Ten At A Time

There's just something magical about finding something you forgot about, isn't there?  Well, most of the time, anyway.  Money in a coat you haven't worn for almost a year is fabulous.  A potato in the back the pantry?  Not so much...

The beginning of the year brought a realization that, to be honest, has been 'realized' by me for a while:  I have way too much paper in this house.  I set a goal to rid myself of just about as much paper as would make a local move easier, and that translates to...all of it.  Okay, that's ridiculous, because I still need post-it notes and books -- but the books are a whole 'nother issue.

But I digress...

While I was searching one particular drawer for paper to purge, I came across treasure:  nail polish!  Here is a small sample of the awesomeness contained in that drawer!

As most of us know, nail polish can turn on us at various times, so I sidetracked myself and decided to have a weekly test of at least ten polishes, just to see if they are still viable products.  This proved very exciting for the kinder (painted toenails!!), and this is the result of week one:

Kinder painted all of these tootsies, so the quality is not up to spa standards, but I think it looks really great, and the rainbow pattern on the right would have been perfect if the purple polish had actually looked purple.  The result this week is that we are keeping all the polish we tried.  Next week, we'll try pink polishes, and apparently, that's lame. This isn't the '80's.  Like, gag me.

Any resolutions out there that involve throwing a bunch of stuff out?

Is This It?!

Photo by zacchaeus

I had an epiphany the other day.  I was thinking about what I wanted to learn this year, and it struck me, as a question:  Is this my mid-life crisis?  Am I taking classes instead of buying a new car and getting nipped and tucked?  Or, am I getting back to what I love after taking a break?

Photo by Dominic Morel

I am currently taking drumming lessons, which is a blast.  Music has been a part of my life since I was little, so, although the drum never was (save for the pencil-and-table solo during a random Journey song), it's still music.  Will I keep going until I have knowledge and abilities on a wall full of percussion instruments?  Well, I'd be the coolest mid-lifer in town, wouldn't I?  Mouth Harp, anyone?  Skills, y'all.

Next on the agenda is a whole array of lessons:  sewing, jewelry-making, drawing (something I'm fairly good at, from a historical point of view), photography, welding, sculpture, etc.  All of these things will perhaps turn me into a busy little mama, and that's great, because I currently feel like I'm not doing anything.  I don't know that I would expect fame and fortune from learning to sew, but I want to channel my creativity -- and I do have it.

What are some of the things you want to learn right now?

Step In a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day

Today is a day set aside for splashing friends if they happen to get close enough to your puddle.  I sometimes take things literally, so I shake my head when I see 'step in a puddle' as you really can't splash anyone when you step into a puddle.  You have to stomp, either with one clown foot or with two feet together, combining the latter with a cute sideways hop.  Dudes cannot be cute, so you are left with the clown foot method.  Good luck with that...

Awaiting rain

Sadly, we have no puddles about.  I think this day would be more fun than Talk Like a Pirate Day (Septemberrrr 19th), if we had puddles.  There should be a movement where we ask for funding for a puddle park.  That would be a fairly easy park to build -- wavy concrete and retracting sprinkler heads, and probably some additive to prevent slips, because someone always has to run on wet concrete, don't they?

On another note entirely, avoid this 'funk' that has invaded this nation.  I was down for two weeks, and I'm still coughing.  I'm getting a great ab workout, however, so there is a bright side.