Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wild Flowers in October
Okay, this is probably going to be my lamest post as of yet but I had to tell someone so you can now count yourself as the lucky 'one.' Last spring when I was shopping for flowers to plant in my backyard (almost all of which were quickly killed by my dog) I found this packet of wildflower seeds that I thought were really interesting. It was just a piece of paper with the flower seeds in it and you only had to lay it across the soil and water it. Anyway, it didn't take long for it to begin to grow but I only got one or two blossoms off it all summer long. Needless to say, I was disappointed. However, I went out there a few days ago and found that in the middle of October, my wildflowers had finally decided to blossom - even with the freezing temperatures. And I was so excited by this and thought it was so unusual that I took pictures to prove it. These pics were taken this morning before I left for work. I just hope that all of those little buds blossom before they really do freeze or my dog decides that they're part of his territory too.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Yet Another Tag - 3 Things About Me
First, I must apologize to the two or three people that actually read my blog. Because, really, no one wants to know this much about me. But since I was singled out (well, not really cuz she listed other people but whatever) in Maria's post I have to do it anyway. I am however, very excited about the fact that I don't have to be creative and try to make up something cool to talk about cuz my life is fairly lame and nothing exciting has happened in a while. So no worries, you don't actually have to read it. Just close the freakin' window and you're home free!
What are the last three things you purchased (aside from groceries)?
1. Eyeshadow from Clinique (it's bonus days, who can pass that up?)
2. A pair of purple 4" stillhettos (can't wear them with my stupid sprained ankle but I have them and they make me happy)
3. A pedicure
What are the last three songs you downloaded to your iPod?
1. Home - Foo Fighters
2. The Show - Lenka
3. White Horse - Taylor Swift
What are three of your favorite movies?
1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. Benny and Joon
3. Stardust
What are three things you have not done yet?
1. Carved a statue
2. Swam with sharks
3. Ran a marathon
What are three things you can't live without?
1. my iPod
2. my purple 4" stillhettos
3. my heart
What are your three favorite dishes?
1. Lettuce Wraps from PF Chang
2. Anything else from a good Chinese restaurant
3. Homemade chicken noodle soup
What are three of your favorite tv shows?
1. The Big Bang Theory
2. Psych
3. Burn Notice (where else can you learn how to make a bomb from a tennis ball and a clothes pin?)
What are three of your favorite desserts?
1. Brownie Sundae
2. Banana Split
3. Okay, lets be honest, anything with chocolate
What are the last three places you traveled to that are more than 100 miles away?
1. Crawdad Canyon
2. Denver
3. Seattle
What are three things you'd buy if money weren't an issue?
1. All new camera equipment and a studio to store it in
2. A leer jet
3. a really fast and really cool car that was invisible to all police radar type equipment
So there you have it. Love me or hate me, this is me in a nutshell with a little sarcasm mixed in. Do with it what you will.
What are the last three things you purchased (aside from groceries)?
1. Eyeshadow from Clinique (it's bonus days, who can pass that up?)
2. A pair of purple 4" stillhettos (can't wear them with my stupid sprained ankle but I have them and they make me happy)
3. A pedicure
What are the last three songs you downloaded to your iPod?
1. Home - Foo Fighters
2. The Show - Lenka
3. White Horse - Taylor Swift
What are three of your favorite movies?
1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. Benny and Joon
3. Stardust
What are three things you have not done yet?
1. Carved a statue
2. Swam with sharks
3. Ran a marathon
What are three things you can't live without?
1. my iPod
2. my purple 4" stillhettos
3. my heart
What are your three favorite dishes?
1. Lettuce Wraps from PF Chang
2. Anything else from a good Chinese restaurant
3. Homemade chicken noodle soup
What are three of your favorite tv shows?
1. The Big Bang Theory
2. Psych
3. Burn Notice (where else can you learn how to make a bomb from a tennis ball and a clothes pin?)
What are three of your favorite desserts?
