Quirky

I have been marinating on this post for several days.

And by marinating, I mean doing hard-core, extensive research and thinking deeply.

Kristen and Michelle both tagged me to write something about myself…quirks/random facts.

My first thought of course was that I don’t have any quirks, for I exemplify perfection in its most complete form.

Then I asked the BF Lucy what she thought.

One incredulous look and a whole sticky note later, I give you these random facts:

1. I am extremely organized. I make lists. I cross things off. I write things down that I have already done just to cross them off. I use white-out or totally re-write something if I make a mistake or if it looks messy. Here are some sub-points to illustrate the degree of my obsessiveness.
a. Paper clips. Apparently I have a thing for paper clips. I use them when securing my check to my deposit slip… can’t have those two getting separated in the tube at the bank. I use them to tell me which week I am on in my planner. I use them to clamp stamps to envelopes before adhering them. There are no free papers floating around in my life. They are all clipped to something.
b. Checkbook. My checkbook is neat. Really neat. On the first line I will write (in all caps) to where the charge is (i.e. SEW UNIQUE). On the second line I will write (in all lowercase) for what the charge is (i.e. lucy’s birthday). I check my account online every day, and I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to keep our budget. I am very precise.
c. Closet. Every hanger is white plastic. If Justin steals one of my hangers, I know about it. And I steal it back. And if I loan a piece of clothing to someone I usually use one of Justin’s hangers just in case they don’t give me back the item on its original hanger. That drives me nuts. I also have all my stuff hanging in categories… from strapless to sweaters in degree of sleeve. Shorts to pants in degree of leg.

2. I have a thing about light switches. If a switch is up that means that there is a light on somewhere. If it is down the light is off. We have several lights in our house that have two switches. I spend time daily making sure that the switches are in the correct position. There is one circuit that is messed up so I had to hide that switch with a plant because it bugged me so.

3. I have a get-to-sleep bedtime routine. I get in bed, pull up the covers to my chin and lay on my left side for five minutes. Then I roll over onto my right side, readjust my pillow and pull the covers into a little pocket over my left hand (next to my face). I then stretch my legs straight out as far as they will go and bring them in one by one until each knee pops (I have joint issues). If a knee doesn’t pop I have to stretch out that leg over again until it does. Then I can go to sleep. But not before…

4. I must have poufy hair no matter what. This should come as no surprise. My hair must have volume at all times. You better bet that even the day I had my sinus surgery and was looking/feeling like total crap, the hair was teased. I know this is sick and vain.

5. I have these “piles.” You would think that with the extreme organization in my life that my house would be spotless. But no. Justin says I pick and choose what to be OCD about, and the cleanliness of mi casa is not top of that list. I am neat. But I am not clean. I have designated areas (Justin-approved) that I can let my stuff pile up. One is beside my bed. Right now there are 2 pairs of pajama pants, a sweatshirt, a couple t-shirts, the jeans I wore last night and 3 pairs of shoes in my pile. The pile gets cleared away every Thursday when I do laundry.

6. My dreams rock. I am not kidding. I have the best dreams (well, most of them). I dream every night and can usually remember every detail of the dreams if I talk about them first thing in the morning. They are very vivid and crazy. I always dream about the past… usually high school/some college. And I have two recurring dreams. One is that my teeth fall out and the other is that I can’t remember the combination to a dial lock. I’ve looked them up and they both talk about my need to be in control. Me? Control? Surely not…

After reading this list you have probably decided that I should see a counselor about my issues.

I am contemplating this myself… especially after actually writing out the bedtime routine.

Please still be my friend and visit my blog.

I promise my next post will not be so psychotic.

And want to hear about all of your quirks.

Especially Robin's!

If You Leave Your Kid With Us Overnight...

He might have a new hairdo upon your return.

We kept Ethan last week from Wednesday to Saturday.

That is three nights of babysitting fun.

We have been to the park, Chick-fil-A, a homecoming football game and a car show.

He loves me.

Really, he does.

Knock, Knock, Knocking on Thirty's Door...

Sunday was my Ju-C's 29th birthday, and you better believe we did some celebrating!!

I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he said that he wanted to go on the overnight camping/canoeing trip with the youth.

Okay...

Want to feel old and completely uncool?

Go on a trip with a bunch of kids.

I had a car full of middle school girls who were talking about how old our new youth intern is.

She turned 24 last weekend.

They thought I was 31.

Are you kidding me?

31?

Really?

Because I don't look a day over 18 I am sure.

We had a great time on the trip. I did get to share a tent with Justin, so that was nice. What wasn't nice was the rock hard ground and tree roots. I tried very hard not to complain about the lack of sleep I experienced. We also canoed seven miles together without tumping over. (Is "tump" a word??) I am not the best canoe partner, so I was quite amazed at this.

