What is a meme?

So, as mentioned before, I am new to blogging and was reading a friend's blog that had an "ABC meme." It looked like a fun writing exercise and so here is my version of it. I hope I am not going against blogger etiquette for using someone's meme but based on the article I found on wikipedia I think we are supposed to copy and continue them on. I got it from Newt's Muse


The Letter A
Are you agnostic? I dunno maybe? Isn't that the definition of agnostic?Someone sitting on the fence about the existence of God or some higher being? I do not believe in the god described in man's religions. If something like God does exist, it has been completely corrupted by the writings of mankind.

What is your age? Too old to be trusted by people under 30, but not quite old enough for "Murder She Wrote"

What annoys you? People with bad cell phone habits and etiquette

The Letter B
Do you like bacon? In extreme moderation. I think I eat it less than 5 times a year

When is your birthday? February

Who is your best friend? Married him, but before him, she knows who she is :)

The Letter C
What is your favorite candy? I haven't met very many candies I don't like, but just about any chocolate candy works for me and Jelly Belly jelly beans.

Who is your crush? Dr Cox on "scrubs", the new James Bond and the new SuperMan., Kurt Russell, Brendan Fraser. Actually, I am thinking of the people on "my list."

When was the last time you cried? When I wrote my last blog

The Letter D
Do you daydream? Yes, rarely. Usually too busy.

What is your favorite kind of dog? I like just about all dogs, but for a dog I can bring home, I prefer a rescue pup or pound puppy. I'm a mutt and I prefer a mutt.

What day of the week is it? Sunday, but I started this a couple days ago.

The Letter E
How do you like your eggs? Scrambled with soyrizo.

Have you ever been in the emergency room? Yes, as an intern EMT and as a patient ages ago. I walk thru one every day on my way to work.

What’s the easiest thing to ever do? Say "yes"

The Letter F
Have you ever flown in a plane? Yes, along with millions of others. Nothing special there. Now, ask me I have jumped out of a plane. Yes!!

Do you use fly swatters? We have no flies. I am not sure they sell them here.

Have you ever used a foghorn? Nope, but I wish I had one on my VW

Letter G
Do you chew gum? Hell yeah! I'm chewing some now. My husband and daughter are now hooked. We prefer the sugar-free varieties., currently it is Altoids Cinnamon and the white flavor :)

Are you a giver or taker? I am a mom. I giveth and I taketh away.

The Letter H
How are you? Just peachy

What’s your height? Shorter than a 20 ' lime tree, but taller than a 5' dwarf lemon tree.

What color is your hair? Clairol Auburn, if I remember correctly

The Letter I
What is your favorite ice-cream? Haagan Daas Dulce de Leche and Birthday Cake Remix at Coldstone

Have you ever ice-skated? Yes. Last time was in the front yard of an in-laws in St Paul MN in February.

Do you play an instrument? Yes, I can play a tenor sax, clarinet, alto and soprano recorder and last year I took some beginning piano classes

The Letter J
What is your favorite jelly bean? Hmmm... all of them except the Harry Potter flavors and Jalapeno

Do you wear jewelry? Duh! I am girl.

Have you heard a really hilarious joke? Oh yeah, everytime the freakin' president has a press conference. However, that is a very painful joke most of the time.

The Letter K
Who do you want to kill? Uh, no one. Who would ever honestly answer this question? Like killing someone ever solved anything.

Do you want kids? Life answered that question for me. I have one.

Where did you have kindergarten? I didn't go. My school district was full, so I stayed home for kindergarten and just went to 1st grade when I was 6.

The Letter L
Are you laid-back? Depends on my mood and situation, but I do worry a lot, internally.

Do you lie? Occasionally, but typically I am too blunt, candid and honest to a painful point

Do you love anyone? Yep, a few people come to mind

The Letter M
What is your favorite movie? I have asked myself and husband this question and I have narrowed it down to 10 movies I would want with me on a desert island. Raiders of the Lost Ark is #1 on that list.

Do you still watch Disney movies? Yes, I have a 3 year old wanna-be princess in the house.

Do you like mangos? Yes..mango ice cream, fresh mango, mango salsa, dried mango.....

The Letter N
Do you have a nickname? Norm. It is from high school and no one has really come up with a more clever one since then. It was a reference to the TV show "Cheers."

What is your favorite number? 3 and my favorite age was 25.

