Moving Away? (GBE2 #116 Topic: First Steps)

I have a huge decision to make.

I want to make a gigantic change in my life.

I want to move.

 

 Not just around the corner or up the street.  Not to a nearby town or city.  Not even to a neighboring state.

I want to move ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY!!!

( Portland Baby!! My My dream wedding here I come!!!)

If you know me...or you've read this blog...then you may know that I've been having a love affair with the city of Portland for years.  Once I visited, the deal was sealed and I've wanted to be there ever since.

We've discussed it in the past.  We planned to move when all the kids were out of the house.  But recently, we've started feeling antsy...like a BIG change is just what we need.  

We've devised a plan.  We have a tentative date picked out.  Most importantly, we'll actually have the money to do it!  

Some of the kids are excited.  Some just flat out don't want to go.  I'm torn between making them happy and making one of my biggest dreams come true.  I'm torn between doing something terribly exciting and keeping things comfortable.

What if I can't find a job?  What if all the money runs out before we really get a handle on our new life?  

What if everyone hates it and they all resent me forever?

What if we all die from dysentery on the way?

What if?  What if?  What if?

I'm not taking this decision lightly.  I think about it every single day.  We talk about it constantly.  I keep telling people " I'm not comfortable with saying that we're actually going...but man, I sure want to..."

It is such a scary idea.

I'm so confused.

I guess for now we'll keep talking...researching and dreaming...working out the kinks in our plan.

Until...hopefully...we're ready to take the first step.

Eleventy-seven Questions

A little while ago Gill from Mojo Writin (Bright Blessings) tagged me to do this eleven-tag thing.  Being the colossal procrastinator that I am, I totally forgot about it kind of pushed it aside, until today, when I saw Beth (Word Nerd Speaks) take on this tag from about eleventy bajillion people.

Since today is pretty much a lazy day for me, I figured it might be fun to actually do it.  I'm going to do both Gill's and Beth's questions (since she tagged anyone and everyone!) but I'm not going to tag anyone myself.  This tag surely won't die with me and, honestly, I'm not feeling ambitious enough to come up with people to tag :-)

Eleven Things About Me!

1. In the last couple of months, we've adopted three senior cats.  Two girls, Big Mama and Bob, and one boy, Graphite.

2. Since doing this, I've discovered that I am actually a cat person.  More specifically--a fat cat person. I fell in love with Big Mama at first sight...she weighs in at 20 pounds!!  Bob weighs about 13 pounds.  I don't know...there's something about a fat cat that makes me smile.

3. I am making split pea soup for dinner.  I am a great soup maker.  I can make a tasty soup out of just about anything.

4. I've always hated mint.  Until very recently.  Lately I've been grabbing every chocolate/mint flavored item I can get.  Weird.

5. I do not own one pair of single color socks.  All my socks are wild crazy patterns.

6. Whales are my favorite mammal.

7. I absolutely love reading to my kids. 

8. I keep my spare change in an actual piggy bank,   She's a pink pig wearing a tutu and tiara.  I call her Priscilla.

9. I love perfumes that smell like food.  My recent favorite is called Un-Birthday. It smells like candy and it is awesome.

10. I have a job interview on Friday...send me positive vibes!

11. I am nowhere near interesting enough to come up with eleven things.

Now...for Gill's questions...

1. What is the first book you remember reading as a child? I read a lot of books!  The first one that comes to mind is the Sweet Pickles series.  I used to love those!

2. Have you ever owned a fad toy--such as a tamogotchi?  When I was a kid, I had cabbage patch kids and collected garbage pail kids cards.  That counts right?

3. What was your favorite childhood game? Clue.  Hands down.  I still love playing Clue.  Second would probably be word games like Scrabble and Boggle.

4. Can your body do anything strange--such as ear wiggling?  I can do the taco tongue thing.  My toes also can spread really wide apart.  I have pretty talented toes.  When I was young, I could flip the record I was listening to and restart it all with my toes.

