Tagged ... 8 things

It seems I'm so vain, that when I take a quiz on FaceBook or someone tags me to make a list, I'm all about it. Assuming you're just desperate to know more things about me, here goes!

(And thanks to Megan, who tagged me. You're just feeding the monster, you know.)


8 Things I Am Looking Forward To

1. Annual beach trip: We head to the East Coast for a beach trip the first week of July every year. It's with most of Grayson's extended family, and this year will be extra special because we'll be meeting JONAH for the first time! I can't tell you how excited we all are about getting to look into those soulful blue eyes in person.

2. Going to the pool: I will continue to look forward to this until 30 minutes before we're supposed to walk out the door on Pool Opening Day. As the gathering up of all The Paraphernalia (SUNSCREEN! SUNGLASSES! GOGGLES! FLOATIES! SNACKS! JUICE BOXES! CAMERA!) begins and we start putting on swimsuits, that will be the point that I stop looking forward to Going to the Pool and START looking forward to Fall.

3. Date Night: This item has been put on hold indefinitely (see #7), but I continue to look forward to its reappearance on our calendar optimistically. I MISS DINNERS OUT AND MOVIES.

4. Lunch: I have no definitive plans for today, but since I only eat a Zone Bar for breakfast every day, if it's past 9:30 a.m., I'm already looking forward to lunch.

5. Who our kids will be: I don't think a day passes by that I don't wonder about who my kids will be when they grow up. It's hard to tell when they're this young what their strengths and weaknesses will be and how they will choose to capitalize on and compensate for them. I absolutely can't WAIT to find out.

6. Sulphur Springs Bypass completion: If you live outside of my suburb, this means nothing to you. However, this is a transportation project that has been going on for 10 years (well, maybe just a year or so), and it is HIGH TIME for it to be completed. It has had a critical portion of our daily commute path tied up for a Very Long Time, the route that takes us to: Chick-fil-A, the mall, our daycare center, the gas station, the grocery store, Wal-Mart and the highway. And those are just the non-negotiable places to which we travel. I left all of the optional places off the list.

7. Dual incomes: I can't WAIT until we are a two-income household once again. Whether some lucky company hires Grayson or he starts his own business, it will be nice to have more than just my income and the Generosity of Others to rely on for our basic needs. On a related note, I've been working on a post about the changes I've been making over the last few months to help us save money. Right now it only lists three things, but HOW CAN THAT BE? I feel like I've been doing without a lot. Clearly I'm not thinking hard enough during REM sleep to fill out that post the way I thought I would. The Post-it Note on my bedside table stays empty.

8. Grandchildren: I know that it's a little early to be looking forward to that. So sue me. I'm a planner.


8 Things I Did Yesterday (Sunday, actually)

1. Stayed in bed until 11 a.m. Grayson rules.

2. Took Nathaniel to the soccer field for team pictures in his freshly washed uniform. Watched as he playfully fell down in the mushy field BEFORE the pictures were taken, getting mud and grass stains on aforementioned uniform.

3. Transitioned Jake from a rear-facing infant seat to a forward-facing toddler seat. (THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT.)

4. Attended a planning meeting at church for next year’s gala to benefit an incredible ministry that supports amazing kids in our city.

5. Checked walmart.com to see if they carry the underwear Nick wants (“in my size, fo-wah tee”) online. They don’t.

6. Checked my Drafts files to see how many I had in the hopper for this week. Answer: two. GREAT. That means that if I want to post every day this week, I have a LOT of work to do between now and Wednesday. Let’s be optimistic and say it’s gonna happen.

7. Grew more and more agitated as James Spann took the airwaves over from Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. I’m quite sure that the people north of us and south of us can understand how my on-time, uninterrupted Sunday-night TV viewing of shows returning after a two-week hiatus is more important than their mortal safety.

8. Prayed for Jonah.


8 Things I Wish I Could Do

1. Renovate my entire house: Although not practical, I’d really like to do this. As much as I’d love to move to one of the planned communities in our area, we have a great lot with a huge backyard, and I’d hate to give that up. However, I’d love to have one of their floorplans! And tile work. And hardwood floors. And main-level garages.

2. Get more sleep: A totally attainable goal, but 75 percent of my Optional Accomplishments are completed between the hours of 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. If I gave up those hours, there would be no scrapbooks, no blog and no reading. (There would also be no TV watching and no FaceBooking.)

3. Lose 30 pounds: Again, attainable. I’ve done it like three times before. For whatever reason, each time I’ve had a baby I haven’t gotten serious about losing the weight until they were a year old. What? Jake turned a year old last week? Huh. OK, I’m jogging tonight.

4. Tour Europe: I’ve never been to Europe, and I’d love to go. At some point I’d love to see London, Paris, Rome and parts of Scotland and Ireland.

5. Go back to Hawaii: We spent a week on Kauai to celebrate our 10th anniversary in 2005, and I fell head-over-heels in love with it. I’d love to go back to Kauai, as well as visit some of the other Hawaiian islands.

6. Sponsor 100 children: So many of the bloggers I read support Compassion International and have visited children in need all over the world. I know it makes a difference to sponsor even one child, but when you see their faces and read their stories, it’s impossible not to want to take care of each and every one.

7. Volunteer more often: I volunteer at Nathaniel’s school as often as I can, and I do a couple of other things for organizations throughout the year, but I’d love to be able to do more. In this season of our lives, it’s not feasible, but when the boys go to college (sniff, sniff) I hope to use some of that time that will all of a sudden be available to volunteer more often.

8. Cure a disease: There are MANY, MANY REASONS why this would never happen, not the least of which are the facts that I can hardly add 2+2 and the periodic table is a mystery to me. HOWEVER, that doesn’t stop it from making an appearance as #8 on my list. For this is not a list of things I am CAPABLE of doing, but rather a list of things I WISH I could do.


8 Shows I Watch

Color Splash
Dancing With the Stars
American Idol
Top Chef
Grey's Anatomy
Brothers & Sisters
Oprah
The Office


Tag 8 Friends

Adorabus
Campsight
Mary
Parke
Leapin' Lizzie
Gray Matters
Harry
Patrice