Tag-alicious

I've been tagged. This is a big deal to me, because I love to be included! (I've been over this before in this post and this post and this post...)

So, let me begin:

Question 1 - Where were you 5 years ago?
1. May of 2005 we were starting to look ahead to dental school in San Francisco - moving in June, starting school in July;
2. Dane and Aubrey were 3 and 4 and chubby-cheeked and young in ways that only hindsight can reveal;
3. Mick and I were about to drive 30 hours round trip to Marin City (at the edge of Sausalito) over Memorial Day Weekend to apply for an apartment - we were nervous and thought it would be really tough to get in, but it turns out it was no big woop;
4. We were about to have the biggest garage sale of our lives (mostly Mick's quiver of wakeboards) so we could downsize from a 3 BR, 2 BA, 2 car garage to a 2 BR, 2 BA 1 shared garage that cost twice as much;
5. We were about to pack everything we owned into a Hertz rental (with no small help from our focused and fabulous friend Eric Friesen when Mick just stood in the garage turning circles unable to determine where to start) - and the truck would be so full we'd leave our kitchen chairs because they just couldn't smoosh in.

Question 2 - Where would you like to be in 5 years?
1. I would like to have my healthy, loving, brilliant family - Mick, Aubrey, Dane, Sharkles and me - all living in peace and harmony with each other and our environment (I know that sounds cheesy but it's true);
2. I'd like to be teaching in some capacity and writing a lot - with a hundred essays or poems or short stories published in major literary markets and a hot novel I've written in the hands of a publisher;
3. I'd like to possibly add a foster child or an exchange student to our family - which also means I'd like to have a little more room in the house (this one or another snazzy one);
4. I'd like to be fit enough to play ball, ride bikes, hike, camp, run, and climb trees with my kids;
5. I'd like to go places and see things with my family and friends.

Question 3 - What is on your To-Do list today?
1. Pick up In Brief, In Short, and Cheaper By The Dozen at the library;
2. Write, and then study a few good essays;
3. Walk/jog the dog, break a sweat;
4. Make dinner;
5. Blog.

Question 4 - What snacks do you enjoy?
1. Chocolate chips from a bag - the whole bag;
2. Apple slices with lime juice on them;
3. String cheese;
4. Frozen berries with agave and milk;
5. Chocolate chips from a bag.

Question 5 - What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Take in as many kids as I could emotionally care for - and donate money to care for foster kids around the world;
2., 3., 4., 5. I don't think I'm going to get very creative on this one - because I think I'd just keep living the way I do, with maybe a bigger home, a few more clothes, and a bigger travel budget - but other than making sure my kids were adequately taken care of in their education, I'd donate to any cause I felt worthy. Any time. A billion dollars is a lot of money.

Now I'll do some tagging - if any pals feel like playing (remember, I know how nice it is just to be invited):
First, I'll tag Nia Sayers at Summerland Style because she's so freakin' creative and amazing and inspiring that her work deserves a big nod;
Second, I'll tag my pal Jennie Englund because she's my fabulous writer-pal (even though she was already tagged by KJR, who tagged me!);
Third, I'll tag my love bug Shelby Friesen over at Shelby's World because she writes the most spectacular birthday posts - for each of her children - that make me laugh and cry no matter which kid, which year;
Fourth, I'll tag my friends Colin and Angie over at Tadhana - who haven't been posting much since they got married(!);
And Lastly, I'll tag my BFF Karen Urlie, even though she doesn't even have a blog, but she deserves my tag if only because she's read EVERY SINGLE POST I'VE EVER WRITTEN.

Twelve Days of Christmas Tag
from Shanana's blog

Here's another of those nerdy blog tags I love responding to. If you're just joining us - because you got our blog address on your Christmas card (you know, the one that's the official last milking of Mick's graduation photos?) - then you might want to scroll down to another entry.

This entry is just silly musings. Well, actually, most of my posts might be just that. So I guess you should just read whatever you want.

One amusing Christmas memory: 1975. I was five years old. My Aunt Arlene, a flight attendant, arrived at Sea-Tac on Christmas Eve and drove straight to the apartment where I lived with my mom in Tacoma. I had just gone to bed, barely able to contain my excitement about the next morning, when Aunt Arlene raced up the stairs and burst through my bedroom door, telling me I just had to run downstairs with her, right then and there in my nightie and bare feet, because Santa and his reindeer had just flown over my apartment! When we got out there, I’d apparently just missed him - and I have never, ever forgotten what it was like to be this close to seeing something so magical.

