Tuesday, January 22, 2008

100th Post!

I've been out of the blogging loop for some time, but here I am--back with my 100th posting. In the great tradition of blogging, it is a truly random collection of thoughts, just super-sized for the occasion. Some of the items are kind of cheating, as you'll see. (Click on them to enlarge.) If you actually make it to the end of this post, I applaud you.

1. I would love to have a potter's wheel and a kiln.

2. Of all the places in the world I'd like to see, I'd most like to someday visit New Zealand.

3. Unfortunately, I really don't like all the cleaning, packing, waiting, sitting, dealing with delayed or cancelled flights and hours of driving that usually go with traveling.

4. However, someday I would love to take a road trip and just explore the great Northwest.

5. If I had lots of extra time, I'd be interested in studying all the latest developments in brain research.

6. Understanding some of these developments and discoveries was very handy when I was teaching.

7. I'd also like to learn more about (very) ancient civilizations.

8. I'd like to learn about Scottish plaids.

9. I think it's so interesting how the different patterns have proper names: Stewart, Dress Stewart, Campbell, etc.

10. My favorite is Black Watch.

11. There are lots of words that are just fun to say.

12. Lollipop, meadow, Talledega

13. There are lots of flower names that just roll off the tongue.

14. Agastache, Alyssum, Nicotiana

15. The state of Washington has many catchy names for cities and counties.

16. Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan, Skamania, Snoqualmie, Chelan

17.


18. As long we both shall live, my husband will always give me a bit of a hard time about the fact that I bought my wedding dress before he proposed.

19. When I get packages in the mail that have newspaper packing, I like to smooth the papers out and see if there are any interesting articles.

20. Especially if the package is from my parents and they used the Sunday Oregonian to cushion the items.

21. I'm so glad to be a Christian--you have Someone to thank in the good times and you're never alone in the hard times.

22. I'd rather not ever, ever sky dive.

23. When stuck in traffic, however, I've often wished my car had wings.

24. Speaking of going up, although I groan at what lies ahead while at the bottom, I do like conquering the challenge of climbing a big hill. Especially if there's a spectacular, incomparable view at the top.

25. Coming down, though, can be tricky. (Heebie jeebie..)

26. The home where I live now is the 10th place I've lived in my life.

27. I've lived in three states: Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

28. I've been to ten funerals in my life, none of them relatives. Six of them were for people younger than age fifty, four of those were children.

29. Some people like funerals. In my experience, they've been rather traumatic.

30. I've lost track of how many weddings I've been to.

31. A kind of golden, rosy peach is my color.

32. But my favorite color has always been red.


33.


34. I have a weakness for making sweeping generalizations.

35. In my quest to read more of the classics, I read Moby Dick last summer.

36. You can skip large sections of the book because they have nothing to do with the plot. The main character just really loves whales and is extremely thorough in discussing them. Kind of reminded me of Bubba in Forrest Gump--"shrimp gumbo, shrimp stew," etc., etc.

37. When I found out Moby Dick is meant to be a type of allegory, it made the book much more meaningful.

38. The whale is God.

39. I wished I had my grandfather's lecture notes on this book.

40. The sound of hands rubbing against carpet makes me cringe.

41. Flowers make me happy.

42. I love the smell of geraniums on my hands.

43. Drinking tea does good things for you.

44. Me and my husband go together like "peas and carrots, Jen-ny".

45. We have a daughter who makes us laugh, amazes us, makes us look at each other and say, "hmm, where'd she get that stubbornness from?", and for whom we are grateful every day that God has given into our lives.

46. Becoming a parent changes the color of your life.

47. The Body Shop's Shea Body Butter is wonderful for dry skin in a dry climate.

48. I'd like to take up weaving again someday.

49. And I've always had a hankering to explore the desert Southwest, especially New Mexico.

50.

51. I admire Super Nanny.

52. When I was teaching preschool, I noticed that the parents could be divided into two groups as they said goodbye to their little ones.

53. Their parting words were either "Be good" or "Have fun".

54. Usually I wished the Have Fun parents would say Be Good.

55. Occasionally, I wished certain Be Good parents would say Have Fun.

56. When you hear money talking, it usually ends up demonstrating some of the worst qualities of human nature.

57. I'd like to master the use of the semi-colon.

58. When I was in high school, one of my dreams was to have a jeep, a cowboy hat and a dog named Shonto.

59. When I was a child, my plan for the first thing I'd do when I got to heaven was to find Mary and ask her what Jesus looked like when He was a baby.

60. Now I think I'll spend about the first 500 years just looking at Anna Hope.

61. Does getting stressed out/overly emotional about something make you sick?

62. OR, do you you get stressed out/overly emotional about something because you're getting sick?

63. I think the copy and paste feature on computers is really cool.

64. Copy and paste: it conjures up that crafty feel. Besides, it works so neatly. I feel like it's an accomplishment to see long text copied from one place to another, precisely, with only a few key strokes.

