In Which LLA Does A Sally Field Impersonation, and Has A Startling Confession To Make...

You like me!
You really like me!

---

I know, I know... I'm a silly pup.

But that's how I've been feeling all week, just basking in the love.
Seriously, have I ever written *anything* that has received 21 comments?
Much less 21 such nice ones???

I hope it is not too sad a comment on the state of my life that I've been just a little more smiley than usual this week, a state that I attribute largely just to the satisfaction of "being back" and all the niceness that has entailed.

And speaking of "you like me!" - I must like you all an awful lot, too.
Know why I say that???
Because...

I

Got

Caught

Up

On

ALL

My

Bloglines

!!!


Now, that could just be a sign of what a moron I am, or further documentation of my OCD, or proof that I like *you*, too.
The latter is by far the nicest explanation, so I'm choosing to go with that one.

Yup - I had somewhere in the ballpark of 2,800+ unread posts. And in this past week, I've read or scanned each and every one.

Funnily enough, you know what the hardest part was? Keeping comments to a minimum. I figured that you didn't want to be hit with a random comment on how cute something was three weeks ago, so I tried to be quiet (and mostly succeeded) But I was there. I looked over every word*.

And that's a sign of love and devotion, right?

Right?

Good - keep that in mind.

Because I'm done with the "Sally Field" part of this post. And on to the (perhaps) shocking confession part.

Ummmm... while I was gone from the blogiverse, I wasn't exactly gone from 'teh internets.' Not exactly.

And in doing so. I may have, kind of, sort of, ummmm (cheated on you???)

I blame peer pressure.

For months, I had been getting a lot of peer pressure from college friends to "join FaceBook!" "Join FaceBook!" "You got to join FaceBook" etc. etc. etc.

And finally, I caved.
Mainly just to quit getting harassed about not being on FaceBook.
(I guess if enough Sewanee folks bugged me to jump off a cliff, I'd eventually give in and do that, too...)

So I joined.
And, to my surprise, I kind of liked it.
Not nearly so much as I like y'all, it goes without saying.
But I did find some things there that just worked for me.

First off, I have been reading a lot lately. Even more so than usual. And FaceBook has this handy dandy BookShelf thing that I'm really enjoying. It lets me catalog what I've read and what I'm currently reading; it lets me see what my friends are reading; and it makes surprisingly good suggestions about what I should read next.

The other thing that I found that I liked about FaceBook was the ability to post my "status" - just a brief one line statement about what was going on with me.
I found that when I was not able to full-on blog, it was very satisfying to come up with my sentence for the day, and to get caught up with my friends by reading their one sentence.

Some days composing that single sentence was the most creative thing I had time to do! (I had hoped that that exercise might have made me a more thoughtful, more concise writer, but in proofreading this post, I can see that is not the case!)

So. There it was. The Startling Confession of my temporary defection. Hope you can forgive me. Or better yet? Maybe check it out for yourself??? Because I'm telling you, on really busy days??? It's like the CliffNotes version of what is going on with all your friends...

---

*I also got caught up on my email, too! But that was a total cheat. I just took everything pre-May and moved it to a folder called "Sort Through Later?" Except I never will... So if you sent me anything that needed a response prior to this month? Resend it??? But I had messages from last August that I kept holding on to in order to respond "someday" - and even I recognize the ridiculousness in that!

In Which LLA Attempts To Dip Her Toes Back Into the Blogisphere....

Mother's Day Pedicure, originally uploaded by lla.

Because that's the way to win your hearts back, right???
With a really bad pun, and a picture of my Fred Flintstone feet???

That's what I thought...
I mean, truly, who could resist *that* combination...

---

Hey Y'all.

It's me.

LLA?
(or Miss Cookie, if you're nasty...)

You might remember me, I used to actually post stuff here, and occasionally you found it funny enough to comment and things?

Yeah. Again, that's what I thought.

It's OK. Neither Flickr nor Blogger recognized me either.
Maybe it's my cool blue toes* that render me incognito????

Anyway - I really am trying to come back. For some reason, I'm just finding it difficult to get the BFC party started...

Where'd I go? Honestly, nowhere really. I just had a six-week period that was insane crazy busy. Nothing bad, but I realized it was potentially overwhelming. And in keeping with my New Year's resolution to "Just Be OK With Things" - I knew that something had to give. And the logical choice was blogging/blog-reading.