Do you prefer night or day? Probably night. It is quieter. I love a starry warm night driving with the convertible top down.

The Letter O
What is your one wish? Good health for my friends and family and then world peace

Are you an only child? No, I have 1 and maybe 2 step-brothers (depends on the laws of marriages, etc). 3 Half-brothers (2 I have never met). 1 half-sister. Oh, and due to a recent' re-marry by my mom, I also have 2 other step-brothers and a step-sister.

Do you wish this year was over? No, it just started and too much to enjoy and look forward to

The Letter P
What is one fear that you are most paranoid about? Husband dying in a car crash driving home from work.

What personality trait would you look for in someone you wanted to date? Sense of humor and loads of patience and lucky me found both in my guy!!

The Letter Q
Are you quick to judge people? Yes, but I am quick to change my mind with more conclusive data comes in.

The Letter R
Do you think you are always right? Nope, but I do hate being wrong

Do you watch reality T.V.? Yes, my husband hooked me on "Survior", which is more like a game show. It definitely isn't "real".

What is a good reason to cry? To release pent up emoti0ns

The Letter S
Do you prefer sun or rain? I love the sun, but there is nothing like a wonderful winter rain in February or a foggy day anytime of the year.

Do you like snow? It is fabulous to visit, but wouldn't want to live in it.

The Letter T
What time is it? 5:58 PM

What time did you wake up? 7:30-ish a.m.

When was the last time you slept in a tent? Last summer

The Letter U
Are you wearing underwear? Always. 100% cotton is the only way to go.

The Letter V
What is the worst veggie? cauliflower

Where do you want to go on vacation? Spain

What was your last family vacation together? Disneyland last November

The Letter W
What is your worst habit? Over eating

Where do you live? Northern California

The Letter X
Have you ever had an X-ray? Yes, but I think X-ray vision would be cooler.

Have you ever seen the X-Games? Yeah, they were in San Francisco once when I saw them.

Do you own a xylophone? It is a toy one shaped like an aligator that can be dragged around by a toddler. I can play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on it.

The Letter Y
Do you like the color yellow? Not particularly, but I love safety yellow on a car . . . less likely to be missed. Due to fear above, I want my husband's next car to be safety yellow.

What year were you born in? In the Age of Aquarius

What do you yearn for most? Inner peace and smaller waistband.

The Letter Z
What is your Zodiac Sign? Aquarius

Do you believe in the Zodiac? Nope, but it is amusing to read horoscopes and talk about who you soulmate would be according to the stars. Can't be any less accurate than those lame psychology personality tests.

What is your favorite zoo animal? Gorillas. I think they are so sad and fascinating to watch in the zoo. Would a human be that calm stuck in a pen at the zoo? And their eyes....very deep, dark eyes.

Whew! That only took a couple days to finish.

My late night artist

The last couple of weeks our lovely little 3 year old has turned bedtime in a record setting event of how many times can she get up and bother her parents with silly requests and statements that she has to go potty. It is driving us mad. It has driven us to start reading the parenting books again, something we haven't done in a long while. So, we have been working with her and talking to and doing the stuff the books and internet sites have said to do. Last night she didn't go to bed until after 11pm, but what happened was awesome.

I was staying up late dealing with my latest addiction (the TV show, "Scrubs"). She had only been up once for the bathroom, which was a huge improvement. I heard her in her room rustling around, but she didn't come out and then around 11pm she came out with this amazing piece of artwork and said she had made it for me. Below is her masterpiece:

She has never created a piece like this before. She has colored coloring book pictures and done some crayon work, but this by far was the most amazing. And she came out of her room, all calm and sparkly-eyed and I think a smidge proud. I wasn't mad she was up. I was amazed by the creativity, explanations of what was in this picture.

She pointed out the red flower she put in there. It was in honor of the potted mini roses she had seen at the store earlier today and had wanted to bring home. She also said there are sheep and pink flowers in it. I thanked her and complimented her artwork. She beamed. She had one final visit to the bathroom and was off to sleep. I just love looking at it. I may need to frame it for our bedroom.

The negative to it, she used a scrap piece of paper from our recycle pile so there is some printing on it, but I guess that just makes the piece more environmentally friendly.

I am frustrated, so I write this blog

I was initially going to sit down and type about the day I had a work. I left the hospital today not knowing whether I should cry, scream, hit something or drink heavily. I will keep the summary of my day short by saying I was nearly 2 hours behind on every task until about 1 hour before my shift ended. It was also the last day of my orientation. The next time I work, I will be totally on my own. No more training wheels. So...what do you think? I think I need to cry, scream, hit something and drink heavily!