65.

66. It is what it is.

67. Though I imagine that someday soonish, we will have to make a "no running in the house" rule, for now I enjoy the 'pat-pat-pat' sound of Katya running from one room to another.

68. Her 'pat-pat-pats' are getting heavier and faster though.

69. I also enjoy the way K runs. She puts a lot of energy into moving fast--head down, arms pumping, legs swinging out to the side. She is not a slow runner, however.

70. "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken." Pastor Bill Ritchie

71. Have you ever noticed how music becomes much more poignant with lots of little details that you don't otherwise hear when you listen to it in your car, driving along at night?

72. I really, really hate losing things.

73. This winter has been much snowy-er than last. What is it about the falling snow that continually draws you to the window as the Robert Frost line about watching the woods fill up with snow floats through your head?

74. When I lived in Wenatchee, however, the omnipresence of the heavy winter snows was a bit overwhelming. As I watched the flakes fall, the line that involuntarily came to mind was from 2nd Chapter of Acts' Lion and the Witch and the Wardrobe album: "We can't take much more..whiite snooow...."

75. Sometimes I think K's middle name should be "She Who Will Not Be Hurried."

76. Even though I've had this job for a couple of years now, I still occasionally feel a little surprised to be the one who's "The Mom."

77. I have a hard time understanding why someone would want to be, or actually try to become famous.

78. My favorite kind of apple is the McIntosh.

79. My second favorite is the Golden Delicious.

80. Third favorite is Pink Lady.

81.

82. Things that touch me are: unexpected kindnesses, displays of courage in trying circumstances, beauty.

83. I like to drive with my hands in the 9 and 3 o'clock positions on the steering wheel.

84. When I first learned to drive my hands went naturally to 10 and 2 o'clock, but then I read that you have a few fractions of a second longer reaction time in 9 and 3. I have driven that way ever since.

85. My motto is: the more sleep, the better.

86. I've always loved to have something sweet to munch on before going to bed.

87. One of the things I like about being a stay home mom is having a bit more time to make treats for this purpose.

88. Lately I've been on a cookie-making kick. It felt like an accomplishment recently when the store-bought cookies I brought home seemed like an almost-extravagance.

89. I have a deviated septum.

90. I'm glad 2007 is over.

91. In the early morning, I have a strong aversion to any more artificial light than what is absolutely necessary. In the evenings, however, I turn on almost all the lamps and lights we have.

92. K seems to have inherited the evening-turning-on-light-love. As soon as she gets up from her nap, she runs around the house, turning on all the light switches and lamps she can reach.

93. I used to think of the year as a 24 hour day. For example, January is 2 am, February is 4 am...June is noon..August is 4pm...December is midnight.

94. I like it when the weather stays cold enough after it snows that our street is white all day.

95. It's a long-standing family tradition to have candles lit at dinner when Daylight Savings Time is not in effect. It's like having the presence of warm, comforting companions about. K loves them, too.

96.

97. "One person's picture postcard is someone else's normal." Barbara Kingsolver

98. "When tasks stand in front of you, they frown; when they are accomplished and behind you, they smile." As a perpetual procrastinator, this quote motivates me to get moving.

99. For me, ironing can be a meditative activity.

100. The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is peek outside to see what kind of day it is.

3 comments:

Lauren said...

Happy 100th post!!!

I loved the "be good" and "have fun" observations.

Liza on Maui said...

Great to see you posting again! I'm doing a quickie round right now. I'd be back to read this 100 post and the rest of your new posts :)

Liza

Anonymous said...

Happy 100 post - it was great!

Here are a few comments from me:
#2 - I'll go with you to New Zealand! That would be sooo fun!
#14 - you'll have to tell me how to say these names, I only know alyssum (sp??)
#15 - Check out some WI names: Mukwonago, Oconomowoc, Muskego, Wauwatosa, Manitowoc. Weee! I'd drive by these on my way to college.
#21 - Amen to that!
#29 - Interesting that you haven't been to any famiy funerals - that is what the most of the ones I've been to were. I did go to one former student's funeral - very sad.
#40 - I don't get this! I tried it right after I read it. What is so bad about that sound? :)
#45 - I agree, God has blessed us both very richly with wonderful daughters!
#60 - Very sad, yet very sweet. *hugs*
#67 - Haha - we'll have to make this rule eventually too. It is cute to watch them run at this age, isn't it?
#76 - I often think this too! What? I'm the mom?!!?
#80 - I have to disagree - pink lady is the best by far.
#83 - I'm a lazy driver - hands usually at 7 and 5, unless I feel that the roads are hazardous - then 10 and 2.
#93 - never thought of the year this way - what a neat concept!
Loved all the Calvin and Hobbes!