Sounds crazy, I know, to give up something that I enjoy. But long-time readers of BFC know that I have "issues." Many, many issues with many, many things. And that my blogging issue is that I get hung up on being the kind of blogger that I want to be. I knew that with everything else going on that I wouldn't be able to write the kinds of posts that I wanted to write, or respond to any comments the way that I wanted to, etc. etc. etc.
Even though I know that no one expects that kind of stuff from me. Except for me.

So - instead of trying to squeeze blogging in, and being unhappy with my efforts, I decided to take a little break. Better to miss it, than to continue and not find the joy in it - or so my thinking went.

In retrospect, it might have been nice to say "Hey - I'm taking a little break here, talk with you later and I'll be back!"

Except, we've all visited blogs where the authors keep making these big huge deals about how they are going to be taking these BIG. DRAMATIC. BREAKS! Only to be posting more frequently than ever a mere 36 hours later**.
What's up with that, btw? How am I supposed to miss you if you won't go away???

So.

Anyway...

The crazy tumultuous stuff is over.

Volunteer obligations are over, Over, OVER AND DONE! (Can you tell I'm excited by this???) And now it's back to the regular old tumultuous stuff that makes up my life. But for some reason, it's been hard to get back into the swing of it here. And I don't know why.

So - here I go, making the plunge (or dipping my toes back in - I guess it remains to be seen which it is...) Because while I feel pretty darn sure that I've not been doing anything particularly interesting, or crafty, or blog-worthy - I have missed it here. So I want to come back.

If you'll have me.
Me, and my Fred Flintstone feet...

---

*I'm sporting my Mother's Day pedicure - wh00t! I'm not 100% sure about the blue toes. Sometimes I look down and I think "oooh! cute!" and other times I look down and think "what was I thinking???" I am certain about one thing, though. I'm pretty sure that I am either too old, or too uncool to be truly rocking the blue toenails. But it's fun for a change....

**It goes without saying, Dear Reader, that of course I don't mean *you*

An Explanation…

It’s been quiet here in CookieLand, as you may have noticed.
And I’ve been trying to figure out what’s up with that.

Below is a long, rambling and probably incoherent discourse on (maybe) the “why” of it.

I’m not so sure that you actually need to read it.
(it is long, and ramblesome)

But I think that I needed to write it…

(Although, if you are going to read it, you may want to do so now. As I am not sure how long this one will stay posted…)

---

At one point, when I was still in my 20’s, I briefly considered continuing pursuing my Psychology degree further, perhaps going into the realm of counseling. I (wisely, I think) decided that it wasn’t a good fit. At that time in my life, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to leave it at the end of the day - that if I had clients with real, true problems, I might be able to help them, but at a cost to myself. I was worried that I’d end up taking these problems too much to heart, taking them on myself – and while it is a very noble thing to help others, I feared that it would end up being a detriment to myself.

And if you eliminate counseling people who have “real, true problems” – well then, who is left? I remember proclaiming boldly that I would never work with “middle aged, mildly depressed women who sat across the desk from me and whined that ‘they just didn’t feel fulfilled.’” I went on to proclaim, somewhat proudly, that I’d not last long in that capacity, seeing as how I’d probably succumb to temptation and kick the “whiny bitch” out of my office with the instruction to “get off her ass and do something!” (My 20-something self was not particularly tolerant, or nurturing.)

Now, I fear, I am dangerously on the verge of becoming that very thing: a middle-aged woman with so many advantages, and privileges – who takes advantage of exactly none of them.
And then has the audacity to whine about “I’m not sure I’m happy…”

Oh. Ugh.

Let me clarify: I’m not unhappy. I’m not moping around the house like some emo tween who has just discovered listening to The Smiths. If you ran into me irl, I don’t know that I’d make a huge impression, but if I did, I don’t think it would be one of abject sadness and listlessness.

It’s more a free-floating thing.
It’s not so much a feeling of “is this all there is?” – but a feeling of “is this all I want to be?”

This past year, I’ve focused my energies on being a wife, a mother, and a friend. And after a year of this experiment, I find myself questioning if I’m “doing it right”??? Am I a good wife? Mother? Friend? Am I the person that I want to be?

