Ehm, Mememememe . . .

I've had a glass of wine, so maybe this would be a good time to do the "6 things I'm proud of" that I told Janet I would do. I just read my mom's and it was great. Let's see if I can follow in her footsteps.

1. I'm proud that people who come to my home describe it as "warm." Every place we've been, our house has been a "hang out" place. I always have something to throw together as a snack and of course, there's always something to drink if you care to indulge in a little Scottish warmth. And now Cosette is there to welcome you and lead you into the living room, where she will jump up on the couch with you, just to make sure everyone is comfy. Well, that and so she'll be within easy lovin' distance.

2. I'm proud that I took that stick out of my butt and have relaxed some. No really, I have! Oh sure, I'm still a little neurotic about somethings, but I don't freak out if things don't go the way I have them listed to happen. And that's huge. I sometimes wonder if I've gone way the other direction and have fallen into apathy, but I'm working on balance.

3. I'm proud of the things I have taught myself to do--the knitting, the quilting, the cooking. I've taken classes along the way, but I've done a lot of it on my own. I'm not very good at learning from my mistakes--if I'm not good at it immediately, I usually drop it--but with this stuff, I keep trying different things and repeating until I get it right.

4. I'm proud of where I came from. My mother worked hard to make a stable home for us in a very unstable time. My (paternal) grandmother did the same in her day. My (maternal) great-grandmother was the bravest of us all. I come from pretty good stock.

5. I'm proud of Al and his military brethren. I've had many people ask me how I would survive if he went to war and wouldn't I worry about him all the time. Well, of course I would worry, but I wouldn't be afraid because I see how hard they train, how much they care, and how good they are.

6. I'm proud that I'm part of a creative family. Mom has always been a writer, so when she started her blog, I wasn't surprised by how good it was. I've always known that Jay was hilarious and intelligent, and now others get to see that, too.

So, there we are. That wasn't so bad after all. I'm not going to tag anyone, but try it, you might like it!

And your Cosette fix:

We got home and caught her sleeping on her bed upstairs in the bedreoom:



Oops! She saw us!



Note: I didn't drink wine in the morning then write and post this. I tried to post last night but blogger wouldn't let me download the photos. Grrrr.

25 Years Later.

Peggy over at Day to Day Life of a Very Lazy Gardner did this meme and politely tagged me if I wanted to do it. I haven't done a meme in a long time, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

The idea is to list five things in your life now that you would have never thought would be in your life when you were 25.

1. Health Issues. I never thought I’d deal with the health issues at such a young age. Al had testicular cancer when we were in our late 20s, and I was diagnosed with MS in my late 30s. Weird. On the other hand, testicular cancer is curable and we caught my MS early. And although illness can be a real strain on a couple, it has only brought Al and me closer.

2. Marriage. Not only am I still married but I’ve been married for almost 19 years! I really didn’t expect to marry. Never planned it, never wanted to. I wanted to travel, work and have fun. I didn’t realize I could do that and be married at the same time. Not that we haven’t had some rough spots, but we’ve hung in there. We’re heading into another phase of our life together with thoughts of retiring from the military. Should be interesting to see where we go from here. (You may be surprised that I’m not saying the usual mushy stuff about Al. You’ll just have to be surprised because I’m not very good at the mushy stuff. I took one of those emotion IQ tests and you wouldn’t believe how low I scored!)

3. On stage. For a few years, I did a lot of community theater. I played Dolly in Threepenny Opera, I was Sylvia in the female version of The Odd Couple, I was Hattie in Kiss Me Kate, and I did a lot of acting classes where I got to do a little bit of everything from Shakespeare to improv. It was an exciting and fun time, and every time I walked on stage, I was shocked that I was actually doing this. I’m very shy, very introverted, but I was determined to come out of my shell and try it since I have always loved the theater. I had a good time, but I don’t miss it now. I did come out of my shell some, but I never really overcame a sense of not belonging there nor could I really let myself go enough to really do well. Upside though, I don’t get nervous if I have to give a presentation or speak in front of people.

