Unbalanced (but working on it)

I've used the phrase "I have balance issues" more than a time or two in my life. Usually it's when I trip over something, or, more commonly, just fall over for no apparent reason. (And it's made all the more funny because I'm blonde.) But lately I'm having to admit to myself that those "balance issues" are about more than holding on to something when I go down stairs, or avoiding the whole walking/gum chewing issue.

Lately it seems that I'm living a bit of an all-or-nothing kind of life. Want an example? You're looking at it right now. This is my first post this month (after posting 31 times in July.) Now, when I finished last month's challenge, I made the conscious decision to take a breather. But that was only intended to last a few days. (I needed a break, and I figured you did too.) But then I turned around and it's three weeks later, still with no post.

Ok, it isn't just lately. I've been like this for years. (It's just come to my attention several times recently.) And I know what causes it, but that doesn't always make it any easier. So I continue to struggle, and to try to find a balance (or to let a balance find me.) I'll leave it at that for now. Perhaps I'll get deeper into the explanation at another time.

For now I'll just say that I'm still here. And I'm working on it. (And any good vibes you can send my way will be happily accepted.) My plan here is that before too long we'll see posts about all of the wonderful things I've discovered to help me along the way, and how wonderfully balanced everything has become. Yep. That's the plan.

Wish me luck! And remember: When life hand you lemons, be happy. 'Cause, you know, free lemons! :)

Thanks for Listening

And so ends my first Ultimate Blog Challenge. I started a little bit late, and I took a few days off for vacation, but I managed to catch up and complete the goal of 31 posts in 31 days. (Woo-hoo!)

I started off the month with the idea that the point of any challenge is to learn and grow, and to open up to the world outside of your comfort zone. That idea has definitely stayed with me. Even as I like to call myself a writer, the idea of facing daily deadlines and putting this much effort into a blog was daunting.

I honestly didn't know if I could do it. But, again, what's the point of a challenge? It's difficult, and it's exciting, and we do it even though we don't know what the outcome will be. Because that's how we grow. So I pushed myself. And it didn't take very long at all to realize how much I was enjoying that push.

So I'll ask again, like I did a month ago... Are you challenging yourself? Or are you staying where you feel safe, and risking stagnation? Don't be afraid to take a leap. (Or, if you aren't ready for that, at least start with a small step.) One way or another, put yourself out there. You just might be amazed by what you can do.

Of course I have to say a big Thank You to the ladies who started the UBC, and to all of my fellow participants for all of the support and camaraderie. And a special Thank You to all of you who have stuck with me and continued reading, even as I inundated you with all of the little things that were going on in my head. :)

And now we celebrate with the Snoopy Dance.

Versatile Me

My thanks to my cousin Sara of Succisive Thoughts for passing on the Versatile Blogger Award. And my apologies for taking so long to acknowledge it. But between my post-graduation off-the-grid hiatus during the last half of May and most of June, and the busy July I've had... I had plenty of time to think of excuses. :)

Apparently now I'm supposed to share with you seven things about myself that you might not know. ('Cause arbitrary rules are fun!) So here goes:

1. I used to play the saxophone.

Yep. I was a band geek. :) I played the alto sax from 5th through 9th grade. I was never really that good, but I guess I did okay, mostly. But by the time I got to high school there were other things that I enjoyed more, so continuing with something where I had to work really hard to be little more than mediocre wasn't worth it, so I quit playing. I did have some fun (and made some good friends) in junior high band, though.

2. Milk bubbles gross me out.

You know how when you pour a glass of milk you get those little tiny bubbles on top, around the edge of the cup? Yeah, I can't explain it, but I absolutely cannot drink those bubbles. I have no memory of what might have caused the weird aversion; it's just been like this for as long as I can remember. I have to blow them away before I can take a drink. Mock if you must. I know it's weird.