5. If you had to spend the rest of your life in one room, who would you take for companionship?  I can't imagine anyone would want to spend forever with just me.  That's a punishment I wouldn't want to inflict...they'd go crazy for sure.

6. Do you have a friend who knows to wipe your computer should you suddenly die? No...and I don't think there is anything on here that I would be embarrassed for anyone to see anyway.

7. What is the worst grammar pet peeve that you have?  Oh but there are sooo many!  They're/their/there...your/you're....to/two/too...I see people say that they 'half to go to the store'  that irks the crap out of me.

8. You can go back and change one life decision--would you?  Nope...I'd keep it all the same.

9. You're coming back to this world as an animal--which one?  An orca whale.

10. Would you confront someone who was doing something illegal--such as littering or cycling on the pavement--if there were signs forbidding it?  I'd probably make some sort of obnoxious passive-agressive comment in a loud-ish voice.  I'm not big on confrontations.

11. What sound can make your heart miss a beat and a smile break out unbidden?  The sound of my children laughing and playing nicely.  

Now for Beth's questions.... 

1. When did you start feeling like a grown-up? I'm not sure I've reached that point yet.  I mean...I know I am...I'm almost 40...but it sure doesn't feel like it.


2. What celebrity made your heart go pitter-patter when you were a kid/tween/teen?  First it was Corey Feldman (my sister was the Corey Haim fan) then it was Donnie Wahlberg from New Kids On The Block.


3. What song do you and your sweetie think of as “your” song? We really don't have one.  There's been a few over the years that have been more like inside jokes but no real "our song".


4. Do you consider yourself patriotic? Why or why not? I wouldn't say that I'm overly patriotic.  That being said, when blatantly anti-American comments are being made, it does make me irritable.


5. What is something you once believed, but no longer do? Santa?  Tooth Fairy?


6. Jean shorts: Just fine or a sure sign of extreme dorkiness? I think it depends on the style of jean shorts.  They aren't my style but I've seen many people pull them off nicely.


7. Has an infomercial ever prompted you to make a purchase? If so, what did you buy? Nope, I can't say that I have bought anything. 


8. What snack do you have hidden in the back of the cupboard/fridge? Nothing especially decadent today.  I do have snap peas and salsa.  Healthy and tasty!


9. What book or movie seemed to speak to the masses, but didn’t do much for you? Fifty Shades of Grey.  It's just so badly written. I feel like it has an underlying message that risque sex practices and abuse/trauma are always linked.  That seems like a bad message to me.  And I honestly don't know how she got away with using "he smelled like Christian" that many times to describe his scent.  Ummmm....hello?  We can't really smell him...you have to do better than that!


10. What do you wear to bed?  Four days a week, I sleep at work.  I just wear whatever I put on to go to work that day.  At home, it's usually shorts and a t-shirt or some similar combination.


11. Is there a story of you as a child that your parents told so many times that it became part of your history? Something cute or funny you said or did, maybe? Care to share?  I can't really think of anything.  Maybe I was a pretty boring child ;-)

Here's to 80's crushes, Lame Concerts, and NOT Being Especially Deep (GBE2 #54 Topic: Self)

Without music, life would be a mistake.
Friedrich Nietzsche

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
Bob Marley

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau

There have a lot of awesomely deep posts for this week's GBE2 topic of "self".  The bad thing for me, this week anyway, is that I am not in a very deep thinking frame of mind.

 

I was watching videos on YouTube earlier and I noticed that there is a "music tag" going around.  I thought that doing this tag would be a lighthearted way to cover this topic and show you guys a little more of mySELF.  

 

1.  Who is your favorite band/singer?

Bands and singers fall into two different categories for me.  My all time favorite singer is Madonna.  My two favorite bands are Weezer and (The) Gossip.