4. Travel. I can’t believe the places I’ve been and the things I’ve seen. I’ve always wanted to travel. When I finally got overseas, I wondered what the hell took me so long? We went to Scotland and England in 2001 and I’ve been hooked ever since. We met up with another couple for a week, but we were pretty much on our own and it was just so gratifying. Then I went with my mom and some friends and I did some things on my own and it was enlightening. I grew up a lot in those 2 weeks and re-connected with that independent woman who could take care of herself. We’ve since returned to Scotland (and will go back again and again) and we went to Italy. Italy! Oh my God I was in Italy! It’s just unbelievable. (Note: Sometime in the early 90s (I think ’93), we went to Germany to spend Christmas with friends who were stationed there. For some reason, I never think to include that in my travels. I don’t remember that trip except for some of the highlights, but I do remember feeling uncomfortable and not knowing what was going on at any time. I was just led by the hand until I came home.)

5. Techie. Well, not really a techie but I know a whole lot more and utilize computers a lot more than I ever have. Al and I sit in the living room, each with our wireless laptops, downloading photos for a DVD slideshow or downloading songs onto our iPods. I even watched Steve Jobs introduce all the upgrades to the iPhone, iTunes movie rental, and the new Macbook Air. And upon watching Jobs take that new computer out of a manila envelope, I turned to Al and said, “I want that!” It's amazing! Go over and take a look at it. I also told him that I want an iPod Touch. I don’t need the iPhone because I hate phones, but I like the iPod Touch. This isn’t like me, but Al was thrilled because he is a techie. I still can’t hook up the DVD player, but I’m great at Google.

Need an idea for a post, why not give this a try.

That's me for the week, I think. Have a great weekend!

Everyone else is doing it

While I work on the next Italy entry, here's a quick MEME:


Use ONE WORD for each answer.

Yourself: Discombobulated

Your Partner: Safe

Your Hair: Curly

Your Mother: Unconditional

Your Father: Unresolved

Your Favorite Item: iPod

Your Dream Last Night: Erotic

Your Favorite Drink: Coke

Your Dream Car: Wrangler

Your Dream Home: Cottage

The Room You Are In: Comfortable

Your Fear: Burden

Where You Want To Be In Ten Years: Scotland

Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Al

You’re Not: Ambitious

One of Your Wish List Items: Prada

The Last Thing You Did: Ate

You Are Wearing: T-shirt

Your Favorite Weather: Cool

Your Favorite Book: Possession

Last Thing You Ate: Cheeeeeeeeeese

Your Life: Humdrum

Your Mood: Restless

Your Best Friend: Angie

What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Answers

Your Car: Infiniti

What Are You Doing At The Moment: Typing

Relationship Status: Cuddly

What Is On Your TV: MST (Mystery Science Theater 3000)

What Is The Weather Like: Humid

When Is The Last Time You Laughed: Just

Q &A

OK ladies, here are your questions! I can't wait to read your responses.

Ellie

1. You’ve won a contest to go on your dream vacation. Where do you go?
2. If you could take a potion to change one thing about you, what would you change?
3. What was your favorite Halloween costume?
4. Which reality show would you be on?
5. You have a friend who’s thinking of adopting a rescue dog. What advice would you give her?

Mom
1. You’re on a time machine. Which period in history do you want to go to first, why, and what would you do there?
2. You’ve won a shopping spree at a bookstore. After the mysteries section, where would you go and what would you get?
3. If you could set up your own graduate-level literature seminar, which writer, time period, or genre would you choose and what would you teach?
4. If you could sit in on the taping of any tv show, which one would it be and who would you most want to talk to?
5. You won an apartment makeover. What would you want to see done?

I am working on write ups about the trip but they are taking awhile, obviously. I think when I get one done, I'll probably put it on my travel blog, Wandering and Rambling because they are really long. But I'll let you know when there are new ones there.

