Day 15

15. Your favorite blogs.

• Funniest blog: The Hamer Adventures - good old fashion humor and cute kids!
• Best tone: Hazel's House Blog - cute kids and a woman who loves to make lists and organize as much as I do
• Best high/low split: Monkey See: NPR - NPR pop culture blog. I love to get my smart/trashy culture news here. Plus Linda Holmes is super funny. They also put out the weekly podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which Boyd and I listen to together each weekend. Here one of her good recent posts about Miss USA.
• Best aid blog: Good Intentions are Not Enough - teaching people who donate to non-profits to be actively involved and informed donors. Critiques some of the current forms of international aid.
• Best fiction blog: Disastrous Passion: the book. A romance book written in installments; AND it's about an disaster relief worker in Haiti working with lots of burly, international men!
• Best eye candy: Bangable Dude in History. With ratings of their hotness and quirky features!

In case you missed it: my other blog

Day 14

14. Your earliest memory.

I can't really remember my earliest memory. 

I do have a good memory in the "under 10" category, which is pretty impressive. Plus, I feel like it's a more "valid" memory because it doesn't come from frequent re-telling, or from a photo.

When I was seven, my family went on a trip to Europe, including a few weeks stay in England. I have many memories from this trip but one of the happiest was staying at Sophie's house. Her house was actually called a castle! And, since she's British, she pronounced it like, cahh-sl.

That on its own would be enough for a young girl of princess-dreaming-age to remember. But there's more to that memory. She also ate chocolate sprinkles on her toast in the morning! I remembering thinking that was the best breakfast idea ever. I loved these milk chocolate sprinkles that came out of a cardboard box. Together the taste was perfect - the crunchiness of the dry toast, the saltiness of the butter, and the smoothness of the sprinkles, slightly melted in the butter. 

A castle and chocolate sprinkles. No wonder that place left an imprint on my young memory. 

Day 13

13. Somewhere you’d like to move or visit.

I really want to visit Okinawa someday. This is the island, south of Japan, where Boyd's mom was born and where his grandma's family lived for generations as fishermen. Oba (grandma) doesn't talk about her childhood much but I love hearing any story she does tell. I found a photo of an Okinawa fisherman here. There is something properly nostalgic about visiting the "homeland" of a family member. But following my family doesn't bring me to places quite as exotic or tropical.

Check out the views! Okinawa is known for its beaches and I've sometimes heard it described ast the "Hawaii of Japan." 

You can see even more dream-vacation-inducing photos here. 

Unfortunately, the tickets are about $1,500 - $2,500 per person to fly there. SO......I have to really kick my penny saving up a notch if I want to get there any day soon. Or maybe I'll just plan on going when I retire. Sigh.

Day 12

[Did you miss Day 11? I posted it before Days 9-10.]

12. Bullet your whole day.
My day today:

• Boyd woke me up at 7am, just as he was leaving for work.
• Stumbled downstairs to make a cup of tea.
• Read my Psalm for the day. I'm working my way through the psalms.
• Cleaned our room. Did our weekly chores that are supposed to be done before Sunday night. Oops!
• Read blogs about international non-profits (and my friend's blogs).
• Got call from Boyd saying that he might have an intestinal parasite. 
• Had conference call for CFOI, where I am a Board member.
• Ate cornbread (thanks, Louise!) and deviled eggs for lunch.
• Got coupon for free undies in the mail!
• Printed letters, envelopes and photos for 20 thank you notes to SIA donors.
• Stuffed envelopes and put letters in mail box - listened to Planet Money podcasts.
• Tried calling CA DMV to get refund for our car registration there - was placed on a 2 hour-long hold list. I'll let you know if they ever get back to me today...
• Wrote a follow-up report of the organization I visited in Malawi in July.
• Folded the laundry off the clothesline.
• After 2 hours, got the call back from the DMV but then got immediately disconnected and lost my place in line.
• Read a chapter of "A Visit from the Goon Squad", hoping the DMV would magically call me back.
• Called the DMV again and this time my estimated hold time is only 1.5-1.75 hours!
• Found a recipe for a potato frittata for dinner tonight. 
• Got another call back from the DMV. This time it went through!
• Wrote an email to the SIA Board of Directors giving them a general update.
• Read a few pages from my new Agatha Christie "Bedside, Bathtud, and Armchair Companion" (It's really called that!), which I got from a garage sale on Saturday.
• Made dinner for Boyd.
• Now: Watching 2 episodes of the Canadian drug crime drama, Intelligence on Netflix Instant.
• Soon: Going to bed!

Day 10

9. Tattoos. If you have one, post it and it’s story. If not, what do you want? 

[I'm skipping this question because I don't really have an answer and it's not really a question I care to ponder. I don't have a tattoo and I probably won't get one.]

