the smell of mustard has ALWAYS made me extremely nauseous, and of course, I smelled like mustard all day. Even the next day, EVEN after taking a SHOWER, I was still convinced that I smelled like mustard....ugh ugh ugh.

But since then, I have been in sort of a feverish crazed anti-mustard mood. I sort of took all the mustard in the house and hid it in the garage so I wouldn't have to look at it.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what about this awful stuff appeals to people. Sheesh. Why would you intentionally consume something so digusting, which makes your eyes water and your nose itch and your tongue scream, "NO! NOT THIS AGAIN! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE SUCH AWFUL TREATMENT?!?!"

Mustard's been around for an awfully long time, you know. The first mustard recipe dates back to 42 A.D. It didn't exactly catch on as a condiment back then, though (gee, I wonder why...it's only the most horrifyingly nasty taste on the planet....) and it wasn't until the 9th century, when French monks began making mustard and selling it as a way to bring in income (I am totally serious, here. I did my research!). Ick. For awhile, though, mustard-making flourished, however due to intense issues with contamination and "adulteration of the substance", in the 16th century the French government passed laws with strict cleanliness requirements for mustard making utensils and also laws stating that only certified mustard-makers could produce the condiment.

You know what even further blows my mind? Found on Wiki:
"The Mount Horeb Mustard Museum is a museum in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, featuring the world's largest display of prepared mustards. It is often featured in lists of unusual museums in the United States...The initial dozen jars have grown to a collection of more than 4,800 different mustards from 60 different countries, along with items of mustard memorabilia and exhibits depicting the use of mustard through history."
THERE'S A WHOLE MUSEUM DEDICATED TO THIS GROSSNESS? WHAT?!?!

AND! Apparently there is also a NATIONAL MUSTARD DAY!
Now THAT is just taking things altogether too far, if you ask me.


Some of you are probably wondering, "OK...well...let's get to the point now, shall we?"
There is no point. This is an utterly pointless, useless, random post with no relevance to anything. I simply wanted to express my intense dislike of a positively revolting substance.

*takes bow*

Wednesday

O Happy Days...!

I LOVE birthdays. Not my birthday, particularly; that's never been a huge deal to me. No, I love OTHER people's birthdays. I love secretly finding out when birthdays are. I love whispering other people's birthdays to their friends so we can surprise them on their special day. I love suprising them with cards and I love giving gifts and I love singing "Happy Birthday" and I just love the whole concept of birthdays. I love how everyone has one day...one day of their very own...to be celebrated.

Today is my very bestest friend in the whole world's birthday (Happy Birthday, dear!!!) and I am so happy about it!!! I have been counting down the days to her birthday for months now. She does EVERYTHING for EVERYONE ALL THE TIME, but on her birthday, at least, it's a chance for the whole world to do things for HER, and to let her know how special and wonderful she is and how much we love her and how happy we are to have her in our lives :)

But it got me thinking, too.... as wonderful as it is to celebrate someone especially on their birthday, and let them know how special they are, why can't we do that every day? Why only once a year? Birthdays don't come nearly often enough, you see....I would never survive if I had to wait a WHOLE ENTIRE YEAR to tell my friend how amazing she is and make her feel special again....I mean, after all, I try to do that every day!!!!!

Remembering someone's birthday shows that you care about them, but you can show you care on the other 364 days, too!

One neat thing I LOVE to do is surprise people on their HALF birthdays -- it's a fun way to let them know you're thinking about them when they least expect it. Send a card, give a little gift or just call them and sing "HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO YOU....". You will be surprised how happy this makes both of you!

Even more fun is celebrating an UNbirthday -- celebrating someone you love on a totally random day. Not because it's their birthday (or half-birthday!); but simply because you love them :)

Look for ways to let someone know how very special they are to you today. Look for ways to encourage people today. Send them a card in the mail for no reason at all, bake some cookies to share, draw a picture, write a poem, give them a call or even just a big hug!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" -- Phillipians 4:4

"For this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" -- Psalm 118:24

We can and SHOULD celebrate things that bring us joy and rejoice in our blessings EVERY DAY!!!!! And my friends are certainly some of the biggest blessings in my life :)

Sunday

My life in six words...

Anilee tagged me in the "6 word memoir challenge".

Write about my whole life in six tiny words? Wow. For a loquatious person like me, that is harder then any other writing activity I've ever done. But I like the challenge, so I'm going to try.

Here's my thinking.

My life right now is all about speaking up, speaking out, and sharing my thoughts with the world (thus, the motivation for starting this blog!!). I am finding who I am and figuring out who I'm not. I'm becoming someone that, a few years ago, would not have seemed conceivable. For a shy girl who never questioned authority or defied the ordinary...my life now is the complete opposite of who I used to be! And yet, the person I WAS will always continue to shape who I WILL be and how I react to things. Does that make sense?