Then, I got home and had a nice family dinner with a glass of wine. I chatted online with my mom and a friend. I got happier and less angry and frustrated. However, I am still a tad frustrated. I have the cursing now under control.

So, I would like to instead list things that I am happy for and that make me happy and thus hopefully, therapeutically and release all that negative energy. Here it goes (in no particular order):

• My health and my family's health (see other rant regarding this)
• I married my best friend, the one who I could actually spend eternity with on a deserted island The singing voice on my 3 year old
• My dog's big brown doe eyes
• My house, shack that it is, it is a roof over our heads with a yard for the kid and dog
• My mom: she really did a lot for us kids and continues to do so
• A working car
• My job: most days the job does make me happy and is very rewarding
• My soft warm bed
• Flannel pajamas
• Lotion: my hands love it more after a long day of handwashing at work
• Beer and the people who make good beer
• Music: so many kinds of wonderful sounds for almost every mood
• Comedies and comedians: laughter is sooooooo awesome and necessary to sustain life
• Massages
• Shoe shopping
• Jewerly shopping
• Having enough money to buy the above items when out shopping
• Chocolate: how could I forget that special item that is so healthy for you too!
• Fall leaves
• The beach: no matter what the weather is, I need the sound of those waves and the feel of sand under my feet
• Naps
• My child saying "I am happy" or "I love you, Momma" or "I'm tired and am ready for bed" (still waiting for that last one)
• Driving a 1978 VW convertible on a nice summer night when the moon is full or the sky is full of starts. I just love the sound of the wind and the purr of the engine.
• Babysitting offers from the family
• Car shopping, but not buying.
• Coffee: some days just wouldn't be possible without
• Good friends and good conversations
• Silence
• Walking in the evening
• A good stretch
• Phone calls from someone you haven't heard from in a long time
• Disneyland
• Fog
• San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 on an early Saturday morning before all the tourists and traffic arrive
• Hugs

Wow. I do feel better and I am sure that list isn't complete. I may have to add more to it later.

My latest happy thing

I have been on the look-out for a good laugh outloud comedy for quite some time, but I just don't watch a lot of tv. I need comedy. Need the laugh. So, the other day on a whim, I saw that this sitcom, "Scrubs" was playing re-runs on the Comedy Channel. I set it up to record on my Dish DVR (aka TiVo knock-off) and I have been laughing ever since. Oh my goodness, what an outrageously silly and funny show, but also at times so full of touching truth. I can't believe it took me 3 years (or is it 4 that the show has been out) to finally watch it.

So, it has me laughing and I am hooked. Maybe it isn't my latest happy thing...I think it is more like my latest addiction. I've watched it 3 days in a row which makes that 12 episodes from Comedy Channel. I was so disappointed to see it won't be on the next two days!! At this rate though, I could be caught up to the latest season in another week or so.

In the meantime, I think I need a Dr Cox poster for my room or something so I can gave him a fake kiss on the lips or slap on the ass everyday (maybe both!). Aw, sweet Dr Cox with his crazy facial expressions and long, LONG rants. My hero. Swoon.

A pet peeve lately

Oh, in the old days I had so many pet peeves, I practically had a zoo, a menagerie. So many little things to tick me off. I have mellowed though and my list is shorter. I rant less often. However, I caught myself ranting lately about this inane little quote that I see tagged on those humorous emails. You know, the emails that have all these cute life lessons in them or the fun reason why chocolate should be considered a health food or why beer is good for you (I think it is, isn't it??), etc. Then at the end of the email is that quote about how I rather end up sliding into my grave, partied out versus old and well preserved. I am summarizing the quote since I don't have it memorized and I typically delete it after it illicits a wry little smile from me.

Why does it bother me? I guess it is a by-product of the new job. I see lots of people who lived their life vicariously and end up in the ICU regretting it or so comatose they can't regret it and in the worse of cases, they lived their lives so wild and crazy they are sick beyond recovery and no one is left in their life to have any regrets for them (except for me, I suppose). I read that quote and I think the person dying in this hospital bed obviously felt the same way at some point. That they were living life to the fullest when in fact they were just killing themselves with overindulgences. I see them there in the bed and I am thinking they are full of regret, pain and loneliness and not one of them saw their lives becoming so drastically altered, at 41 or 49 and sometimes a very young 21 or 25 year old.