I’m glad that I’m not the person that I was in my teens and 20’s anymore. As I look back, that person wasn’t particularly likable. Too opinionated, too inflexible. Too bossy, too intolerant. Just too, too, too much… I saw things in black and white; there wasn’t a lot of room for gray in that world.
But one thing I will say for LLA1.0 – she got shit done. There was a lot of setting the world on fire, etc. There was a certain degree of confidence.
I always knew that I was right.
About. Everything.
I knew what I wanted, and I did what it took to get it. End of story.

And that’s the complete opposite of how I find myself today. I tend to dwell on things, and try to see all sides of an issue. On one hand, I know this makes me more tolerant, but sometimes it just feels wishy-washy.
Instead of charging ahead like a bull in a china shop, I now weigh all my options, pondering endlessly over small variations to a plan, and as a result it seems that sometimes I accomplish very little at all.
It’s much nicer to be open to the side paths and detours that life throws our way – but is it possible that in doing so, one never reaches any sort of destination? And does there even need to be a destination? Is it enough to be all about the journey itself???

I think the problem is not that I don’t like LLA2.0 – but that I don’t know who she is. Or what she wants.
I know that I don’t want to go back to whom I was – but that doesn’t seem like enough of a plan…

So, even though I said the introspective navel gazing was going to stop – I feel like maybe these are big questions that need to be examined. I think that’s what the universe, or karma, or whatever is trying to tell me. I think that is why it’s been quiet around here lately. I’ve just not been inspired create, etc.
I’ve waited for the “knitting/crafty urge” to kick in. I’ve even tried to force it to kick back in a little, and - sweet cracker sandwich! - did that feel wrong.

So – I need to just not try to fight it, and not be afraid to examine these issues. Heck, I may even need to speak with someone on a professional level, about it. Just so I don’t get too mired down in myself.

The big thing, though, is that I’m just not going to force anything. If there’s stuff to blog about, I’ll blog. If there’s not, there’s not. I’m going to be easier on myself in some ways, harder on myself in others.
But I think figuring out who I am, what I want, and where I’m going (if that’s anywhere – maybe it is OK to just sit back an enjoy the ride) needs to be the top priority right now. The crafting/knitting/etc can wait until it wants to come back. And, I’m pretty sure that no matter what else I discover or learn, the crafty grrrl will be back. I can’t imagine life without her, even if she does seem dormant right now.

Oh – and part of the going easier on myself part includes this: I’m granting myself email amnesty. I let my inbox get so cluttered up over the summer when I was without reliable access. But I kept everything in there until I time when I could respond. But then I got more nice emails, and interesting comments – but I couldn’t respond to the newer stuff until I’d responded to the previous stuff. And then even more would come in. A vicious cycle that’s tough on an OCD-type like myself! (Don’t worry; I do acknowledge how crazy that is…)

So – amnesty! I’m going to go back through, and read everything – with no pressure of replying. (Because really, do you want a reply to a comment you left 6 weeks ago??? You’ve got your own in box clutter with which to deal!) And it all gets filed away, and then the slate is clean.

I don’t know about you, but I feel better already….

I is for...

My dear friend, CreativeLittleDaisy, has been working her way through the alphabet lately.

And as always, I am inspired by her.

And also, as always, I don't have even a fraction of the energy and dedication which she gives to her projects - so, I give to you an abbreviated alphabet.

I think I'll go with "I"…

As in "I is for irony".

Because how ironic is it that I whinged and moaned for three whole weeks about not having internet access – only to get my access restored and then take a break from it all???