I wanted to capture all of that in my sentence. My defiance of the expected. My need to be heard. And my acknowledgement of who I used to be.

Here's what I came up with:

I will not be silent anymore.

(Wow. Who knew one sentence could make you think so hard????)

I'm still not sure that I'm entirely happy with that. I feel like it makes me sound TOO rebellious...and it doesn't capture my innate enthusiasm and passion....so I might keep thinking. But it's a start :) and as hard as this was for me, I truly enjoyed it. Thanks, Anilee :)

Ok, your turn. Everyone reading this blog -- whether you're a member of Blogger.com or not -- I challenge you to do this. Sum up your life in one sentence composted of 6 -- ONLY SIX -- words. I would LOVE to read your sentences once you've got them (reminder to all the non-bloggers reading this -- you can post too! Click on "comments" and choose "anonymous" or "other" -- you can fill in any name you want there. See if I can figure out who you are!)

And, just to keep the game going, I tag: Somnium and Nat.

Advice from Dr Seuss


EEEP! This blog has been getting altogether too serious for me lately. Too...dark and intense. I think that's why I haven't written lately, because I haven't been in this deep contemplative mood...I've been too busy loving life :)
I think I need to change layout, too...with Spring just around the corner and my current intense good mood, I'm feeling the need for something much happier and brighter!!


(Thank you, Hannah dear, for the idea that sparked this post. Your "bumper sticker" did it!)

So! Last week (March 2) was Dr. Seuss' birthday. (Yes, you guys remember....good ol' Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Fox in Socks, the Biddle Beetle Battle Bubble [I can't ever remember the name of that one!!! Anyone else know the real title?!], How The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Lorax, Oh The Places You'll Go! (a personal favorite!) and so many other classics)... I celebrated this momentous occasion by dressing up as Cat in the Hat himself and reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to the preschoolers. It was incredibly exciting, actually :)

Dr Seuss is one of my all time favorite authors -- he always has been. I mean, how can you not love a writer who rhymes nonsense words and still makes sense!? In all seriousness, though, look at the themes of his books -- the spirit of Christmas is about more then gifts, there are plenty of things to do on rainy days [creativity and optimism], and even (*gasp!*) trying new (green!) foods might actually turn out to be a positive experience [open-mindedness]!! But on top of that, Dr Seuss has some truly insightful words of wisdom to live by as well.

Take this quote, for instance:

"Be who you are
and say what you feel,
because those who mind, don't matter,
and those who matter, don't mind."

Ever struggle with self-esteem? With being to shy or self-concious to be yourself? Everyone's always loudly proclaiming, "BE YOURSELF!" "STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF!" but the majority of the time, "everyone" fails to acknowledge how scary that can be. Sometimes it's much easier to conform and melt into the crowd. (Trust me, I know!) To become just one more of the sea of faces out there, and not worry about being singled out. To silence your own voice for fear of being heard.

Today in Sunday School we talked about love, and all the different facets of love. How the media portrays love. How this country sees love. How the world as a whole defines love. How we as individuals understand love. Ways to express love and how love is manifested...you get the idea.

Love is supportive. (See 1 Corinth. 13: 1-13 for more on the Biblical definition of love). It is through love that we find the courage and support we need to become who we are!! Whether we're kids, teens or adults, or anywhere in between, it seems to be a lifelong struggle to find our "place" in this world, doesn't it? We are constantly trying to figure out how we fit in and who we are....

And it is through and because of the love of our family, friends and God that we have the freedom to take some leaps of faith, try new things and figure out just WHO we are!

Don't be afraid to go out there and do something crazy! Wear mismatched socks. Watch a VeggieTales movie. Go skipping down the streets of Argentina singing Dora the Explorer songs. Eat dessert first. Speak your mind. Take a walk in the rain. Re-read one of your favorite books from eons ago, back in your childhood days. Wear your clothes backwards and see how many people notice. Go out to eat at midnight in your pajamas. Smile at 50 specific people today and tell them you hope they're having a great day. Give hugs to someone you care about.

It's OK to defy the ordinary and be unique! I'm finding that the people in your life who truly care about you will love you despite..or perhaps because of!...your zaniness. When you do something silly, they'll still love you. When you speak your mind, whether they agree with you or not...they'll still love you. And it's love like this that gives us strength, hope and courage.

Don't let yourself become consumed by other's opinions. After all, EVERYONE has an opinion about EVERYTHING, somewhere deep down, and yes, there are going to be people who will look at you funny and point and whisper when you wear mismatched socks. But hey, that's OK. You've got the love of those who care about you backing you up -- because "...those who matter won't mind".

So take the immortal words of Dr Seuss to heart (No, no, no, not, "Would you eat them with a goat? Would you eat them on a boat?!"...) and I challenge you today to go out there and say what you feel. (And maybe wear mismatched socks while doing it???)