1. Brownie Sundae
2. Banana Split
3. Okay, lets be honest, anything with chocolate
What are the last three places you traveled to that are more than 100 miles away?
1. Crawdad Canyon
2. Denver
3. Seattle
What are three things you'd buy if money weren't an issue?
1. All new camera equipment and a studio to store it in
2. A leer jet
3. a really fast and really cool car that was invisible to all police radar type equipment
So there you have it. Love me or hate me, this is me in a nutshell with a little sarcasm mixed in. Do with it what you will.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Tag: 6 Random Things About Me
So Marion posted this a week or so ago and I "virtually argued" with her about whether or not I was going to fall into the tagging vortex. But in the spirit of my new self awareness I've decided to follow suit - so here goes.
1. I can't begin my day without chocolate milk.
From the time I was in high school - maybe even younger - I have started everyday (well, every day that started before noon) with a glass of chocolate milk. My mom only buys the chocolate powder but since the day I started buying my own groceries it was Hershey syrup or nothing for me. And, unfortunately for Marion, I rubbed off on her children. Jet now refused to use powdered chocolate and on multiple occasions has attempted to steal the syrup out of my fridge when he was visiting.
2. I organize my closet in a rainbow pattern.
What can I say? I have A LOT of clothes. When you're single you've got no one else to spend your money on and with that you end up with a huge overstuffed closet. It just makes it easier to find my favorite top if I know approximately where it is. And even with the two huge trash bags I filled for the DI last week my closet still seems to be busting at the seams (pun intended).
3. Contrary to popular belief, I was not named after Janis Joplin.
Okay, so no one really believes that, but it's still one of my favorite "exaggerations". Against my mother's wishes I've often told people that my name is spelled like it is because my parents were hippies and the whole farm thing was a sham that they used to hide the weed they had growing in between the corn rows. (Most people don't catch on to the fact that my parents are too old to be hippies and my dad enlisted during the Korean war, not Vietnam.) But makes for a much better story than, "My mom spelled it phonetically so my dad, who's a bad speller, would get it right. But she didn't know he had a friend growing up named Janice." As a side note, my dad spelled my name wrong until I was in high school
5. I'm slightly dyslexic.
But only when it comes to numbers. ;-) I discovered this in a math class in high school. Marion and I would spend hours studying for tests and going over all of the formulas and everything that we needed to know. And I'd know exactly how to do everything but somehow always did really poorly on the tests. So she checked one for me once and discovered that on every problem I'd gotten wrong I'd transposed or mixed up my numbers in some ridiculous way. Sadly, I still manage to do the same thing when balancing my checkbook.
4. I can't spell the word awesome, without doing the cheer in my head.
It's sad, but true. And to make matters worse, I also mentally do the actions and imagine jumping around in a short skirt flashing my crotch to the crowd. How's that for a visual?
6. My name is Janis, and I'm a musiholic.
On my laptop I currently have 3,307 songs. And that's just on my laptop. I have another 3,000 or so on my iMac. And I've probably got a couple hundred CD's stored away that I've yet to upload to my collection. I know to some people that really isn't that much, but when you consider that out of that 10,000 or so songs I know all of the lyrics to about 98% of them it becomes a little more impressive. . to me at least.
PS To read the entire conversation between Marion and myself please refer to her Random Post
1. I can't begin my day without chocolate milk.
From the time I was in high school - maybe even younger - I have started everyday (well, every day that started before noon) with a glass of chocolate milk. My mom only buys the chocolate powder but since the day I started buying my own groceries it was Hershey syrup or nothing for me. And, unfortunately for Marion, I rubbed off on her children. Jet now refused to use powdered chocolate and on multiple occasions has attempted to steal the syrup out of my fridge when he was visiting.
2. I organize my closet in a rainbow pattern.
What can I say? I have A LOT of clothes. When you're single you've got no one else to spend your money on and with that you end up with a huge overstuffed closet. It just makes it easier to find my favorite top if I know approximately where it is. And even with the two huge trash bags I filled for the DI last week my closet still seems to be busting at the seams (pun intended).
