rambling and rambling and rambling

The last time 30 sounded old was about 10 years ago – so I don’t feel even mildly “old” or even remotely bummed out that today I entered a new decade. But it is just weird. What’s weirdest, I think, is that I’m no longer in my twenties. I’m now in the decade where the norm is being responsible, law-abiding citizens who regularly fertilize their lawns and attend PTA meetings. Not that I do those things. Well, I feel like I’m fairly responsible, and I do my best to abide by the law, but I don’t have a lawn to fertilize, nor do I have children old enough to be in a school that would actually have a PTA. Nor a country, for that matter.

So maybe what’s weirdest is that my age is actually starting to correspond with what I’m doing in life. With what tiny sampling of “wild oats” I had, they were fully sown by the time I graduated from college (think staying up until 6 a.m. about once a year, and sometimes standing up for entire UT football games. I was crazy, I tell you). I’ve been married for almost five years, with one toddler and another one on the way. 30 is a good age for me, I think.

Way back when, when I first started a blog about two years ago, I listed some random things I’d like to eventually do in my life. And with my birthday here, I mulled over that list and decided to rewrite it. Some of it stayed the same, but some of it didn’t – in rare cases I had actually accomplished the task (i.e., live near the beach), but mostly, my desires and priorities have changed (i.e., work in a bookstore. That just doesn’t appeal to me anymore, for some reason).

So, in no particular order, here are 30 things I’d like to do in my lifetime:

1. Write a book and have it published
2. Learn how to sail (“I sail! I’m a sailor! I sail!” – name that movie)
3. Go scuba diving
4. Take a class on Italian cooking
5. Take a class on French cooking
6. Take a class on pastries/baking
7. Either build a home from scratch or restore an old one – all with Kabob and his mad skillz, of course
8. Have said house be as self-sufficient/green as possible
9. See a performance by the Bolshoi Ballet and/or the NYC Ballet
10. Instill in my children a love for reading
11. Personally teach my children to read
12. Set foot on all seven continents (still four to go…)
13. Memorize a lot more Scripture than I currently know
14. Learn how to garden – I still don’t really know how
15. Go to Alaska
16. Go to Hawaii
17. Taking a writing class from someone cool, like Elizabeth Berg
18. Go to Martha’s Vineyard one more time (our honeymoon spot)
19. Host Christmas at our place of residence for our entire family
20. Ride a hot-air balloon
21. Learn how to can
22. Spend Christmas in NYC
23. Go to New Zealand
24. See U2 live one more time (best concert I’ve ever been to)
25. Take a calligraphy class
26. Spend quality one-on-one time with each of my dearest girlfriends (who now mostly live all over the world)
27. Take a photography class
28. Take swing dance lessons with Kabob
29. Instill in my children a passionate love for those things that God loves
30. Really, truly, honestly be the absolute best wife and mom that God enables me to be

I know that last one is cliché – but it’s true.

What’s on your list?

Lately while Kabob’s been reading books to Chickpea before bedtime, I’ve been updating and organizing my Firefox bookmarks. I won’t bore you with the sordid details of how many subfolders I have for my plethora of recipes, but I thought I’d share a few of my recent faves I deemed worthy enough to bookmark:

First off, isn’t that chair ingenious? Looks a tad uncomfortable, but it’s a fun space saver. It’s made by Nobody and Co.

No, I didn’t really bookmark that one. So moving on.

I’d love to try making this placemat purse if I can find something around here that would work for handles.

I’ve always enjoyed Like Merchant Ships, and this summer she hosted a series on living well on less. Her bibliography looks especially helpful.

So I know we live in an urban high-rise and don’t really have much use for this, but I’ve really been interested in composting for about a year. So this composting-for-beginners article has been an enlightening read. Sigh… Maybe one day I won’t move 19 times in 12 years, I’ll have a little chunk of yard, and can actually use this info.

This is a semi-interesting article about Christians going green.

I love this layout of her wall of frames - I can’t believe how straight and perfect it looks.

