25 Random Things

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the application then click post).

1) I really dislike driving. Apparently my brother Lee Jay always knew this about me...I just discovered it in the last three or four years. If I could afford it, I'd hire somebody to chauffer me around.

2) I secretly hope to one day rock-climb. It's a big dream. I may be just a big enough dreamer to make it happen.

3) I went to see New Kids on the Block in Oct of 2008, and consider that one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

4) In the early 2000s, I was a closet Eminem fan. I think he's a brilliant lyricist. He expresses his emotions and anger through a creative outlet instead of being physically aggressive. (Well, minus that pistol-whipping incident in Royal Oak. He wasn't recording at the time.) Isn't this what therapy tells all of us to do?

5) My mom and dad were both married once before they married each other, and had kids from previous marriages. They got married and had my brother and myself. Both divorced parents didn't have custody, so I didn't realize we were a blended family until I was 5 or 6 and my teacher was discussing different types of families and used mine as an example. I vehemently denied this, until a fellow classmate (I believe it was Michael Kite) asked me if I ever thought about the fact that my sister and oldest brother's last names were different than mine.

6) I am a light sleeper in the city, and an extremly deep sleeper in the country. When camping last summer at the Grand Canyon, I slept like a log all night, every night. It was BLISS! Some of the best nights of sleep of my life!

7) I am lucky that I have great friends all over this nation who like to share fun experiences with me for vacations. I rarely have to pay a lot of money for vacations. Most of my best travels have included junior high or high school students, Josh (and now Kate) Higgins, and Momma K. Momma K is my favorite driving partner!!

8) I once discovered a 4-H fair in Montgomery County (Washington, DC) while visiting my girlfriends Sarah and Wendy. We may or may not have had some impromptu photo shoots involving horse poo and a plywood cutout of a cow head. And had an audience. Who pulled up lawn chairs. Who may have offered to take some photos and videos for us. Maybe. Or not.

9) I love to create and sing my own parody songs. My two grad school girlfriends, Wendy and Sarah, used to give me a topic and song tune, and I could do it on command. I sometimes leave them voicemails. Wendy gets a Christmas medley parody every year, but I forgot this year and was asked if we were 'fighting'.

10) In Christmas of 2002, I accompanied my sister and her 3 year old daughter (Emily) for a deluge of tests for Em. She had just finished up a round of chemotherapy and surgery, and had a day full of stuff to go through. On the way home from St. Louis, she started to get bored. I made up a Christmas cheer that she proceeded to do over and over all the way back to Palmyra. Every year since, and she's now 9, she says, "Aunt Alison...remember that Christmas cheer?" and proceeds to perform it again and again. Ho, Ho, Ho...Go, Santa, Go...

11) I secretly identify with Hermione Granger of Harry Potter because she has a double standard on the rules. She sees nothing wrong with entering the boys dormitory whenever she wants, yet gets upset with the boys when they want to come into her dormitory or her room. I used to do that at camp all the time. I always went into Kyle and Derrick's cabin whenever I wanted. I don't think I ever did that at SBR...but let's face it, SBR scared the bejesus out of me. And there were always boys from other places sitting on top of cabins, throwing sand, rocks or water balloons at people.

12) I can cook or bake just about anything. I can sew anything, and am surprisingly adept at fixing things. I say its years of 4-H and growing up in hardy frontier country. And my mom. And my junior high years working for Marguerite Keller, who seemed to think I could fix anything. One day she brought in a broken weed whacker and said, "You're so mechanical, you can fix anything!" I told her I had no idea what to do with something electrical. This from the same woman who washed a box of combs in her washing machine, and galoshes in her dishwasher. She also collected styrofoam cups with holes in them and would use them to separate her various nails/screws. She is a trip and a half.