3. Contrary to popular belief, I was not named after Janis Joplin.
Okay, so no one really believes that, but it's still one of my favorite "exaggerations". Against my mother's wishes I've often told people that my name is spelled like it is because my parents were hippies and the whole farm thing was a sham that they used to hide the weed they had growing in between the corn rows. (Most people don't catch on to the fact that my parents are too old to be hippies and my dad enlisted during the Korean war, not Vietnam.) But makes for a much better story than, "My mom spelled it phonetically so my dad, who's a bad speller, would get it right. But she didn't know he had a friend growing up named Janice." As a side note, my dad spelled my name wrong until I was in high school
5. I'm slightly dyslexic.
But only when it comes to numbers. ;-) I discovered this in a math class in high school. Marion and I would spend hours studying for tests and going over all of the formulas and everything that we needed to know. And I'd know exactly how to do everything but somehow always did really poorly on the tests. So she checked one for me once and discovered that on every problem I'd gotten wrong I'd transposed or mixed up my numbers in some ridiculous way. Sadly, I still manage to do the same thing when balancing my checkbook.
4. I can't spell the word awesome, without doing the cheer in my head.
It's sad, but true. And to make matters worse, I also mentally do the actions and imagine jumping around in a short skirt flashing my crotch to the crowd. How's that for a visual?
6. My name is Janis, and I'm a musiholic.
On my laptop I currently have 3,307 songs. And that's just on my laptop. I have another 3,000 or so on my iMac. And I've probably got a couple hundred CD's stored away that I've yet to upload to my collection. I know to some people that really isn't that much, but when you consider that out of that 10,000 or so songs I know all of the lyrics to about 98% of them it becomes a little more impressive. . to me at least.
And I guess with that, I am done. So, if you've read my six random things above then that means it's now your turn. You have officially been tagged.
Good luck with that!
Good luck with that!
Being Shallow Makes for a Very Dull World
In recent weeks I've been reading the many blog posts of my best friends and experiencing with them the things they care about and love the most in their lives. They talk about their families, their children, their pets and their hobbies. They ponder their motives, their faith, their goals and their futures. And by reading about their lives I'm noticing a few things about my own. And two of the most poignant things I've discovered is that I live a very shallow and boring life. I've kept everything up to this point - on the surface. I've never posted anything about anything that actually mattered. There's never been anything meaningful or insightful or even really that thoughtful on my blog or even in any of my recent conversations for that matter. I'm random, off the wall and, well . . . shallow. Other people share with me and I listen and tell them what I think about the situation but rarely do I share anything with them unless it's just a silly punchline or the latest story about something stupid I did.
It's not that I don't think the "deep thoughts" or over-analyze things when I'm not making jokes. It's more like I'd rather just keep everything at arms length as long as other people are involved. If I don't put myself out there and go to activities or date or even just hang out with friends then I don't ever have to worry about getting hurt. Don't get me wrong, I have my closest friends and those few people probably know me better than anyone. And while I've opened up to each of them individually on separate occasions, I've found that it's become more and more rare.
I don't think I've always been this way. . . well, not totally. I have always been guarded and I've ALWAYS hated talking about myself but not usually with those that matter most. I guess with broken hearts and broken promises comes strong and thick walls. So that being said I think I may just try to let some people in. Now don't get too excited. (MJ, I can see you doing your happy dance and I want you to tone it down a little bit) I still don't want to be set up on dates. I'm not going to suddenly change my mind and try internet dating. I'm not going to make friends with people in the grocery store and I'm not going to get close to my visiting teacher. I'm not going to start going to ward activities (they're so totally lame) and I'm still not a fan of being tagged via blog and forced to make lists about me and only me because as I've said, I find my life boring and I don't have much of a one to talk about. But in an effort to become closer to those people that matter most I've decided to start using my blog to let them get into my mind a little more (as scary as that may be to some of you).