10. Write 5 messages to 5 different people without using names.
[I have no idea if 5 people are even reading this blog, but I liked Hazel's post where she wrote to neighbors as well as readers.]

• Hello! I went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival yesterday (got a free ticket!) and remembered all the good times we had there as kids. I remember the freedom of running around, getting dusty, making friends, selling books. The smell of wet hay always brings me right back to the mornings at the Nor Cal Ren Faire, when they would water down the hay bales and the dusty road. Thanks for sharing that experience with me.
• Hi! How are you this week? I am so grateful for all that you teach me about myself. Like, last week when I told you how I get all stressed out about needing to check things off my to-do list, you suggested that I just add them to my calendar and only do things as they come up on the day. What a good solution! That really helps me not worry about things until I need to worry about them.
• Hey there, you three! Even though you're a lot younger than me, I still have a really good time hanging out with you! I love when you sit on my lap and pick out books for me to read to you. You're all growing up and learning new things every day. I hope
• Heelllllooooooooooo! If you do happen to make it camping this weekend, it wouldn't be sooo bad if you also brought some yummy treats from that baker's wife. :)
• Hi! Thanks for doing this challenge with me. It's fun to learn new things about you (like that you were trained in massage)! It's nice to have such good friends around. Remember to be kind and easy to yourself, you are loved! 

Yours, etc.

Tanya

Day 11

11. Put your iPod iTunes on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.

I love this because I often just open iTunes and hit shuffle when I'm working. I often skip songs depending on what I'm in the mood for (my collection is pretty acclectic) but this time I'll just write down whatever comes up! As an added challenge, I'll only write about each song for as long as it's playing. Alright, here we go...

• I'm waiting for your call -- T-Bone Walker "Best of T-Bone Walker"
• T-Bone Walker is a great old-school blues guitar player. He has some great blues lyrics about finding the right woman and then her leaving, you know the blues drill. He has a really smooth voice that's like butter to listen to.
• Love Plus One -- Haircut 100 "Ultimate New Wave Party 1998"
• I definitely would skip this one if it wasn't for the writing exercise. I'm not even sure how I have this CD on my iTunes. I do like the "eye-yah-ya-ya" lyrics though. It's always great when you can get away with not actually writing words for lyrics.
• Gloria et in terra pax -- Taize "Laudate Omnes Gentes"
• I love listening to this Taize CD to get into a meditative mood. The songs all repeat short prayer lines in pretty harmony and in many different languages. We visited the Taize site a few years ago in France and it was a really magical experience to sing in so many languages with people from all over the world.
• One Time -- Stoke 9 "Nasty Little Thoughts"
• LOVED this CD when I was writing my Honors Thesis at the end of college. It has a lot of driving rock and snarky lyrics, which kept me on edge and pumped me up to read through my paper for the hundredth time!
• Ciribiribin -- Harry James "I'm in the Mood for Swing"
• Another great 1940s Swing-era crooner. This is a great CD for the old classics and I love listening to it when I cook or when I'm getting ready for a party. There is a great trumpet solo   with nice horns in the background. 
• Boom Boom Pow -- Black Eyed Peas "The E.N.D"
• Apparently, the E.N.D. stands for the Energy Never Dies. That pretty much sums up Black Eyed Peas. I can only listen to one or two songs of theirs in a row otherwise I get too wound up. However, this is one of the great dance songs and so if I need a quick solo dance party, this is a good one to go crazy to!
• Exactly Like You -- Elsie Carlisle "Hits of the '30s"
• Boyd really loves this CD, which I got a few years ago from the library. It sounds just like the stuff you would expect to hear on an old fashion phonograph or radio show. The woman has a high trill-y voice and there is a clarinet and piano accompanying her. It's great to tap into this older era of music!
• River -- Natalie Merchant "Tigerlily"
• Probably my favorite CD of all times and the one I've listened to most often in my life. River was written as a tribute to River Phoenix after he died of a drug overdose. It's a lament song and Natalie has the perfect voice for it. I love her strong, clear voice. It's easy to sing along with and hear the gorgeous lyrics.  
• If There's Love -- Citizen Cope "Album 2"
• "If there's love, I just wanna to have something to do with it. I just wanna feel yours." This is one of my favorite lyrics on the CD. You can just hear the yearning in his angst-y, rock star voice. My sister got this CD while she was working in Alaska for the summer and when she came home, she played it nonstop on the CD player in the kitchen. Soon enough, we all knew the lyrics and came to love the album.
• Don't Ride That Horse -- Old Crow Medicine Show "Big Iron World"
• Love the new old-syle bluegrass music. We saw these guys in concert at First Ave in Minneapolis and I fell in love with the harmonica guy - man! could he wail on the  harmonica! 
• [Bonus!!] Owensboro -- Natalie Merchant "Putumayo Presents American Folk"
• I had to include this one because it's in my top 5 of Natalie's song. It has great folk lyrics singing about working hard, missed opportunities, and hope for glory in heaven. 