I'd say that's fairly ironical.
But that's just because I've got a slightly better grasp on irony than Alanis Morissette.*

---

Anyhow – I don't have any big exciting reasons for being AWOL – aside from the fact that I just needed to do it. However, some of the smaller, not-so-exciting reasons are listed below:

• As I've (also) whined, it's been hot, Hot, HOT! around here lately – and I've found it difficult to commit to anything, or even to get anything started.
  Face it, it's hard to accomplish much when you're lying on the floor right next to the A/C vent and muttering "It's hot! I'm hot! Sweet Cracker Sandwich, Georgia is a hellhole…"

• Also – I really wanted to spend the last week or so of summer just hanging with my boy, Schecky. And even though we didn't do anything particular cute, or fun, or "blog-worthy" – I did get to spend some good quality time, just me and a boy, hanging quietly together.
  There was a WHOLE LOT of lying on the floor, in front of the A/C vent, reading time. We've fallen in love with Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books…

• And, I'll confess – there was a period of introspective navel-gazing. Sigh. You all know that I just can't help it, right?
  I think a lot of it has to do with the time of year – the "Back to School" season, with all the promises of a whole new year? It gets me every time…
  
  There was a lot of the same old, same old: too much self-examination; too much doubt and questioning… "Am I good wife/mother/friend/person" / "What do I want to be when I grow up" / "Am I living a purposeful life" /blah blah blah
  
  Nothing unusual there. And, I decided exactly nothing on any of those fronts. Except for the fact that I am tired of introspective navel-gazing for a while… And that's all I'm going to say about it because it's boring.
  

• And lastly, the great decluttering project is still ongoing.
  
  Sigh.
  
  I've been working on this, pretty steadily, for the entire year. I just don't talk about it much, because honestly – how freaking boring is that?
  It's a little frustrating that I've been working on this for 8 months now, and I'm around halfway done. I have to keep reminding myself that it took me 15 years of living in this same house to get to this point, I'm not shoveling it all out in a week. (Although, how fab would that be if I could?) Plus, I lived in this house for 15 years with MrPackrat, and now MrPackratJr. And, at some point, much to my chagrin, I adopted a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality.
  
  Ah well, the good fight continues. I'm feeling good about the half that I have gotten done. And I'm feeling good about just how many wagon-loads** of still-good stuff that has gotten donated to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. So, even though the progress is slower than I would like – it's all good…

So – that where I've been.

Schecky started school on Monday – fourth grade! Yikes! – and I thought things would settle down somewhat, but I'm been shockingly busy with a barrage of PTA-stuff. I've got to admit, didn't see that one coming.

Hopefully, things will settle down soon, and I can get back to business. I've got lots of pictures from Tennessee that I still have hopes of sharing!
Y'all don't care that they're a month old, do you???

Kisses!
lla

---

Updated to Add: I've always kind of wanted to do a give-away sort of thing. And as I was doing yet-some-more decluttering, I found a really pretty necklace that the mother of one of my old preschool students made for me (she was a wicked talented jewelry designer!) It's a pretty strand of multi-colored beads knotted on grey silk cord. It's lovely - very feminine and light - and I've never worn it. I'm just ungrateful like that, I guess.

But my ingratitude could be your reward: as a reward for wading through this long post – that didn't even have a single picture! – I'm putting the necklace up for grabs. Just leave me a comment of some sort below, and I'll do a drawing this weekend for it (and perhaps a few other little goodies, to make up for the "regifting" nature of the necklace…)

Leave your comment before the end of the day Saturday, and I'll announce the winner on Monday!

---

*But don't get me started on that one. Seriously? That stupid song – there are lots of things she sings about which are disappointing, or inconvenient, or even just a humiliating kick in the crotch… but ironic they ain't. That song's a bazillion years old, and it still bugs me...

**Something funny? Apartment Therapy: San Francisco used my "going to the Salvation Army" picture to illustrate an entry on "How Do You Get Rid of Stuff?" Some more irony there – me, the poster child for getting rid of stuff! Delicious, delicious irony!

I Just Now Decided...

...that I am tired of beating myself up about all the things that I am not doing*.
Seriously.
So tired of it.

Yes - it seems like I've got a bazillion things that I want to do/need to do/feel like I should be doing. But beating myself up over the lack of "get-it-done-edness" isn't helping me to get any of it done.

And I realized that it's affecting my enjoyment of the things that I am doing.

And that's just crazy.

Besides, it's SUMMER!
I need to "lighten up, Francis."
Stuff will happen when it happens.

And so, in this new, most "Summer of George" spirit - I present you with a short list** of what I have done in the last week:

---

• saw an advanced showing of the new Pixar movie Ratatouille
  Words escape me when I try to describe how awesome it is. Suffice to say that Pixar has, against all odds, done it again. This movie is just yummy. The characters are great, the story is involving, and it is just gorgeously, gorgeously done! Go see it.
  