In this picture Justin is saying, "Emily, why don't you know your right from your left?"

And I am saying, "Get off my back, you ho."

Notice the Chacos... I am serious in my outdoor sporting attire.

And here is the group picture when we stopped for lunch. See all those middle school girls? Terrifying.When we got home Saturday night, we were completely worn out. We went to bed at 8 like an old couple.

It was wonderful.

Sunday was Justin's birthday, so we celebrated with brunch at the Grand Hotel after church. If you have never been to brunch at the hotel...

Go.

Immediately.

It was fabulous. I wanted to make a list of all the yummy food that was there, but I was too embarrassed to take out my scratch pad in the dining room.

That is also why I don't have a picture of his birthday lunch.

Darn my selfishness.

I do have an observation about our economy from the dining room at the Grand Hotel...

We must not be in terrible shape because that place was packed out.

And at $30 a head, that isn't a whole lot of "doing without" going on.

And I'm pretty sure that we were the only ones who blew our entire month's "entertainment" budget on lobster ravioli and bread pudding.

And cheese blintzes and waffles and made-to order omelets...

I digress...

Sunday night we had friends over for cupcakes.

Neither of us could eat the cupcakes because the brunch was still in our bellies.

Try making cupcakes when you are about to throw up from overeating...

They were chocolate with peanut butter & cream cheese icing. And this is what we looked like at the party.

Too tired to wear real clothes. Hooray for pajamas.

And Justin looks too tired to open his eyes all the way. And now I am too tired to finish this post.
Peace and love.

Pumpkins!

Last Saturday I picked up a couple of white pumpkins at our farmer's market. Love those things!

Got home, painted 'em up.

If I had a billion dollars I would have a truckload of pumpkins in my yard.

We will carve the orange one closer to Halloween... last year we got over-ambitious and by trick-or-treat time our meticulously carved masterpieces were rotten.

We carved the whole Peanuts gang... Linus, Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

It took hours.

Rotting pumpkin doesn't go over well with the kiddos. They don't so much like to see Snoopy with mold growing all over him...

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Oh my friends.

I have a problem.

And it is life.

How am I so busy?

I have no children to take care of, and I only work part-time.

What is the deal??

I've narrowed it down to the following:

• I have changed working locations. The lovely trailer that my office was in has been condemned a health hazard. Oh I kid. But it is in the process of being hauled off. I hope it goes to the dump. I am now working in the copy room in the church office. With two other people who got kicked out of their offices too. It is not the best of blogging environments... Sure, I love talking to every person that comes in each day, but really? I have no time to complete a thought, much less a paragraph detailing my thoughts on the Pussycat Dolls or Dave Ramsey. My productivity is at an all-time low, and I am very thankful for my quiet office at home where I can catch up when it gets too crazy in there.

• Speaking of Dave Ramsey... Justin and I are taking a class... "Financial Peace University" I think the title is corny, but I have really enjoyed the class. We have lots of homework...reading and such. And now I have less money than I had before... this cash only system is interesting. I would love to see a study from a psychological standpoint on how people with only cash spend their money. I would volunteer for it for sure, because now that I have my allowance in my hands I haven't bought a darn thing. And Sephora just opened up down the road. I'm impressed with myself.

• I am still hosting a women's Bible study on Monday nights at our house. We are going through a book about encouragement. More homework. And a lot of it is to practice being encouraging which really takes time and effort. But I guess that is the point, huh? And I learned to make coffee, by the way...

• Justin has been nominated to be a deacon at our church. We have been attending weekly classes (I have to go too) to discuss church history, what Presbyterians believe, the Book of Church Order, etc... LOTS of reading. We Presbyterians like to know stuff... This is a huge responsibility, and I know it will require much sacrifice on both of our parts. We are taking the class (and the nomination) seriously.

So, while my busyness has been good for the mind and soul, I am drained.

I think of good things to blog about all the time, but I usually decide to read or take a nap instead.

But I really need to be silly. All this seriousness has made Joe a dull boy.

So I hope to be back to complete useless posting soon.

I will leave you with this thought from my morning drive...

I heard a line in a song that went something like this:

"Tell Daddy what you're having, and I'll keep 'em coming all night long." (sorry, I know I butchered it...)

REALLY?

If I told my daddy what I was having he would tell me that I had had enough. And probably tell me it was time to go home (that is assuming that Greg and I would both be in a bar...)

But the song is "I Wanna Make Love in This Club" so I'm not sure why I was expecting great lyricism...

(And yes, I listen to WABB... don't judge me.)

Happy Taco Tuesday!