Two theories as to why Santa chooses a chimney as his best means of entry: 1) When he started his job he was thinner and it wasn’t such a tight squeeze, 2) he likes hot biscuits.

Three things you want for Christmas: 1) Heelys, baby! (those shoes that have a wheel under the heel that make it look like kids are hovercrafting around the grocery store - yeah, I want those) 2) a writing class (got it – thank you, Mick), 3) warmer clothes for this cold not-in-Sausalito-anymore climate.

Four of your favorite Christmas movies: I’m not big on holiday movies, but I suppose I’d list 1) Elf, 2) About A Boy (the ending has a Christmas scene, I think?), 3) Rudolph (see Rudolph and Hermey the dentist at right), and 4) A Christmas Story (duh – what can compare to the tongue stuck to the frozen pole, or the too-bundled up kid that can’t get up after he falls over?).

Five ways you’ve been naughty this year: puh-leaze. I know better than to answer this.

Six ways you’ve been nice: not really fair to plead the fifth on naughty and then answer for nice.

Seven people you suspect are elves: Elves as in look like them? That actress, Tilda Swinton; that politician, Bill Lieberman; that rocker, Elton John; that Olympic gymnast, MaryLou Retton; and that prince, Charles. Elf as in gift-giver? My sister-in-law Dana - she gives the most thoughtful gifts ever, like she can’t even keep herself from doing it, as if it’s part of her magical genetic makeup. Elf as in dress like them? Maybe Mick in any cross-dressing Halloween costume he dons.

Eight of Santa’s reindeer: According to Dane this morning: “Dasher and Dancer, Donald and Dixon. And Prancer… Is that eight yet?”

Nine uses for snow: Curmudgeon’s answer? 1) cause accidents, 2) make you way too cold, 3) freeze your pipes, 4) snowballs to the head that spray snow down your back, 5) cancel school. Kids’ answer? 6) cancel school, 7) play outside all day long, 8) soak through your sweats and mittens, which doesn’t matter in the least because you’ve found an awesome sledding hill, 9) that one snowball straight to your mom’s eye while she's chatting with the neighbor.

Ten least favorite things about Christmas: extra stuff, calories, fat, spending, errands x2

Eleven word associations to figgy pudding: 1) piggy, 2) fudding, 3) sticky, 4) gummy, 5) squishy, 6,7,8,9) Jhon Gilroy’s dog’s name, 10) mincemeat, 11) fruitbread

Twelve reasons you love Christmas: extra stuff, calories, fat, spending, carols, LOVE x2.

If you've read this far, maybe you need to do this Tag, too. Drop me a comment and then post your tag on your blog or send me the Word doc... if you're up for the challenge.

Ho HO ho.

TAGGED TWICE NOW

I'm still feeling the love, folks. Got myself another blog tag. Thank you, Natalie Nelson. This one didn't quite inspire me, but if I am anything (oh, this should have been my first answer) I AM: a good sport! (Notice photo to the left for proof of that.) So, without further ado, here's me playing this game of tag:


I Am: fighting a cold and sitting on the couch all day.
I Want: to make sure this is the only day I feel like this.
I Have: to be healthy for the week of Thanksgiving.
I Miss: the walk I didn't get to take today.
I Fear: I might miss my walk tomorrow.
I Hear: the hum of my computer and the little sounds of the house settling in the afternoon sun.
I Search: the internet for random stuff.
I Wonder: where mincemeat pie came from and why Grandma Seewer liked it, what Skirt! wants from their contributors, when I'll get something published again.
I Regret: that I'm not going to divulge any regrets here. My mantra - No Regrets.
I Love: being healthy.
I Forgive: whoever sneezed in my face or didn't wash their hands.
I Ache: in my nose and in my throat and a bit behind the eyes.
I Always: try not to whine but I do anyway.
I Try: to try not to whine.
I Am Not: 100% today.
I Seem: to have nothing interesting to write.
I Know: there's something interesting to write somewhere.
I Feel: I'll have something interesting to write someday.
I Dance: when I have something interesting to write.
I Dream: of writing something interesting in the next hour.
I Give: Yeah, I give.
I Listen: to the heater turning off and on.
I Sing: like Margo from the Cowboy Junkies when no one's around.
I Laugh: daily.
I Can't: keep going with this list.
I Write: boring stuff on it.
I Cry: out.
I Sleep: not.
I Am not always: interesting.
I See: dead people.
I Need: you to know that last one was a Sixth Sense reference lest you worry about me.
I Should: n't have to explain that.