I think the majority of people wished they could live to that quote, but only a few really do, fortunately. I'd like to live according to a more moderate life philosophy. One, where you do things in moderation, not excess or deprivation. Life is meant to be enjoyed, but you should also cherish it. It is a fragile thing. Truly fragile.

Basically, far too many times we all take our health for granted. How many times has someone asked if you could have anything in the world? Did you say, "Good health and the ability to die in my sleep at the ripe old happy age of 100."? Nah, most of you would say, "I'd like to win the lotto" or "Write the Great American Novel". However, it would be hard to do or enjoy either without some decent health to get you there.

Yeah, I suppose I am in a dark ranting mood today. Best I should shuffle off to go listen to my old "Smiths" cassette tapes....if I could only find a tape player.......

Shout it out loud

I love music. Nothing special about that. Lots of people love music. Every once in awhile I hear a song that really strikes an emotional chord with me. Recently, it is a new song from Amos Lee. Everytime my local radio station (kfog.com) plays it I have turn the volume to 10 and sometimes, shout it out with Lee.

It reminds me of my old office job and why I chose my new career. However, music and poetry are so similiar, in that each song and poem can mean many things to many people. Here are the lyrics. Maybe it will mean nothing to you or something altogether different.

"Shout Out Loud"

A thousand empty windows

And only half the lights are out

I wonder what these people's lives

What they might be all about

Do they got a lover

And could they have a family

Could it be they're just as lonesome

As you and me

I wanna shout out

Shout out loud

Why don't you all

Just come on out

And we can

Tear it all down, yeah

White lights burning

Down an empty avenue

I wonder if their driver

Found someone he can go on home to

I wanna shout out

Shout out loud

Why don't you all

Just come on out

And we can

Tear it all down, yeah

Cause everybody's got a part in the game

And everybody's got a cross they can claim

And everybody's got somebody to blame

But we all must find our own way, yeah yeah

I wanna shout out

Shout out loud

You can listen to his song at http://www.amoslee.com/music.php

PS: "I wish I was a punk rocker" by Sandi Thom TOTALLY ROCKS!!! Makes me wish my stereo went to 11 on the volume dial. http://www.sandithom.com/site/audio.php

A Red-Letter Day

I developed this habit a few years ago of marking a red X on my calendar at work to designate a good day. I disliked my job so much back then, I started to try and accentuate the positive. Everytime I got a little down about the current day, I could look on my calendar for a red letter and remember the reason(s) I put it there and feel a littler better.

So, in keeping with that, I would like to share my wonderful red-letter day this past Sunday with my daughter. It was one those rewarding, rare moments you need to document to make up for the HOURS of torture and hard work that child-raising can be. Our daughter is a strong, free-spirited, must-be-the-lead-dog kind of child. She is only 3 and we are always butting heads on just the basics of the everyday....like washing hands after going to the bathroom, saying "please", getting dressed, don't run off in the mall ... the list is endless! However, from what I hear, this is common of all 3 year olds.

Back to that red-letter day. She woke up in a wonderful mood. We were going to spend the day putting up the Christmas decorations. She said her pleases with no queenly proclamations such as, "I am thirsty!" She picked out clothes to wear that were actually appropriate for the weather and matched. She dressed herself. She announced that she washed her hands after going potty (and she wasn't lying about it). She combed her hair all by herself. She was grinning with pride at all these accomplishments. I heaped on the praise for all the jobs well-done. She says, "Mommy, you are not made, are you?" I said, "Nope. You are being such a big girl today." It was so pleasant, practically perfect.

Christmas music was playing and she loved it. The decorations were going up (only a few minor curses from the husband dealing with lights blowing fuses). The sun was shining on a crisp day. Ahhh, just a brilliant red-letter day. (Can you see me smiling?)

Then, later that night as we sat in the living room admiring our Christmas decorations, I jokingly asked, "So, do you think we have enough decorations up?" My husband said, "You mean we actually have some left?" (Of course not, silly!) Our daughter puts her finger to her chin and says, "No. We still need pink presents." (Pink is her fav color and her grandparents said they are sending her "pink presents" for Christmas).

I'll be smiling over this day for quite awhile.

PS: Out of curiousity I wanted to know where the expression "red letter day" comes from and found this site: http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Article1391.html