  
  
• got tickets to see the Police in November!
  'Nuff said.
  
  
• went to a family reunion (Bubba's family) in Norris, TN
  
  
• made a Coca-Cola cake for the aforementioned family reunion
  yum!
  
  
• attended the opening night for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at the Fabulous Fox Theatre
  A good friend of ours is in the cast, and so he got us fabulous comped seats! WooHoo! ('Cause y'all know just how much I love 'free.')
  I'd never seen this show (or the movie) and I really enjoyed it. There was some amazing dancing... Plus the Fox is just the most ornate, amazing space - it's always fun to get to go to an event there...
  
  
• entertained an old college friend
  the aforementioned 7B47B cast member...
  We did some fun things that I never think to do, unless someone is visiting from out of town. I've got to stop forgetting how much fun it is to be a tourist in your own town.
  
  
• ate some chicken and waffles at Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles
  All I'm saying is if you haven't tried it, don't knock it. I know it sounds weird beyond all reason, but damn it's a great combination of tastes...
  Why do I only ever think of it when someone's visiting from out of town???

Seems like there's been even more than that going on, but that's all I'm coming up with at the moment. But you know what? - There's plenty on that list that I should be excited about. Much better to focus on the positives, rather than the negatives... I need to work on that.

Wow.
Just typing this made me feel perkier already... I might even go sort the laundry. Which, sadly, is a whole different thing than actually doing the laundry. But at least it sounds like a step in the right direction...

Wonder where the hell my tiara is???

---

*A partial list of which includes:

• getting caught up around the house
  
• staying on top of blogs and email the way that I want to
  
• getting something (anything!) crafty done
  
• taking pictures (pretty ironic, since I've been researching new camera options like mad...)
  
• exercising, or at the very least getting moving again.
  I pudged up while lolling on the couch earlier this month - and I'm finding it hard to get my energy and my groove back...

**A list with no pictures...
(see footnote above)

100 Things

It was one year ago today that I warned everyone to "clear the shallow end of the blog pool" - because I was plunging in...

It has been a great year - and not a day goes by that I don't feel that my life has become a better and richer place for the people that I've "met"; the things that I've learned; and the inspiration that I've been given.

A "100 Things" list seems a paltry way to begin to pay back all the generosity that has been showered upon me. However, it does seem that the list is overdue, and so may I present you with:

---

100 Things (Give or Take) About Me

1. My first name is Laura Lancaster.
   
   
2. And with a crazy double name like that, it's probably obvious that I am from the South.
   
   
3. I'll answer to almost anything... People do actually call me "LLA" or "LL" or "Lala" - I answer to all of them. Usually though, I'm either "Laura Lancaster" or just plain "Laura".
   
   
4. If I had been a boy, my name would have been "James Carrigan" (and called "Cary")
   
   
5. I'm glad I am a girl.
   
   
6. I'm 38 39 40 years old.
   Not getting any younger - Yipes!
   
   
7. I still take Flintstones vitamins.
   The gummy kind are the best.
   
   
8. I have one husband, Bubba, and one son, Schecky.
   These are not their real names...
   
   
9. Bubba and I have been married for 16 17 18 years.
   
   
10. I was on bed rest while pregnant with Schecky.
    
    
11. For 5 months.
    
    
12. Not to sound all dramatic about it, but it was a life changing experience. I was one person when I went on bed rest (hard charging professional, determined to climb that corporate ladder) and a completely different one when it was done (I was a mommy!).
    
    
13. The post-bed rest LLA is much happier, more content.
    
    
14. And I suspect that I'm easier to be around.
    
    
15. I can be satanically lazy.
    
    
16. I hate to change light bulbs.
    
    
17. I often forget to close cabinet doors - if I open a cabinet to get something/put something away, it may be days before it gets closed again.
    
    
18. I cannot snap my fingers.
    
    
19. I grew up in Tennessee, in a town called Kingsport.
    I still think it's fabulous, and I go back several times a year.
    
    
20. My childhood home abutted a cemetery.
    Although, we always called it a "graveyard."
    
    
21. The graveyard was quite literally my backyard, and I thought it was the most excellent place to play.
    Right, GeekyMom???
    