13) If I don't get to do something creative for a few weeks at a time, I become a flurry of creative activity. Case in point: I crocheted two skeins of yarn into a scarf in a two-hour sitting at the box office shortly after Christmas because I had gone almost a month without an outlet. I also once sat in women's group at my church and 'created' four or five photo frames while everyone sat around talking. It was like I was in my own little world. =)

14) I have a great uncle who insists that our last name is actual Parfait, and that we were French living in Germany. When word got out that the military was coming through and would expel anybody without a German last name, our clan changed it to Burkhardt. Uncle George was a bit kooky, and lived without plumbing and didn't have electricity until my dad forced it on him. I remember hating to go in the outhouse. One time there was a hornets nest in the outhouse, and he had found "a hollowed out log to go in." My mom almost took me home becuase I cried so hard about going in a log. I was four.

15) I remember my third birthday, and thinking that my mom would try to show me that I was three fingers instead of two. I remember feeling irritated when she squated down to show me, and I retorted, "I KNOW! I'm THIS many, now!" My independent streak rearing its ugly head at an early age...

16) I have a set of twins that I call "my sons if I were old enough for that to be possible." I met them the summer they were 11. They turn...23 this March? Holy cow! Where has the time gone?!?!?! I love you two! Mytchel, come home safely! One is married and the other one engaged. I'm ready for some surrogate grandbabies, but let's call me Aunt Alison.

17) I was recently referred to as elderly by a teenager at a bus stop. I like to think he was thinking the phrase "respect your elders," and it was accidental.

18) I grew up eating wild game, and still do so on a regular basis. When your father, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, fill-in-the-blank-relatives are all hunters, there is an abundance of meat to go around. Buffalo, mule deer and....regular deer?....are on the menu quite a bit these days. Buffalo is actually heathlier for you than turkey and chicken, believe it or not.

19) The older I've gotten, the more I talk to my sister. We talk almost every day now. It's great.

20) I'm so a daddy's girl. I wasn't so much when I was growing up, but so am now.

21) I have become somewhat of a science fiction fan. I used to HATE it with a capital H-A-T-E. I'm on the bandwagon, now. Heroes, Lost, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter....love it all!

22) In keeping with my creative streak, I love music. I have played piano since I was five, and even had 9 students while I was in high school. I minored in music in college, and am a total music theory geek. I LOVE music theory while most true musicians detested the subject. It's like my Sudoku. Seriously. I'm currenlty trying to talk my roommate into taking music theory classes just so I can relive it vicariously through her. =)

23) I desperately want to learn guitar, but so desperately do not want to spend the money on one. So, girlfriends, its your job to tell my future husband or current boyfriend what a great gift this would be for me one day! Complete with some lessons.

24) I love to journal. I never used to have the patience for it, but have taken it up in the last couple of years. I even tried to find a journal writing club or group to join, but no such luck.

25) I really want to write a play or screenplay about my life. I think I have the right mix of crazy fun with really crazy stories to mix in. We'll see. I might do it just for my own fun.

Bride Wars

I saw this movie on Sunday. It was so good! I expected it to be funny, but sub-par, but it made me cry.

The focus is really on the life-long friendship between the two girls, and the bonds of sisterhood. I found myself reflecting on all my girlfriends throughout the movie. Go see it!

Balsamic Chicken with Pesto Gravy

I made this dish over the weekend. I didn't partake in the bitter greens part of it, because I don't care for arugala. I made mashed potatoes, instead. Yum!

Paying Off My Debt and Walking Off the Weight

Two great pieces of news...

I have done such a great job of sending extra payments from babysitting and working my part-time job at the box office to my credit card that I am down to $150 left to pay on it. Two more to pay off after that one and I'm home free!!

Also - lost 8 lbs in the last two weeks. Go me!

I believe we're in need of a year of jubilee

Read This.

This makes me sad, both for the the employee trying to do his job, and for the man who acted irrationally out of desperation.

No More Salt

I received a thumbs up from my dentist, yesterday, which was fabulous.

My Dr., however, was not too pleased. She took my blood, and I should get results next week. She officially diagnosed me with hypertension, although she didn't prescribe me drugs at this time. She did, however, tell me NO MORE SALT! Just like that. Very kind, but forceful. She said absolutely not to salty snacks, and limited salt intake from other things. I expect she's not going to be happy about my cholesterol level, either.