 

2.  Is there a music artist that you admire makeup and/or fashion-wise?

I could say Madonna again but that would just get us off to a really boring start!  I could say Lady Gaga but that would just be like me saying Madonna again anyway.  So I'm going to say Nicki Minaj and Beth Ditto.  

 

3.  What was your first concert experience?

I wish I had a really cool or really rocking story for you here.  But sadly, my first concert experience was The Dirty Dancing Tour.  Followed by many other lame concerts that I thought were cool at the time.  I haven't been to a concert in almost twenty years.  The last one that I saw was Boyz II Men and Babyface when I was 19 (I think).

 

4.  What is your 'guilty pleasure' singer or band?

Britney Spears.  Sad...I know.  But I love danceable music and most of the time she satisfies that for me.

 

5.  Can you play any instruments?

Yes!  Well...I used to.  I played the flute from fourth grade until my junior year of high school.  I also could play small snippets of music on a keyboard.  I'm not very musically gifted, but hey...it's something!

 

6.  Have you ever sang/danced/performed in front of an audience?

I performed in a plethora of school concerts both in the band and the chorus (I swear they will let any kid in, because...trust me...no one wants to hear me sing!)  I competed in two prepared speech contests in high school as well--and won second place in the regional competition.  Okay, so it was second place out of the two whole people who showed up...but I still got a trophy!  Also, my high school boyfriend/first husband and I won first place in our school's lip sync contest.  But as an adult, I have not performed anything for anyone.

 

7. What is your favorite song or a song with significant meaning?

Seriously?  A whole blog could be written about that!  I have too many songs that have special meanings.  I have whole playlists devoted to different feelings and meanings.  My "official" favorite songs are:  'Into the Groove' by Madonna and 'Buddy Holly' by Weezer.  I consider them to be my favorites because they always bring a smile to my face and make me feel happy.

 

8.  Is there a genre of music that you don't like?

Yep.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I do not like country music.  There are precious few exceptions to this rule for me.  I could probably count the number of country songs I like on my hands and have fingers left over.

 

9.  Who was your first musician crush?

I can remember this like it was yesterday!  I had bought a New Kids on the Block cassette (cassette!!! Damn, I'm old!!) almost a year prior to this moment.  I didn't really like it and I gave the tape to my sister.  It was summer vacation.  I was 13.  I was in my bedroom watching MTV and the video for "Hangin' Tough' came on.  And there was Donnie Wahlberg looking so hot in his leather jacket and ripped jeans.  It was love at first sight and I just had to get that cassette back from my sister!  We, like so many tweens in the late 80's, became die hard fans.  Good thing she liked Joey or we'd have been fighting!  

 

Bonus:  My current musician crush (and has been for the last ten years...so it's doubtful I'm de-crushing anytime soon) is Justin Timberlake.

 

Which leads me to the last question...

 

10.  Put your music player on shuffle.  What's the first song that pops up?

'Lovestoned (I Think She Knows)' by Justin Timberlake       

 

            

 

 

Makeup Monster (30 Days of Truth--Day 4)

(Day 4 asks What is part of your daily routine that you enjoy?)

I am nuts for makeup. 

A little over three years ago, I mentioned to my husband that I was jealous of girls who had makeup skills.  I told him that someday I'd like to learn how to apply makeup--eyeshadow in particular--without looking like a toddler playing with her mother's makeup.  Back then, I wore just enough makeup to make me look human.  Anything beyond the most basic eyeliner, mascara and foundation was completely foreign to me.

My husband suggested checking the internet for advice and instruction.  That idea hadn't ever occurred to me.  After just a few clicks, I found myself bombarded with information.

And a monster was born.

With a lot of practice...and I do mean A LOT...I became pretty darn good at it.  There is always room for growth and improvement but, overall, I'm quite pleased with what I have learned to do during  what has become my obsession hobby.

Just about everyday....regardless of what my plans are...I usually do some sort of makeup.  Even if my plans are just running to the grocery store or going to work. 

This is my ME time.  An hour (depending on what I have to do that day) that is totally dedicated to what I want to do.