    
22. It wasn't until I got to college that I realized that most people find that really, really weird.
    
    
23. It also wasn't until I got to college that I realized that professional wrestling is fake.
    In my defense, it wasn't something I had given a lot of thought to...
    
    
24. I still have a chunk of my wedding cake in the freezer.
    Which is kind of gross, because as you read above, I've been married for 18 years... But I mean, what am I supposed to do, throw it out now????
    
    
25. I rarely wear makeup - this is not because of some misguided sense of how hot I am, it's sheer laziness. (See #15 above).
    I know I'm too old to go to bed without taking my makeup off, yet I know I'm going to be too tired to take it off at bedtime, so it's just easier to forgo it altogether.
    
    
26. I am a moisturizer and lip balm junkie, however.
    
    
27. I love to swim.
    
    
28. I "came out" when I was 17.
    Out to society, not of the closet. Yes, I am a small town debutante.
    
    
29. I also went to charm school as a child.
    
    
30. It was held at Montgomery Ward's.
    And if that doesn't sound like the set up to a "You might be a redneck if..." joke, then I don't know what does...
    
    
31. I love to read. I’ll read almost anything - fiction, non-fiction, you name it.
    
    
32. If I don't get to read frequently, I get antsy and down-right cranky. So I carve out weird times to read - like while brushing my teeth, drying my hair, waiting at traffic lights...
    And I absolutely cannot go to sleep without a book.
    
    
33. I keep Excel spreadsheets to keep track of my reading; I average about 200 books a year.
    
    
34. It's worth noting that I'm also addicted to Excel...
    Even though it's a Microsoft (boo!) product. I've decided it's OK because it was released for the Macintosh first.
    
    
35. Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm a totally Macintosh girl?
    Since 1986, baby!
    
    
36. I love to go to the dentist
    
    
    
    Jeopardy!
37. I was on Jeopardy! a few years back.
    It was Valentine's Day of 2001.
    
    
38. I came in second place.
    The man who beat me was a phenomenal player, and as much as I wanted to win, I don't feel too bad about losing to him.
    
    
39. Second place was a week in Barcelona. It was a wonderful trip, and in some ways, another life-changing event. It made me realize just how important traveling is to me, and that I need to make it a priority in my life.
    
    
40. I once rode in an elevator with David Coverdale, of Whitesnake.
    I had no idea who he was...
    
    
41. I prefer email to the telephone.
    
    
42. I am very gullible, and I suspect that I'm still pretty naive.
    
    
43. I love a good margarita.
    
    
44. Hell, I even love bad margaritas.
    
    
45. I can curse like a sailor.
    
    
46. I occasionally do.
    
    
47. Which is kind of funny, since the rest of the time I use made-up epithets, like "Great Googly Moogly" or "Sweet Cracker Sandwich"!
    I frequently sounds like a character out of Napoleon Dynamite.
    
    
48. I think I turned to creative cursing because my mother taught me that using profanity shows a decided lack of imagination.
    
    
49. Ironically, who do you think I learned all the good curse words from?
    Thanks, Mom!
    
    
50. I sing in the car when I'm alone.
    Frequently. And loudly.
    
    
51. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I love my car.
    
    
52. I'm embarrassed about that, because I've never much cared about the cars that I drive. I've never wanted to place too much value on cars. But I love my car.
    
    
53. It's a station wagon.
    I'm such a station wagon kind of girl...
    
    
54. Ironically (since I love my car and all), I don't drive a lot.
    I only put about 50 miles on my car in a week.
    
    
55. The older I get, the smaller my world gets.
    
    
56. I believe in the power of a liberal arts education.
    
    
57. Which are pretty big words from a girl with 3 undergraduate degrees, and yet no "real" job.
    
    
58. Yes, I still refer to myself as a girl.
    
    
59. I still call my Daddy, "Daddy", too.
    
    
60. The longer I live in the "big city", the more the "small town hillbilly girl" comes out.
    
    
61. I will choose a beer over wine every time.
    
    
62. And it's a hefweissen - so much the better!
    Could I get a slice of orange with that?
    
    
63. I love the comic strip page in the daily newspaper.
    I suspect that I take the comics far more seriously than the average bear.
    