I tag Shelby?

KAREN PLAYS TAG
and she plays it so well.
Thanks, pal.

Here's what today's Guest Blogger wrote about the 2nd photo in her 2nd folder:

It's from the California central coast - in Cambria. My Grandma Urlie lived there for about 30 years and I spent some of the very best times of my life playing on those craggy beaches. There are seals out there on those rocks, although since this is taken with my phone, you can't see them very well. And there are huge ropes of seaweed, sandfleas, sea anenomes, starfish, bitty crabs, and other strange creatures on the sand and in the little tidal pools.

This memory is making me cry, because she would have just celebrated her 101st birthday 3 days ago and since she passed away in April, it's the first time in close to ten years that I haven't gone down to spend it with her.

Ever since I was a toddler, when I'd come to visit, we'd get all bundled up and take buckets and shovels to the beach, to dig and hunt to find interesting driftwood, and stones, and shells. And later in her life, she told me she would go to the Grill in town and get a hotdog and drive to the lookout very near this picture, sit in the car, eat lunch, and read my letters to her and write letters back to me.

I miss her so very, very much but am so thankful to have such real memories of our wonderful times together.

* * *

I took the liberty of adding a picture I have on file of Karen's Grandma. Here's Grandma Urlie at age 99.

Agnes Erickson Urlie
1907 - 2008


Thanks for playing, Karen.

* * *

(Now pony up, Big Share, cousin Kare, & JJJ. And you, too, Danigirl: Take 3rd folder, 3rd photo - if you really are SBD!)

TAG - I'M IT!

The Game

Okay, I feel like I've finally been picked to play ball, or I've gotten a long-awaited Oscar nod here: my friend Shelby tagged me.

Do you know what this means? This means she likes me! she really likes me!

See, in the blogging world people play this game called Tag -- usually it's some sort of questionnaire or a photo task at stake -- where a person who's been tagged posts a response to the "tag" on their blog. At the end of it, they then tag a couple of their friends, who respond and tag their friends, etc., etc.

I've been watching fellow bloggers tag each other for some time now. In fact, you may recall I recently tagged myself, things were getting so pathetic.

But now, I've made the team, folks. I've been admitted to The Academy. It's a blogging dream come true.



Tagged - 4th Folder 4th Picture

So, there up above is the fourth picture in the fourth photo folder on my computer.

Aw, it's Aubrey and her best little pal, Gia, in Sausalito. That was one of the last nights Gia came for a sleepover before we moved -- and she lost a tooth at our house! She and Aubrey were so excited, squealing, "Maybe the tooth fairy will bring us both money, since this is so special!" (I believe Aubrey spearheaded that campaign.)

Aubrey, who's never lost a tooth, lay close to Gia that night, their heads nestled next to each other on their pillows. And, lo and behold, the next morning, they both had dollar coins from the tooth fairy!

I love this picture because you can see Gia with the tissue she's been holding up to her mouth, and Aubrey's proudly holding Gia's tooth in her fingers, as if she lost it herself.

Tag - You're It

Okay, I think any of my readers who actually blog have already been tagged (Shelby, Annie, Bethany, Natalie?) so I'm going to do something unconventional: I'm tagging my four loyal non-blogging readers:

Karen (Url) - send me your 2nd photo in your 2nd folder and I'll post it.
Karen (cous) - send me your 3rd photo in your 3rd folder and I'll post it.
Jan (mother-in-law) - send me your 7th photo in your 7th folder and I'll post it.
Mom (do you even have photo folders???) - send me the 1st photo in your 1st folder and I'll post it.

Don't Ask Me Any Questions

Just do it however you want, if you want. Just remember: it means I like you! I really like you!