And, I've decided to start with this new goal tonight. So here goes. A couple of nights ago I was out with my Yaya's and we were discussing the whole personality color thing and what everyone leans toward and what catagory they fit into. MJ and MS both insisted that I was a blue. Meaning that I allow my life to be run by my emotions. Without knowing anything about the colors or what they stood for I disagreed. And as usual, I thought (and did not say) that I felt that while I had emotional reactions to everything, (I am female, after all) I believe I am pretty good at compartmentalizing and not taking the emotions of one situation and infusing them into another. i.e. I don't let family stress dictate what's happening at work and I don't let work stuff change what's going on in my personal realtionships.
So in this quest for self acutulization, if you will, I searched out this test online just to see if anyone really knows the "real me". And I've discovered that I am not the only one still looking for myself. According to the Color Code, here is my personality:
36% White: (Motive: PEACE)—These are the peacekeepers. Peace, or the absence of conflict, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of clarity and tolerance and are generally kind, adaptable, good-listeners.
28% Yellow: (Motive: Fun)—These are the fun lovers. Fun, or the joy of doing something just for the sake of doing it, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of enthusiasm and optimism and are generally charismatic, spontaneous, and sociable.
20% Blue: (Motive: INTIMACY)—These are the do-gooders. Intimacy, connecting, creating quality relationships and having purpose is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of quality and service and are generally loyal, sincere, and thoughtful.
16% Red: (Motive: POWER)—These are the power wielders. Power, the ability to move from point A to point B, and get things done is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of vision and leadership and generally are responsible, decisive, proactive and assertive.
Honestly, after reading these descriptions and seeing my percentages - I feel even more confused about who I am and what motivates me. Maybe one day, with the help of my friends, I'll get it all figured out.
It's not that I don't think the "deep thoughts" or over-analyze things when I'm not making jokes. It's more like I'd rather just keep everything at arms length as long as other people are involved. If I don't put myself out there and go to activities or date or even just hang out with friends then I don't ever have to worry about getting hurt. Don't get me wrong, I have my closest friends and those few people probably know me better than anyone. And while I've opened up to each of them individually on separate occasions, I've found that it's become more and more rare.
I don't think I've always been this way. . . well, not totally. I have always been guarded and I've ALWAYS hated talking about myself but not usually with those that matter most. I guess with broken hearts and broken promises comes strong and thick walls. So that being said I think I may just try to let some people in. Now don't get too excited. (MJ, I can see you doing your happy dance and I want you to tone it down a little bit) I still don't want to be set up on dates. I'm not going to suddenly change my mind and try internet dating. I'm not going to make friends with people in the grocery store and I'm not going to get close to my visiting teacher. I'm not going to start going to ward activities (they're so totally lame) and I'm still not a fan of being tagged via blog and forced to make lists about me and only me because as I've said, I find my life boring and I don't have much of a one to talk about. But in an effort to become closer to those people that matter most I've decided to start using my blog to let them get into my mind a little more (as scary as that may be to some of you).
And, I've decided to start with this new goal tonight. So here goes. A couple of nights ago I was out with my Yaya's and we were discussing the whole personality color thing and what everyone leans toward and what catagory they fit into. MJ and MS both insisted that I was a blue. Meaning that I allow my life to be run by my emotions. Without knowing anything about the colors or what they stood for I disagreed. And as usual, I thought (and did not say) that I felt that while I had emotional reactions to everything, (I am female, after all) I believe I am pretty good at compartmentalizing and not taking the emotions of one situation and infusing them into another. i.e. I don't let family stress dictate what's happening at work and I don't let work stuff change what's going on in my personal realtionships.
So in this quest for self acutulization, if you will, I searched out this test online just to see if anyone really knows the "real me". And I've discovered that I am not the only one still looking for myself. According to the Color Code, here is my personality:
36% White: (Motive: PEACE)—These are the peacekeepers. Peace, or the absence of conflict, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of clarity and tolerance and are generally kind, adaptable, good-listeners.