Day 8

8. A show I thought I wouldn’t like, but I did.

When I was little, Home Improvement was one of my favorite shows. I would sneak into my parent's closet, where, as I already mentioned, we kept our TV, and watch JTT (sooooo cute!!!!) be the silly brother to a laugh-track audience. I loved that show, mostly because JTT was so dreamy and because I watched so little TV that anything was exciting. 

However, when Home Improvement was over, Seinfeld would start in with its weird stand-up comedy intro. I never really though it was funny, probably because I didn't understand ironic/dry humor yet, and I thought it was lame to have a "middle-aged" man saying things that people were supposedly laughing at. 

That was my middle-schooler mindset. But once I got past the opening montage of Seinfeld and once I understood humor a bit better, I started loving Seinfeld. I mean, come on, forget about it, how can you not like it?! So now I'm busy watching old episodes of Seinfeld and discovering, years after everyone else, that it really is a FUNNY show!

Day 7

7. What I wear to bed.


Depends on the season, especially here in Minnesota. Once it starts to get cold, I love to wear my big, cozy nightgown that has pictures of sock monkeys all over it! My mom made it. :)

Day 6

Really?!

6.Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.

[There is no importance to the order of these facts.]

1. I'm left-handed.
2. I never thought of myself as a "cat person" until I got my first cat at the age of 24. Now I love cats.
3. My first ever job was being a library page at my local public library. In 2009 I finished my Masters of Library and Information science.
4. I traveled to the Pacific Island Tonga with my parents when I was in 4th grade. 
5. I studied abroad in Chile for 6 months during my senior year of high school.
6. I love to sing Sacred Harp, also called shapenote singing. It's music from mid-19th century America and I love being transported back to that time through music. 
7. I believe there are guardian angels all around me.
8. I like hugs.
9. I don't garden because I'm afraid all the plants will die on me.
10. I have to shower after I vacuum or clean the bathroom.
11. I don't like buying books.
12. I still have two baby teeth in my mouth, because I am missing the two adult teeth that go above them.
13. I don't like putting lotion on my body because it feels so sticky.
14. I always like to have music on when I'm alone.
15. Boyd and I know how to polka dance.
16. [Phew! Half way there!] I like singing songs around the campfire.
17. When I'm lonely or feeling sad, I sit under a hot shower and that makes me feel better.
18. I listen to Natalie Merchant when I have bad cramps from my period. (Especially her song, "Wonder".)
19. I knew Boyd for two years before we started dating.
20. Growing up, we kept our TV in the closet.
21. I don't like walking unless there is a destination, then I can walk for miles and miles.
22. When I was in 6th grade, my family went to Zimbabwe and we stayed with a white family in their farm compound. They later were forced to sell their land under the Zimbabwe land reform.
23. When I graduated from college I wanted to work for a non-profit but I was turned away from non-profit jobs because I didn't have enough experience. Two years later, I was running a non-proft.
24. I grew up vegetarian but bacon convinced me to start eating meat in college.
25. I'm working my way through Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mystery series.
26. I had the American Girl Felicity (from the Colonial period) when I was a kid. I loved her red hair.
27. My family plays a unique form of Solitaire, where everyone plays together with their own deck of cards. I'll teach you some time.
28. My grandma's homemade applesauce is my ultimate comfort food.
29. My dad took me tandem surfing and did awesome tricks with me when I was little enough for him to lift me over his head.
30. I make a to-do list each morning with what I want to accomplish that day. ~ Write blog post - check!

Day 5

4. Your views on religion.

[I'm taking a rain check on this question. Because I want to make sure to have time to give it thought - and yesterday I was too busy going to church then hanging out with friends to answer...]

5. Your three favorite books and why.

[This is a perfect day to answer this question, since I plan on reading today during my day off!]

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I know this is sort of predictable choice but I really is one of my favorite books! It's one of the few books I've read more than twice and I hardly ever read books more than once. The dialogue is witty and the observations made by the characters are interesting, AND, of course, they fall in love at the end! It's a comfortable book and one that I can just read a bit of to make me feel better. Likewise, if I want the same feeling and don't feel like reading, I can just watch a bit of the BBC movie adaptation. Very likely my like for both the book and the movie increase my love of each individually. However, I do NOT like all the zombie adaptations, etc. of Pride and Prejudice.

Possession by A.S. Byatt

This book is a perfect combination of many of my favorite book characteristics: academic main character, historical fiction, good prose, romantic in a classy way. The two main characters are scholar/researchers and they discover old manuscript and try to work out some old mystery. I don't remember all the details now but it was so cool to watch the discovery unfold and read the old letters and poems they found.