I'm having to do a lot of them by memory because I was so worn out every night that I didn't even write in my journal. That's not like me at all. Instead, I have a lot of bulleted lists of things to trigger my memory--or at least I hope they'll trigger it.

But right now, I'm in a food coma from a dinner out with some of Al's co-workers from out of town, so there will be no more writing. But there's always tomorrow.

We Interrupt These Posts . . .

Just a quick break from Scotland posts. I volunteered for Newt to interview me, so here are her questions with my answers. If you'd like to be interviewed, just let me know in the comments and I'll post some questions. It's pretty good blog fodder and you get to know your blogging friends even better.

So, here we go!

1. Warrior Lass in Scotland today or 100 years ago? And why?

I think Warrior Lass would like 1907. She would fight for women’s right to vote, causing a ruckus everywhere she went. She’d march into “Men Only” establishments and join women such as Emmeline Pankhurst and other suffragettes around the UK in getting arrested and protesting. She’d battle for human rights by starting her own magazine where she would push the envelope and ask questions and encourage social change. Women would admire her and men would fear her, while still finding her alluring. She would go back and forth between wealth and poverty as she would spend her money on her publications and giving it to good causes. Then, she would probably end her days on a sheep farm up in the Highlands, still not afraid of hard work but longing for the serenity of a pastoral life.

2. Lunch with an author. Who do you pick? Living or dead is ok.

Ya can’t ask an easy question, huh? Hmmmmmm. I could say Shakespeare and know once and for all if he really wrote all those plays. Or I could talk to someone contemporary, such as JK Rowling. But I think, at least today, I’d like to have lunch with Jane Austen. She’s brilliant, with a sharp wit and a discriminating eye.

3. Describe the perfect date night with your hubby.

It would be a gorgeous fall day, when the trees are at their peak. He’d call from work and tell me he’s off early, so let’s go for a walk on one of the trails in the state park. He would’ve already called Paradise bakery or Wheatfield’s and had a picnic basket put together and he would’ve already stopped off at the wine shop to pick up a bottle of red wine or maybe one of those 4-packs of White Star champagne. We’ll ride in the Miata down to the park south of town and work up an appetite by walking one of the trails, stopping periodically to enjoy the silence and the views. Afterwards, we set up at one of the campsites and start a fire. We sit on a blanket in front of the fire, eat the dinner, drink the wine, and then he’ll pull out marshmallows! So, we’ll feed each other s’mores and share chocolate kisses. We’ll sit in front of the fire a little longer, me resting up against him, sometimes talking, sometimes not. We’ll stay until the fire is just a faint, red glow of dying embers, not enough to keep the chill of the fall night away, then we’ll head home.

4. A shopping spree at one place - what store do you pick? What do you get?

That would be a hard choice. Would I choose yarn, shoes and bags, cooking stuff, a bookstore, a music store . . . I think I’d have to go with Pryd’s Old Westport in Kansas City. It’s full of kitchen stuff and I can spend hours in there just playing with all the different utensils. They have everything from tools to kitchen towels to cookware to tea and coffee sets, kind of like a restaurant supply store and William Sonoma all rolled up into one. They even have a pie shop downstairs. Shop, eat a piece of pie, shop some more, could it get any better?

5. Dinner and dancing with Gerard Butler or your trip to Italy. Which do you choose?

Can’t I have dinner and dancing with GB in Italy? No? Have to choose, huh? Well, this is going to surprise you, but I think I have to go to Italy. First of all, I would make a complete ass of myself if I actually met Mr. Butler. I’d ramble and babble and trip over the foot I would inevitably put in my mouth. Plus, what if he’s a real jerk? What if he’s just like any other guy? What if I’m disillusioned? I don’t wanna know any of that. Just let me sigh over the pictures and the movies, that’s enough. But if he just happened to be at some little café overlooking the Tuscany landscape, who am I to fight fate?