10 Random Things.

Tagged by Bill P.

Here goes:

1) I'm a clean freak. Wash my hands all the time and I love to clean. Bathrooms (showers, toilets), sinks. Vacuuming, too.

2) At some point in elementary school, I started "drumming" by clicking my teeth. When I would be hearing a song playing or just humming one in my head, I had an elaborate system of pressures and lengths I would hold the "click" to make a drum sound. It probably looks weird to others. It sounds amazing to my inner ear. I might say this contributed to my need for orthodontic helps.

3) My first computer was a Commodore 64. "Karataka" was our first game.

4) The first concert I went to was with FUMC youth group. It was Amy Grant at the Omni. The Omni has since been imploded and Amy Grant has....not.

5) My nickname as a youngster was "Moses." A swim teacher kept having to call me to jump in and get with the group because I was "moseying" along. I think I was daydreaming.

6) I used to stutter (it was more like hesitant speech; I would start the sound of a word and couldn't finish. Had to do with breathing) as a kid. This, too, was a good reason for the "Moses" nickname.

7) I was once so jealous of our babysitter playing with my brother and not playing with me that I broke the panel of a window. We had one of the "behind-your-real-house" barns as a kid. I was swinging one of those hollow plastic baseball bats (ones with a fat end). The more upset I got, the harder I hit the glass on the barn window. It broke. My Dad said I'd have to pay for the damages with my allowance, but it never went that far.

8) I once tried to invite Cameron Diaz to our employee Christmas party when I worked at the hotel in NYC. I was quite intoxicated (just being honest, folks). I knew she was staying in the joint and I knew which room. I knocked on the door several times, but no answer. Thank the Lord she wasn't there.

9) When I was a kid, I called into the radio show of a local Christian station. I dedicated a song to my grandmother. I won the contest. I was able to go to the bookstore and pick out an album (that's right, kiddies... an LP). My choice: Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart. I think it was the "Sheep in Wolves' Clothing" one.

10) A pet peeve of mine is when someone uses the microwave, but doesn't use the full amount of time they programmed in. Then, when I glance at the microwave's screen to see what time it is, I get freaked for a half-second when I'm guessing it's about 7pm and the screen reads: ":23" I hate that.

I really could go on. But that, dear readers, is enough information.

New Poem

The Orbital Journey of the Heart
2.9.2008


Begin
small beats that feel the distance
can’t fathom your history
nightmare you put behind

angry outbursts punctuate
the grey, unsettled sky of your spirit
tension always underneath the surface
realization stings that you won’t be easy

slight crack in the wall
on a night drive home
marks the start of my compassion

hurt and hate
molten throughout years
to form my stubborn core
Now it lessens

push and pull
in grown-up years
relationship grows richer
maturity reveals insight

foolish phantoms of assumption
exiled forever
your healing becoming stronger

Travel forward in my mind
to your end
Imagine me standing at your funeral
clapping for you

I see you as a survivor
I applaud you for your courage
I watched the Hand of grace in your life
I am on your side.

We are in a new house (kind of)

So...... in response to some feedback about my not posting or commenting much lately (I mean...come on!! Last one was Monday, 1/28!)..... I will tell you what's been going on. We moved from our previous abode (renting it, I might add) in Lee's Crossing to my grandparent's old house on Hope St. My grandmother still owns it, technically, but my Dad is the estate comptroller (just wanted to use that sweet-a** word). So, we're renting this bad boy.

It's hilarious to be living in the house you used to visit often as a kid. It's this same layout that's buried in my memories, but now it's got Laura's famous decorative touch and our kids are running around in it. Surreal can't even begin to touch what I'm getting at. The weirdest things are:

- the pantry in the dining room still has this distinct smell that brings back childhood like a mutha.
- I can still picture Grapenuts, Vienna Sausages, and Cracklin' Oat Bran in the pantry. This was NOT a fun destination for snack food as a small child.
- the little mirror/medicine cabinets in the bathrooms (so old skool, yet cool!)
- the massive sliding doors on closets and pantries that can get "off track" and not roll correctly.
- the stencils of ducks on random objects in the kitchen
- the hideous stenciling in the utility room (that was BIG in the mid-to-late 80's)
- lying in my grandparent's bedroom, which is now our bedroom, staring at the wall and thinking, "this is the same frickin' POV I had when I was a kid taking a nap in this room with my grandma! Whoa!"
- how small the backyard is now that I'm a grown-up
- how big that small tree I remember as a kid is now

I could go on, but you get the point. It's a great house. I'm nearly right across the street from David Eldridge and his family, which is a bonus, as we've been great friends since high school. We are enjoying the place and still need to find a home for all the contents in boxes in the carport, but that's news for another post..... I will try to post some pictures soon.