28% Yellow: (Motive: Fun)—These are the fun lovers. Fun, or the joy of doing something just for the sake of doing it, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of enthusiasm and optimism and are generally charismatic, spontaneous, and sociable.
20% Blue: (Motive: INTIMACY)—These are the do-gooders. Intimacy, connecting, creating quality relationships and having purpose is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of quality and service and are generally loyal, sincere, and thoughtful.
16% Red: (Motive: POWER)—These are the power wielders. Power, the ability to move from point A to point B, and get things done is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of vision and leadership and generally are responsible, decisive, proactive and assertive.
Honestly, after reading these descriptions and seeing my percentages - I feel even more confused about who I am and what motivates me. Maybe one day, with the help of my friends, I'll get it all figured out.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Bad Luck With Chuck (thanks for the title, Marion)
I think the title says it all. I love my dog but he tends to be a weaver when we're running. Even when on a path or a sidewalk he weaves all over the place trying to mark his territory as a four mile radius around my house. Plus, it's in his breed to run in front of me at all times. He's part Alaskan Malamute and they're pulling dogs. He'll be trotting along at a decent speed but if he realized that I'm next to him or catching up he'll sprint a few steps to get in front of me and we'll do this over and over again for a good 3 or 4 miles run.
Anyway, back to the point of my story. I came home from work last night with the intention of taking him for at least a two mile run (on my sprained ankle - again an accident that happened with him in tow) and then grabbing a quick dinner and heading to a late yoga class. I was less than 50 yards from my front door, actually just coming into the driveway where Chuck and I were just finishing up a quarter mile sprint when, as expected, we weaved in front of me. So I was paying attention to what he was doing, trying not to trip over or kick him as I ran and missed the point were the sidewalk raised up above the lawn. So my toe just barely caught on it and I went down on the sidewalk. Graceful, huh? The best part is that I had his leash in my right hand and my iPod in my left because I was tracking my sprint so I didn't have a hand free to catch myself. I landed on my left side and bruised my shoulder and ribs. I also scrapped up my left hand and my arm pretty good. But here's the weirdest part . . I've got a scrape on each knee . . but not on the lower part of my knee where one would usually land when falling. Nope, these scrapes are both ABOVE my kneecaps. How on earth did I land above my knees?? I guess there is one bright side to my story - I was wearing dark colors and it was dark outside so it's doubtful that many people saw my runway momen. Of course, now I've written about it on my blog so I guess I'm just setting myself up anyway, huh? Oh well. I'm sure I'll survive. However, I was feeling the pain and took a Tylenol PM and skipped the yoga class.
Anyway, back to the point of my story. I came home from work last night with the intention of taking him for at least a two mile run (on my sprained ankle - again an accident that happened with him in tow) and then grabbing a quick dinner and heading to a late yoga class. I was less than 50 yards from my front door, actually just coming into the driveway where Chuck and I were just finishing up a quarter mile sprint when, as expected, we weaved in front of me. So I was paying attention to what he was doing, trying not to trip over or kick him as I ran and missed the point were the sidewalk raised up above the lawn. So my toe just barely caught on it and I went down on the sidewalk. Graceful, huh? The best part is that I had his leash in my right hand and my iPod in my left because I was tracking my sprint so I didn't have a hand free to catch myself. I landed on my left side and bruised my shoulder and ribs. I also scrapped up my left hand and my arm pretty good. But here's the weirdest part . . I've got a scrape on each knee . . but not on the lower part of my knee where one would usually land when falling. Nope, these scrapes are both ABOVE my kneecaps. How on earth did I land above my knees?? I guess there is one bright side to my story - I was wearing dark colors and it was dark outside so it's doubtful that many people saw my runway momen. Of course, now I've written about it on my blog so I guess I'm just setting myself up anyway, huh? Oh well. I'm sure I'll survive. However, I was feeling the pain and took a Tylenol PM and skipped the yoga class.
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