3. I have an extra vertebrae in my neck.
Well, part of a vertebrae, actually. Several of the vertebrae are also fused. It's all part of Klippel-Feil Syndrome, which is a congenital defect. (And which led to me also having scoliosis.) I don't really have any outward signs of it, other than my neck being shorter than it otherwise would have been. It mostly just causes quite a bit of pain and a very limited range of motion. But fortunately I didn't manifest a lot of the symptoms and other conditions that can also be associated with it, so I guess I kind of got off lucky.

4. I once co-wrote a play.

In my freshman year of high school, a very dear friend and I (who were pretty much the drama queens of the school) co-wrote and starred in that year's feature production. (Sure, it was a pretty small school. But I still think it's kind of cool.) It was a story about a girl who is channel surfing on TV, and watches snippets of shows (all of which were take-offs of popular shows of the time) and SNL-like commercials. Not Broadway material, granted. But, well... we were 15.

5. I used to have my tongue pierced.

A lot of people who know me are kind of surprised by this. (I guess I don't seem like the body piercing "type.") That's the only thing besides my ears that I've ever pierced. And it wasn't a rebellion thing or anything like that - I just thought it was cool. I loved having it, too. But after a barbell got stuck in my tongue and I had to go to the ER to have it removed... it seemed prudent to let it close up and be done with it. I have to admit that I still kind of miss it sometimes. But at my age it would probably just look weird now, so I guess it's for the best.

6. I still think Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the best shows ever created.

Pretty much anything Joss Whedon does is genius. I loved Angel, and Firefly, and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. But Buffy still stands out to me as one of the best. Part of it was the timing of the show - I was just a few years older than the characters when it came out, so I kind of grew up with them. But mostly it's just that the show was awesome. I'm not at all ashamed to say that I have all 7 seasons on DVD. I still love it.

7. I kind of have a thing for Josh Gates.

Ok, I saved the most embarrassing one for last. :) But I love the show Destination Truth (even though a more accurate title would be Destination Conjecture, because they never actually find or prove anything.) Putting that aside, it's still a great show. They go to some cool places, and have some really interesting cultural experiences. And they're silly, and goofy, and funny while they're doing it, which makes it all really entertaining. But most of all, Josh Gates is just really awesome. And judge me if you want, but I think he's kind of hot.


So there you have it. Probably more about me than you ever wanted to know. :) And now to keep the award going, here are some of my favorite new blogs that I've come to love thanks to the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Everyday Gyaan: about everyday matters, because every day matters!
FPT (Front Porch Therapy): Sit Long. Talk Much. Laugh Often.
insignificant at best: random musings from a nobody
Inspired Life
missriki: Musings on Hope and Hopelessness
Passion. Dedication. Life. Us.
Ship Bound for Tarshish: Trusting God to lighten the load

Time to Recharge

I was having a particularly painful day yesterday (probably due in large part to the weather) so I got out my handy-dandy controller to adjust the settings on my spinal cord stimulator. When I did, I discovered that my battery was very low. (Oops. Guess it's been a little while since I thought to charge it.)

So I pulled out the charger, and went about my business. It was really not that big of a deal, but I still couldn't help scolding myself for having forgotten to recharge the battery sooner. And as I did that, it occurred to me what a metaphor that was for my life.

I am very guilty of habitually neglecting to pay close enough attention to my own body and my own energy needs. And I'm guessing I'm probably not the only one out there who could say that. How many times have you needed to "recharge" but didn't give yourself enough time and attention to do it?

I'm sure I could come up with several convincing excuses, but that's not the point. What's past is past, and excuses don't matter. All we can do is learn from it and move on, right? So rather than scolding ourselves for what we've failed to do in the past, let's encourage ourselves (and each other) to move forward in a positive direction.

So here's your friendly reminder for the day: Don't neglect yourself. Take some "you" time when you need it. And remember that we all need to recharge now and then.

No Cell Phones!

My husband and I were having a conversation today about all of the annoying things that people do when talking on their cell phones. Of course there is the typical complaint about people who just walk around everywhere they go talking on the phone. And even worse are the ones who are talking ridiculously loudly everywhere they go.

Then there are the people who wear their bluetooth headset all the time, so you can never tell if they're talking to you or to someone on the phone. Or the people who, for reasons nobody can figure out, use the speakerphone while they're walking around in public. (Seriously. What's that about?)

