400!

Posts, that is. Actually, this one is number 402.

So, because I can, here are some more seemingly random facts about lil ol' me. Because it's my blog and I'll post meaningless drivel if I want to.

1. I have now had 8 surgeries (femur x3, jaw x2, knee and c-section x2). That's a whole lotta slicing and dicing. At one point I had 2 plates, 9 screws, and 2 pins inside of me.

2. When I was a kid, I used to find money. A lot. The best was when I found $10 at the age of 8 or so. People used to think I was lucky, but I just walked with my head down a lot.

3. I don't like Disney World/Land. Adults who go without kids strike me as a wee bit creepy.

4. I am the mother of a boy who is almost 6 months old, and I haven't been peed on yet. Although now that I've said it, I'm expecting it to happen any diaper change now.

5. If I ever won the lottery (or came into a lot of money somehow), I would donate a good chunk of it to diabetes research for a cure, pay off our house, and then invest what is left over. No crazy splurges for me. I'm boring like that. Mmmm, wait. My one splurge would be to get all my D-Peeps (fellow parents of diabetics, and persons with diabetes) together for a weekend of fun.

6. Both my babies were born the day after labour day.

7. I think Conan O'Brien is (was? still is?) the absolute funniest late night host. Leno is okay (although my opinion of him went downhill after the whole Conan thing), and Letterman is nothing but a creepy old man who stares at the chests of his female guests. And he's not funny at all. And he's gross.

8. My 30th birthday (on which I turned 30 on the 30th - isn't that your golden birthday or something?) was pretty much the BEST birthday EVER! We were in NYC, and I got to see a taping of Conan. Plus My favourite band, the Hothouse Flowers were performing on a boat that cruised around the Statue of Liberty that night and they had the whole boat sing me Happy Birthday. Gush, gush, gush! Oh... I just happen to have a picture from that night... don't I look rested and happy?


9. Actually, 2006 was the best year ever. White water rafting in Idaho (no, you da ho), NYC trip, Hawaii, and we found out we were pregnant with Elise... on Christmas Eve, no less.

10. I just cut off 8 inches of hair. Because I have so much hair, it was enough to donate two ponytails... except in all the ensuing chaos of trying to get the house ready for showing, I can't find the baggie of hair I was supposed to mail. Hopefully a potential buyer won't stumble across it as they walk through our house. That would be a little weird.

So tah-da. Ten things about me! Plus one uber-cute picture of my kiddos.

20 Things I can't live without

Holy smokes... I found this in my draft folder and it's almost a year old! I thought I should post it before I forget about it again.

Here are my 20 things (in no particular order)...

1. My Family - Well, duh. I've got a great guy, sweet, amazing daughter and a neurotic, but pretty cool dog. 'Nuff said.

2. My Birkenstocks - Birks are to me what flip flops are to most other people. I have a huge aversion to things between my toes, so flip flops are a no go for me. But I have been wearing Birks since I was 15. In fact, I had the same pair for 15 years! They travelled through Europe, down to SF and over to Texas with me. I still have them, although I don't wear them anymore.

3. Sleep - Without it I am a monster. I don't get enough of it anymore, so there's your answer as to why I'm so difficult.

4. Target - Ahhhh, the first store name Elise ever learned to say. She can spot a Target store from miles away and asks me at least three times a week if we can go to Target. I have no idea why. The sight of red stickers excites me.

5. The Amazing Race - I'm betting I really could live without watching this show, but it's the only way I'll ever get to travel to Mongolia and watch someone eat yak balls. Plus, you know... Phil.

6. Tyleonl PM/Advil PM/Benedryl - You'd think that someone who isn't getting enough sleep would be able to fall asleep pretty easily, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, my brain has a hard time shutting off at night. A lot of it has to do with diabetes, and I tend to over analyze Elise's numbers. I don't take something every night, but sometimes a girl needs a little help getting to where she wants to go.

7. My faith - Life has been a wild ride so far, and my life changed for the better almost 9 years ago. Major props to God on that one. You can't see me right now, but I'm pointing skywards a la any movie star or pro athlete who has just won an award/hit a home run/scored a touchdown etc. No I'm not, because that would just make me look like an idiot.

8. Hockey and my Vancouver Canucks - You know I'm Canadian, right? I play Air hockey, Ball hockey, Barn Hockey, Bubble Hockey, Field hockey, Floor hockey, Ice hockey, Kitchen hockey, Road hockey, Roller hockey, Table hockey, Twist hockey And I play hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey all the time! Take shots! Any good Canadian will be able to tell you what all the nonsense means.

9. The written word - I am somewhat of a word junkie. When I was younger, I always had to be reading something. Even if I was sitting at the table eating breakfast, I would grab the cereal box and read every word on it; english and french. That's why I knew how to say, "no sugar added" in french before I ever started school. Now I don't have much time to read, but losing myself in a book is a great way to escape the stresses of life.

10. Really great music - I know everyone has differing opinions on what "really great" means, but for me it means not listening to screaming/shrieking/noise, someone caterwauling about their pick-up breaking down, or some idiot talking about hos and droning on in a language that might sound like english if your IQ was about 20. Also the Christmas Shoes song. Because it really, really sucks.