    
64. My current favorite is a little known strip called Pooch Cafe.
    Go check it out online, it's HI-larious!
    
    
65. Of course, I must also confess that I have become wholly addicted to Mary Worth.
    How sad is that???
    
    
66. I work the crossword puzzle everyday.
    Two on Sundays.
    
    
67. I heart the 80's. I loved 'em then; I still love 'em now.
    
    
68. Thanks to "rat lab" in college - one of the aforementioned undergrad degrees - I can say that I am, indeed, a brain surgeon.
    
    
69. I will always stop to pick a penny up from the sidewalk.
    
    
70. I clip coupons.
    
    
71. And actually redeem them.
    
    
72. I frequently refer to myself as "the cheapest woman on the planet."
    
    
73. There is a kernel of truth in this.
    
    
74. I want to be "The Millionaire Next Door" - I'd love to have the security that comes with savings in the bank, but you'd never suspect from my manner, dress, or possessions that I had any money at all.
    
    
75. I drink Diet Coke first thing in the morning.
    
    
76. I am never sure when to use a colon vs. a semicolon.
    
    
77. I am also the Queen of "Can't Spell."
    
    
78. I have what is perhaps the worst taste in television of anyone on the planet.
    
    
79. My wallet is made of plastic. And prominently features "Hello Kitty".
    
    
80. I still haven't had it explained to my satisfaction exactly how gay marriage threatens my own.
    
    
81. I am far more threatened by extreme conservative Christians who seem determined to judge other people for whatever reason.
    Whatever happened to "Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged?"
    
    
82. It is my deeply held belief that I cannot possibly understand what I would do in your situation, unless I am, indeed, in your situation. None of us can know exactly how we would react in any given situation until we are there ourselves. Therefore, I try really, really hard not to judge people. I might not agree with your choices, but since I can never truly know what drove you to make those choices, it's not my place to be judgmental.
    It's taken me 38 years to get to this point - I used to be the queen of snap judgments...
    
    
83. As long as I'm sharing things in which I believe: It is a choice. It's my choice to make, so keep your laws off my body, thankyouvery much.
    
    
84. I like the idea of there being a "higher power", but if I am being brutally honest, I don't really believe there is.
    
    
85. I do, however, believe in the "Golden Rule".
    It's interesting, pretty much every organized religion out there has a variation on this theme. That's a good thing.
    
    
86. And I most certainly believe in living my life in an ethical manner.
    
    
87. One final belief I'll share: Van Halen, yes. Van Hagar, no.
    
    
88. I can parallel park like nobody's business.
    
    
89. I adore breakfast foods.
    
    
90. Sometimes I think I would have made an excellent Hobbit - I can totally get into the concept of "Second Breakfast".
    
    
91. I also would make a great Hobbit because I have incredibly ugly feet.
    
    
92. I have broken the four small toes on my left foot so many times that they now will break if I so much as look at them wrong.
    
    
93. I learned to knit when I was 7 or 8 - but have gone for years and years at a time without knitting anything at all.
    
    
94. I have been a victim of the "Boyfriend Curse."
    -thanks, Bain! :)
    
    
95. I love office supplies.
    
    
96. I have a deep and intense respect for Dolly Parton. She may be the living American I admire most. She's phenomenal.
    
    
97. Mountains or beach? Mountains, every time.
    Although, it's even better when you can have both - like in Seattle or Barcelona!
    
    
98. I have this deep and inexplicable desire to be an expatriate - to live somewhere else (anywhere else) outside of North America.
    
    
99. Of course, I only want to do this for 6 - 12 months, and then get to come "home" again.
    
    
100. I pick up accents very easily, and very unintentionally.
     When I'm in Atlanta, I don't really think I have one. But once I spend more than 12 hours in Tennessee, Bubba says I sound like Suzanne Sugarbaker.
     
     Oh - and as an added, extra bonus?
     
     
101. I like to rhyme.
     
     
102. I like my beats funky.
     
     
103. I'm spunky.
     
     
104. I like my oatmeal lumpy.

Thank you all for a wonderful year!*

---

*And many thanks to the Caretaker, 3 to get Ready, and She Knits Shizknits for all the words of wisdom about how to change the header banner in Blogger! I was tired of fighting with it!