It has become very common to walk into a business and see signs posted that say "No Cell Phones" or "Please Turn Off Your Cell Phones." The understandable reason being, of course, that it's distracting and/or irritating to everyone else in the room if people are using their cell phones. I'm totally on board, and don't have a problem with the "no cell phones" policies.

My counter-argument, however, is that it's equally annoying to have to listen to someone have a disturbingly loud conversation with the person sitting in the next chair. Just because both of you are in the same room, and there is no phone involved, doesn't mean I need to hear every detail about how your date went last night, or what a jerk your boss is.

I'm not saying people shouldn't talk to each other. I'm just pointing out the irony that people make such a big fuss about people using phones, but don't complain so much about other loud or disruptive conversations. Let me give you an example:

One day my husband had dropped me off at the college library to do some homework while he and the kids went out. They came back a few hours later, and rather than park and get the kids out to come in and find me, he called me to let me know he was here. I answered the phone, and said (very quietly) "You here? Ok. I'll be right out" and hung up.

Just then one of the library employees happened to be walking by and said "You aren't talking on a cell phone... are you?" (He somehow managed to be weirdly threatening and condescending at the same time.) I just said "nope" and got my stuff together and left.

This wouldn't have been a big deal, and I probably wouldn't have thought anything about it at all, except that sitting at the row of computers directly across from me was a group of four or five students who had been having very loud, very distracting conversations the entire time they had been there. But apparently that was ok, because at least everyone was in the room, and nobody was using a phone.

I don't think anyone should get rid of their "No Cell Phones" signs. It's just that whenever I see one of these:

No Cell Phones

I'd also like to see one of these:

No Loud Conversations With the People Around You

If You Give a Girl a Blog...

I remember when my oldest niece was growing up, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was one of her favorite books. (And I admit that even though I was a teenager at the time, I loved it too.) So I wasn't surprised at all when I introduced it to my own kids and they instantly fell in love with it.

They've been wanting to get more of the books from the "If You Give..." series, but I just hadn't gotten around to it. Then earlier this week we were shopping at the Borders going-out-of-business sale (since we had some gift cards to use before they were rendered worthless) and I found a very cute collection of several of the books packaged together.

It doesn't include all of the books in the series, but it does have If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a  Pig a Pancake, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, and If You Take a Mouse to School. Between each story there are also recipes, activities, and songs. The book also came with a CD which includes audio versions of each book and recordings of the silly songs. (And the bonus for me was that this one collection cost a little less than what two of the books alone would have cost. Gotta love a bargain.)

So what we've learned from all of this is:

If you read your kids one of the "If You Give..." books,

they're going to fall in love with it.

And then they'll ask you to read it again.

So you'll read it several more times, until they have it memorized.

Then they'll discover that there are other books in the series

and beg you to get those for them too.

So you'll go to the bookstore.

And chances are, if you get more of the books,

They're going to fall in love with those too.

Happy reading! :)

Imagine My Delight

You may recall from an earlier post that my kids (and I) really love the classic Margaret Wise Brown book Goodnight Moon. So you can imagine how delighted we were when we found this:

The cover flap says that it was written by a fan of the original book, and it shows. I've read "tributes" and "parodies" of other books in the past that fell short and were sadly disappointing. But this one delivers.  The story follows the original pattern very well, but is creative at the same time. And the illustrations are beautifully done.

Instead of the comb, and the brush, and the bowl full of mush (and the quiet old lady whispering "hush"), you get this:

We read this while standing in the middle of the bookstore, and the kids immediately fell in love. There was no question that we had to take home a copy. (Which we ended up reading several more times that day.)

Some people might be turned off by the "dark" turn that Rex has taken with it (turning the room into a tomb filled with monsters and goons) but it's all cartoonish enough to be silly rather than scary. The kids laughed the entire time we read it.

I discovered that Michael Rex has also written a tribute to Runaway Bunny (another Margaret Wise Brown book.) As much as the kids love Goodnight Goon, I know we'll be looking for this one too.