11. My body pillow - I became seriously addicted to this when I was pregnant with Elise. Now I can't sleep right if I don't have an extra-long bag of cotton to snuggle up to (who says I'm not romantic?)

12. My quilt - I love my quilt and I hate sleeping without it. I quasi-made it. By that I mean I chose the material, measured it, cut it and had every intention of sewing it, but ran out of time. So I pleaded with my friend Gabi to finish it off for me. It's a rag quilt and it's purple and oh-so pretty.

13. A hot shower - I get cold easily and I hate to smell. 'Nuff said.

14. My D-Mommas - oh how I love these women! They are there for me like nobody else can be. We have plans to meet one day in real life, but for now I just have to be content that they live in my computer.

15. Nap time - Well, Elise's nap time. Still working on finding the time for me.

16. Fun socks - I really have no fashion sense, nor do I really care that plaid is all the rage right now (did I wake up in the early 90s or something? Shouldn't I be in math class right now? I loooooove Nirvana - wait, no I don't. See #10). But I do love fun socks. With multi-coloured stripes, or sparkles, or funky designs... I love them all (remember, this was written almost a year ago... when plaid WAS in).

17. A good conditioner - Have you seen my hair? I mean, really seen it? You can't miss it. It's red, and big, and long, and my God there is a lot of it. I probably shed enough hair everyday to give someone a whole new head of hair. And to tame the wild beast that sits upon my head I need a really good, moisturizing conditioner. It needs to smell nice, too.

18. Laughter - I love humour, laughing and making others laugh. A good laugh can be as cathartic as a good cry. Lucky for me I live with two pretty funny people and a mildly amusing dog.

19. The word miscellaneous - I'm a pretty organized person. A place for everything and everything in its place, I say. But what bugs the poop outta me are those things that don't fit anywhere. For example, Elise has a bunch of storage drawers for her toys, and those drawers have labels. And those toys are stored by category. Except we have a whole slew of toys that don't fit any category and hence must be stored in the "miscellaneous" drawer. I have miscellaneous folders, envelopes, cupboards, bins, shelves... ahhh, miscellaneous. It does my anal-retentive heart good.

20. My blog - Because where else would I be able to put all the crap that clogs up my brain?

Aaaaaaand fin. Aren't you glad you wasted 10 minutes of your life reading all that?

5 things

I took this from Wym's blog. You should meander over there when you get a chance. She's quite funny and can see Mexico from her backyard.

Which, of course, is almost as good as Russia...

5 things I can't leave the house without:

• my daughter and all her various supplies to keep her alive and well


• my cell phone (albeit very reluctantly)


• a bottle of water


• my solemn vow to try and not kill any of the many terrible Texas drivers I encounter.


• my wallet (because I couldn't think of anything else)
  

5 cartoons I watched as a kid:

• Muppet Babies


• Smurfs


• G.I. Joe


• Transformers


• Scooby Doo
  

5 things I want to do before I die:

• See a cure for diabetes (bet you didn't see that one coming)


• Visit Victoria Falls and raft the Zambezi River below the falls


• Visit Australia and New Zealand (I admit, not a lofty goal, but for someone who cannot stand to be cooped up on an airplane for more than about 4 hours, a goal nonetheless)


• Speak Portuguese fluently and with a fabulous accent


• Go through one day without being worried or stressed about something (yes, I realize that I'd probably be have to be dead already if this were to actually happen)

10 Things I bet you didn't know about Blog

1. It took me awhile to decide on Blog's name. Just like naming your baby, choosing the right name for your blog is important. It needs to fit your personality. Be catchy, but not throw-up-in-your-mouth cutesy. "Come on in, the Senilty is Fine" is the title of a poem by American poet, Ogden Nash. I've always loved his humorous wit, and the way he translates it into verse. They should seriously make a children's book out of some of his poetry.

2. I also had trouble thinking of an address for blog. I wanted it to be something that was easy to remember. But apparently I'm not all that original, because some of my favourites were already being camped on. One of them hasn't been written on since 2005 or so. Stupid squatters. Here were some of my favourites; eh2zed.blogspot, bigballofcrazy.blogspot, mykingdomforahorse.blogspot, and thisismyblogspot.blogspot (a take off on this is my dog spot). I decided on miscellaneoust.blogspot because I use misct as my "internet name", plus Miscellaneous T is the name of an album by the awesome They Might be Giants. As an added bonus, I now know how to spell miscellaneous.

3. I mostly write about random thoughts that pop into my melon, but seldom do update-on-my-life posts.

4. I do have two recurring posts that I do; favourite things, and daily picture rejects.

5. Rants are my absolute favourite posts to write.

6. I did struggle with the decision to post pics of Elise, and using our names. But then I realized nobody gives a poop who I am, and the people who read blog are people I know. And I'm already well aware who the crazies are. I am careful about being too specific about where I live. This is so my in-laws don't know where to come visit. I kid, I kid! They already know.

7. Blog loves it when people leave comments. This makes blog very happy.

8. I get my best ideas for blog at about 2:00 am. Only once did I get up to actually write this post. Now I keep a pen and paper beside the bed so I can jot down my ideas. Such as they are.

9. I try not to use bad words, but crap and suck in various forms (sucktastic, crap-sandwhich) are staples of my writing. I can't help it, they make me laugh.

10. Did I mention that comments are like chocolate to blog?