Some people relax with a glass of wine and a good book.

I grab a soda or a coffee, crank the tunes, and paint my face.

This is a shameless plug of my makeup blog...click here :-)

Right Now, Today (GBE2 #48 Topic: Now)

It's a lazy Saturday evening and this is a lazy Saturday post!  Sometimes you just need a day to be a little lazy...right?  Although the day was rather uneventful, there were some really spectacular parts thrown in.  So without further ado.....

Things I LOVE right now, today!

1.  The feeling of accomplishment that happens when I walk the entire perimeter or Joralemon Park.

2.  Baked apples with splenda and cinnamon.  It's like pie without the pie--or the guilt! 

3.  Two hour naps in the middle of the afternoon.

4.  Donut Shop Chocolate Glazed Donut flavored coffee.  Yum.

5.  Marathon of Supernatural with Jeff, Addy, and Bear.  We love the creepy adventures of the Winchester brothers.

6.  Lounging around with no makeup on, wearing my favorite jeans and Run-DMC t-shirt.  Lazy day couture!

7.  Rain and cool breezes.

8.  Music by Gossip.  My personal soundtrack for weeks.  The family is probably ready to beat me. (Oh no!  Not this AGAIN!!!)

9.  Cuddling up with my tubby kitty, Big Mama.

10. "Starfish kisses" from Mathias. (Kisses where he stays stuck to my cheek like a suction cup.)

Have a spectacular weekend everyone!!

Halloween Magic--BFF 128

I've never written for this group before.  But when I saw that the topic was HALLOWEEN, how could I not?

You see.......in our household there are really only two holidays.  Jeff's holiday.  And mine.

We celebrate the other ones, but it's more out of duty for the children.  We make a fuss about those because we have to.  But no other holidays get quite the fanfare around here that our favorites do.

Jeff is a Christmas nut.  Who doesn't love Christmas?  Well...I don't know anyone who gets into Christmas quite like Jeff.  But that's a blog for a couple months from now!

My holiday is Halloween.  I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!  It is my absolute favorite holiday.  Usually, by the time both mine and Addy's birthdays have rolled around, outside our apartment is fully decorated for the occasion (and both of us celebrated our birthdays this week!  This year, I've been slacking some).  The kids and I start talking about their costumes for next year on November first!  I love it more than Christmas and all of our other lackluster-ly celebrated holidays combined. 

Jeff doesn't understand this.  Well....by now he might...but he still pretends that he doesn't.

In Jeff's world...Christmas is the only holiday that matters.

To me, Halloween is a celebration of everything that I love about fall.  The crisp, cool autumn air...the leaves changing...apple picking....pumpkin picking...apple cider....the rustle of the leaves when little kids are running through them....the smell of decaying leaves....carving a jack-o-lantern and roasting the seeds. 

It's weeks of wonderful things that come to a climax on Halloween Night.

I love watching all the little kids and seeing what their costumes are.  Sure, some are store bought these days...but still adorable.  And I always manage to see some costumes that are truly creative and inventive.  Last year I saw someone dressed as a Dunkin Donuts (yes, the whole store!) and their friend accompanied them--as a police officer!  Priceless.

And...I am a sucker for all things creepy.  Bring on the vampires and witches.  The mummies and ghosts!  Cobwebs and cauldrons and potions--oh my!

But it's more than that.

The world is not the same as when I was a little girl.  Most of us don't even know our neighbors by name.  We suspiciously peek our our windows or peepholes before answering the door.  We are enclosed in our own little worlds--usually only venturing out of them through our keyboards nowadays.

Not on Halloween.

On Halloween...our neighbors will open their doors to each other.  They say hello.  We acknowledge one another's existence--if only for a few seconds.  The streets are alive with people.  For that small fraction of time, we get to be transported back to a time that is quite different from the one we live in now.

And THAT,  is a beautiful thing.

Happy Almost Halloween!