50 Things About Me

Yeah...so this is one of those narcissistic post with me telling you 50 random things about myself. I am, after, the queen of random knowledge. Ken the Jeopardy man gots nothing on me! So...here goes!

1. I have been married for almost two years now. Sometimes it seems like more...sometimes it seems like less.
2. I never took a beginning acting class while I was in high school or college. Somehow I always got right into the advanced classes. This upset a lot of people...but I don't care.
3. I wear a size 11 shoe. This shocks many people because I don't look like I have huge feet. This is the one and only thing that Paris Hilton and I have in common.
4. I have a photographic memory. This came in very handy when I was in school because it was easier to memorize things, including line for a show.
5. My favorite color was not always pink. It didn't become pink until I was a senior in high school. Until then it was blue. And while I still love the color blue, pink is for princesses, which I am.
6. I hate the smell of cooked onions. They just smell burnt to me and it makes me gag. If I can burp something up hours later and still taste it, it ain't right!
7. Lavender and vanilla are my favorite scents. Fabreeze makes a great room spray. My husband isn't a fan, but I still make him use it after he's done in the bathroom.
8. Back in college, I was a founding member of an online group called "Walk to Rivendale". This was a group of people trying to get in shape and so the challenge was to get a group together, be it in your neighborhood or online, and walk the same distance that Frodo and Sam walked to Rivendale in the Lord of the Rings books. I made it there and back again several times while I was living on campus at the U. The Chicago chapter of the group was even on Oprah once. That's my true nerdom coming out.
9. I love Robert Downey, Jr. He is a wonderful actor and I have loved him even through the drug years. 
10. I have never read the book "Charlotte's Web". I have seen the movie and have heard the story, but I have yet to sit down and read th book. I have no desire to do so and I doubt I ever will.
11. I am a classically trained singer. It's not opera and it's not belting. Think Josh Groban...that's what I was trained to do. 
12. When I was 12, I won a contest on the radio by singing the national anthem in bubble language. This is when you sound like you are under water. I never did get my cd from them.
13. If I had the money and space, I would have the largest shoe collection in the world! I love them. Since I have been married I have only bought 3 pairs of shoes. So sad.
14. When I got my first iPod, I have to have my little sister and my husband teach me how to use it. I felt a little old at that point.
15. I love salsa! But not Pace or anything like that...no, REAL salsa. Like the kind I make and the kind I taught my sister Gina to make. It's fresh with lots of spice and cilantro and garlic. YUM!
16. If all else fails in life, I am going to go to school to be a massage therapist. I have been told I have a gift for it with my large "man hands". (Thanks Jill!)
17. It was my goal for the longest time to be a member of the US women's softball team and play in the Olympics. Thanks to my own, clumsy self, that dream was to never come true.
18. I love music. As long as I can sing to it, it's great. If it's a screamo or rap group, no thanks! I will pass.
19. Even though I love musical theater, I HATE Rogers and Hammerstein. Sondheim falls into the group as well, and Andrew Lloyd Webber is getting to that point as well. The next person that also tells me that Les Miserables is the best musical ever will get a stab to the jaw by yours truly. And no, Wicked isn't that great either. But whatever.
20. While we are on the musical theater topic, I also dislike Fiddler on the Roof, Gilbert and Sullivan and Cole Porter. I think I have covered everything in this realm.
21. Tennessee Williams was a bitter queen and a horrific writer. 
22. On the other hand, Neil Simon is my favorite playwright. 
23. I really don't like most chick flicks. I would rather gouge my own eyes out with a rust spoon then sit through most of the chick flicks these days.
24. Yet...I really loved "The Notebook." Go figure!
25. I buy DVDs for the special features and the commentary. That's the first thing I think of when I see a movie for the first time.
26. I love pasta. I could eat it everyday and be happy.
27. I am partially deaf in my left ear thanks to some ear drum damage from a few years back.
28. I doodle when I am talking on the phone. No offense...it's just how I roll.
29. I have to have music on when I study. It keeps the over-active ADD part of my brain occupied while the rest of me is concentrating. 
30. I cannot fall asleep with the TV on. It has to be quiet and dark. 
31. Growing up I had a fear that our house was going to burn down in the middle of the night because of a cruel game my sisters liked to play. It was called Lock-Holly-in-the-bathroom-turn-off-the-lights-and-tell-her-the-house-was-on-fire-and-not-let-her-out. Yeah...that caused some trauma.
32. I love to play certain video games - namely the Lego games. They have Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman and next month Harry Potter will come and join the family. I am so darn excited. 
33. I have been an editor for three published books. When I can, I will add links so that you can check them out.
34. I love chocolate. And cheese. But not together. Unless it's chocolate cheesecake, then bring it on!
35. My all-time favorite movies include: Singing in the Rain, The Court Jester, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Star Wars (the original three), Keeping the Faith and Lord of the Rings. Casa Blanca is up there as well.
36. I am allergic to certain bubble bath solutions. I have sensitive skin and can't handle it.
37. I was also allergic to disposable diapers as a baby and had to use the cloth ones. My siblings were not so happy about that.
38. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? I kill you. That's all there is to it.
39. I have scars on my shoulders from getting some pretty bad sunburns as a kid. 
40. I didn't have much hair on my head until I was about 5. And now? It's out of control.
41. Flip flops are my friends.
42. Fall is my favorite time of year.
43. Baseball is my favorite sport.
44. Josh Groban could sing me to sleep every night and I would never get bored or annoyed with it. I love him!
45. My family and I can recite lines from movies for hours and still manage to carry on a meaningful conversation.
46. Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper are my biggest weakness next to a maple donut.
47. I could never be a vegetarian. I love me my meat. 
48. My dream car is a 2010 Chevy Malibu. (I know...it's kind of sad. But I would love it!)
49. I have and love Clay Aiken's Christmas album.
50. I am double jointed. It's fun to gross my husband out with all of my tricks.