Lentil by Robert McCloskey 

This was one of my favorite picture books as a kid and I still love checking it out from the library from time to time and reading through it. They pictures are so lovely and they draw me right into the story of the boy in this midwest town. The front flap of the book has a illustrated map of the fictional town, which I love. The story is about a boy who can't whistle but he can play harmonica and he ends up saving the day when he plays his harmonica in a parade. The pictures show so much detail and really illustrates the expressions of the characters. Check it out!

Now, off to read The World According to Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith.

Day 3

3. Weird things you do when you’re alone.
Wake up early in the morning on Saturday and answer weird questions...


Now for a better question:
3. Weird  Things I like to do when I'm alone.
I work at home, and most of that time I am alone. When I'm alone at home I like to listen to podcasts or books on tape to fill up the quiet space. These "home alone" books on tape are usually light mysteries with good characters that draw me in to their little worlds. Right now, I'm listening to Carrot Cake Murder about a baker living in northern Minnesota, who (wait for it...) also happens to be an amateur detective! It's a silly story, but I like having the comfort of other voices telling me stories when I'm home alone. If I don't have a book, I am sometimes forced to listen to Gary Eichten on MPR during my lunch, "over the noon-hour".


When I'm done working for the day, I like to go sit on our front porch and read a book, lying in the (old) parisian lounge chair. Sometimes, I'll get distracted and just look up at the trees (enjoying the leaves while they are still up there!) or pet my kitties and rub their tummies.

Qwill (he's totally asking for a tummy rub in this one!) 

Hazel (her, not so much)

Day 2

2. Where I’d like to be in 10 years.


In 10 years I'll be 38 years old and it will be the year 2021. In some ways I took this question challenge because I wanted the chance to think about this and put down some ideas on "paper".


In 10 years I definitely hope to be living in a home that I've been in for a few years and plan to be in for more years to come. Lately, that has not been the case. I'd like it to be a small home, but whether it's a condo in a city or a cottage in the country or a yurt in the backwoods - we'll have to just wait and see. I'll get back to you on that, in 10 years.


I'd love to still be working for Spirit in Action, and have the organization be big enough to pay me full time AND hire an assistant. I hope that'd take me on lots of trips overseas. I'd still have a flexible schedule with plenty of time during the summer for camping.


I'd like to be making enough money to be able to fly to California for the weekend (assuming I'm not living there) so that I could visit my family and see my nieces. 


I'd like to be a consultant for other non-profits, or maybe a free-lance writer/researcher. But I'm not really sure about that one, now that I wrote it down.


I think I'd like to be a member of a church. I think there is something special about a church community which is supportive and helps people grow. Up to this point, I haven't felt like a permanent, adult member of a church long enough to want to join.


I'd like to live near some great friends and have a nice kitchen to prepare good food. And maybe have a berry patch nearby - one that gives me lots of fruit but that I don't have to do much to take care of it. Yes - that sounds like a good goal for the next 10 years!

Day 1

[I start this challenge with the assumption that these questions are just being used as a prompt to get me thinking. I am also assuming that I can tweak the question to make it more interesting or answerable...]

1. Three things people do that irritate you.

• They don't say what they want. This is common in Minnesota. I can see them eyeing the last piece of cake and they'll say "Oh, no, you take it." The problem is, I want to take people at their word, so if I hear "No, thank you" then I'll assume they really don't want it. The irritating part is when they do want it and they get upset with me eating the last yummy morsel!
• They walk slowly. I'm a fast walker, probably due having a fast-walking mother and a fast-walking, long-legged husband. So I'm used to walking fast. Now, slow-walking doesn't irritate me if I know we're taking a leisurely stroll, but if we need to get some place and I notice I keep having to slow my pace, then I have to decided to get irritated or tell myself there's no rush and to slow down...
• They assume I want to have kids. "When you have kids..." can be a surprisingly irritating statement. Maybe this will come up in another question, so right now all I'll say is: (1) I am so happy with the arrangement Boyd and I have now and I know that would change with a kid, and I'm not ready for that change, (2) I'm not drawn to motherhood, probably the first sign I shouldn't have a kid. (3) Boyd doesn't want children. If any of these feelings change, I'm always open to changing my mind about kids. [This does NOT mean that I don't like kids! Kids are cuddly, inquisitive, usually like books, and I like hanging out with them!]

People I love rarely irritate me, so don't think this is about you!


[Editor's note: Like my friend also answering these questions, I felt really negative after writing this post, so I'm going to add 3 things that I admire about people: generosity that inspires me to be generous, humor that is not mean, people who share their musical talent.]