I have to be more regimented on my diet and exercise to keep from having some serious medical issues. We might be exploring lap-band surgery, but I think my insurance makes you jump through some serious hoops for that. We'll see.

All that said, does anyone have suggestions for a salt-substitute? I'm not a huge lover of salt, but I definitely cook with it and prefer seasoned salt on things. My father isn't supposed to eat much salt, so he uses Mrs. Dash, but it's not quite the same. Any suggestions?

A Good Start To The Resolution

I'm not much of a NY's resolution person. I generally don't stick to them. I have put on quite a bit of the weight I lost over a year ago (read: all the weight an another 5 lbs or so!), and my sister has put on a bit that she lost...so we decided to be each others' accountability.

On Monday I brought my workout gear and hit the treadmill for an hour. Yesterday I had a dentist and Drs appt that required a ton of walking in very snowy conditions (think walking on a sandy beach). I estimate that I walked about 3 miles before it was all said and done. Given how hard I worked just getting down one block in that snow, I'm calling that a good workout.

Tonight I have plans to hit my rock n roll stepper, then tomorrow and Saturday morning I expect another hour at the gym.

Feel Good Monday

Mondays are not usually a chart-topping day for me, but I'm having a great day. Curious? Here's why:

1) My bank gave me back $75. Long, long story that involves my having my bank account hacked into last month. It's been a long time coming to finish up my old account and close it.

2) I have several extra hundred dollars to pay towards my credit card debt. This means I'll have another one paid off by next month!! Hooray!!!

3) Taylor Swift. I loved her last album and have listened to it in its entirety multiple times. I just downloaded her new album because I love the song "Love Story." So catchy and I walk around singing, "Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone...It's a love story, baby just say yes..." Love it!

4) Free Lunch from Jimmy Johns because of a work meeting.

5) A very sweet woman from the denomination my school belongs to (who is from California) coming up to me at said lunch meeting and introducing herself and saying, "I've heard so much about you!"

6) Downgrading cable and still getting to keep local channels, and saving a ton of money.

7) Perdue Chickens that were $.88 a pound at Jewel. I bought 3. They are in the freezer, and will happily use my new roasting pan I got from my mom for Christmas.

8) Buying 2 lbs of country short ribs for $4, and a bag of 16 large naval oranges for $4. With high grocery prices, I was ecstatic to get these deals.

What I'm looking forward to:
Going to the gym! My back hurts and I'm feeling fatter than usual. =)

Flowers

I'm usually not a huge fan of fake flowers, but I love these. They are roses made out of shaved wood, and its hard to tell they are not real. My aunt has some at her house, and ended up buying me some for Christmas because I always comment on them.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland...

We've had about 8-10 inches of snow this weekend, with expectations for about 6 more over the next couple days.

I've become a friend of the bus!

Comcastic

So we just added phone and internet to bundle with our Comcast cable. My roommate just called to check on our bill, and it was totally messed up and showing almost $400. What the @#$#?

She's calling tomorrow to tell them to change it to what we were quoted, or shut the whole thing off. She called them tonight and actually said, "Did I just get ripped off?" to which the customer service rep didn't say anything. Boo!!!!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

I love desserts. One of my favorites is at a restuarant in Chicago called Lou Malnetti's...it's a chocolate chip cookie 'pizza' in a tiny deep dish pan, fresh baked when you order it, with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. Oh My Goodness!

I made my own version this evening. I microwaved a chocolate chip cookie and added ice cream. Yum!

Stretch.....Yawn....

No, I have not been in hibernation. Just terribly remiss at blogging for awhile.

I had a great ten days in Missouri with the family. My sister and I were pretty much attached at the hip, and spent a lot of time in The Century Press, a new coffee shop run by Anne and JD.

I highly recommend it. It's super cute on the inside (they did a lot of work on it!) There is also a book share/exchange inside. They make great lattes and the cheesecakes are to DIE for! They open ridiculously early (like 6 am) and stay open until 8 pm. My sister and I kept taking board games in and would hang out awhile.

Go check it out! It's where Mary's Cafe used to be.