 So there you go! There are 50 random facts about me. Now here's the challenge...post 50 things about yourself. I would love to see what you are all about.

Sand needs toes and other words of wisdom

Happy Spring everyone! At least...the calendar says it's Spring time. I guess the more correct phrase would be Sprinter - Spring and Winter. Thank you Mark Eubanks!

A couple of years ago, not too long before me and the mister got hitched, we were at his uncle's house in Eden. No, really. He lives in Eden. It's up Ogden Canyon a little ways. He has all this land and we go up every year for a bbq and some fun. He has all of these fun things to play with. With all of this going on, I saw my nephew, Kaleb, was playing in the sandbox. He was all by himself and I went over to see if he was ok. I asked him, and he said he was fine. Here was our conversation. Mind you...he was 3.

Me: Kaleb? What are you doing?
Kaleb: I am playing in the sand.
Me: Yeah?
Kaleb: Yeah...sand needs toes. That's why my shoes are off. You should take yours off too.

As I looked, he was indeed barefoot, with his toes deep in the sand. With all that was going on around him, he decided to enjoy the most simple thing there...the sand. So, I followed directions and took my shoes off as well and buried them in the sand. I think we were in the sandbox for a good hour, just enjoying the sand. Not because our toes needed to be exfoliated...but because the sand needed our toes. Because, after all, what good is the sand if it doesn't have some toes in it once in a while?

We are all so depended on each other for survival. Not only for the physical survival, but the emotional and spiritual survival as well. And it's it funny how it is usually out of the mouths of babes that we are reminded of this?

When we were living in the Avenues, I was the Primary chorister. There were 12 kids in there...if everyone showed up. And there were two boys. The rest were mostly 7 year old girls. One of the younger girls, Zoe, was 5. She always had the biggest smile on her face and big blue eyes. On Sunday mornings, she would come in with her older sister and say "It is a beauty-ful day today!"  And after that, it always was. She would always remind all of us of the beauty that God has given us on this great Earth. It always made me smile when she was there.

I am not sure where I am going with this post...but it's these little things that I remember children saying that just make me giggle and brings a smile to my face. I have been so blessed to be able to work with amazing kids...and some that will forever be little shits in my book. I miss working with the kids. I play the piano for Primary in our new ward, and it's the best calling in the church...EVER! But I don't interact a lot with the kids. And there are Sundays where that's ok and I would rather sit in my corner.

Thanks again for reading my stream of consciousness. I almost felt like I was Henry David Thoreau and writing On Waldon Pond...at least I think he's the one who wrote it. The whole book was an endless stream of consciousness. I sure hated it. Anyway, the point to all of this is that sometimes, we need to step back, enjoy the beauty-ful  day once in a while and remember, sometimes, sand needs toes.

PS - I have started my new job at work and I am not nearly as stressed as I was before. It's amazing how a small change like that can keep you off death row for stabbing someone in the the jaw with a ball point pen. I don't even have the desire to do that anymore. Just saying...