Organized Home has some good articles about - well, organizing your home.

There are so many links I want to wade through here at these Festival of Frugality posts, I don’t even know where to start. Oh, the reading joy ahead of me!

In my humble opinion, Family Fun (and its companion magazine) really is one of the best resources for finding kid crafts, games, and family event ideas.

And finally, just to add a laugh to your day, check out some of the pages from this book, P*rn for Women. Seriously.

I have been racking my brain now for several days, trying to think of an amusing blog entry, but I really have come up with nothing.  Nothing witty or profound, that’s for sure.  We’ve been digging down deep during our time with doctors here, and it has been marvelous.  But after hashing through stuff for hours, and then re-hashing it with Kabob for hours after, I just don’t feel too motivated to re-re-hash everything here in writing.  So if I just end up writing about all the fun and/or pointless things we’re doing in Thailand, please believe me that our time has been productive and beneficial, and it was worth every penny and muscle it took to get here.

So.  What have I been doing?  That might be a good question to answer, since I’ve had a number of people ask me that.  There’s the obvious answer of meeting with doctors and counselors, which has all been superb.  Then there’s the reading of recommended books and the talking through things with each other after those meetings.  And then there’s the planning sessions we have, answering the whole what-does-this-all-mean-for-our-future? question.  Brainstorming ideas, strategies, goals for when we return to our country of service.  All the stuff you’d expect us to do here during our time.

And it’s all very productive and very-much needed - but to be honest, it can leave me wiped out.  It’s all been really great, and I’ve had more energy than I’ve had in probably a year (which is saying a lot for a pregnant gal), but with all the deepness that’s going on in our discussions, it leaves me craving for some balance.  Hence, doing shallow things.

Like watching all the Seinfeld episodes.  American neighbor friends of ours here have the entire collection, so we’ve been borrowing a couple discs at a time, watching around 1-2 episodes a day.  Can’t get more shallow than Seinfeld, I tell you.

Eating ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, burgers at Mike’s, and burritos at Miguel’s.  Yes, Mike and Miguel are the same person.

Going swimming in the neighborhood pool and going for leisurely family walks after dinner.  I’m seriously going to miss living in this quiet, grassy neighborhood.

Updating my blogroll.  I’ve had eight whole friends start blogs since I’ve done that (and it’s been a looong time since I’ve updated it).  And if you haven’t started a blog yet, ask yourself one question - why?

Updating computery things that have lapsed since our hard drive crash - our budget on Quicken, address changes on database, re-bookmarking sites on Firefox, re-finding and storing recipes back on the laptop.  You know, exciting stuff.

So, if this post hasn’t bored you to tears yet, you should maybe cut down on the caffeine.  But at least now you understand why I haven’t posted too much lately.  That’s all for now…  back to my recipe filing.

Alright, alright… I’ve been tagged. Usually I steer away from memes, but this one’s not so bad, and besides, I like the tagee.

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My Random Facts:

1. Some of my favorite vegetables are the ones my hubby absolutely abhors - zucchini, squash, and spinach. I love spinach in just about any form, and I love it on just about anything. Ever tried the serrano pepper cheese spinach at Stubb’s? To die for.
2. I love decorating. I can’t really describe my style in any other way but eclectic, but let’s just say that I’ve already got project ideas for our place for when we get back. I like modern but not in a freaky way (shiny and robotic), and I like the cottage-y look, but definitely not in the cluttered country way. Blech. I guess I like a mix between the two.
3. A lifelong dream I’ve had is to write a book and have it published. I realize the chances are minimal, but crazier things have been done. I don’t know what kind of book it would be - a novel, theological, practical, a travel guide… But I almost don’t care. I love writing about anything.
4. I like figuring out if phone numbers spell any words. My personal phone number growing up spelled “blu-wads,” and one of my college numbers spelled “56-sassy.” It’s always a bummer to get a phone number with a zero on it.
5. It seems like I’m never satisfied with my hair. When it’s short, I want it long; when it’s long, I want to chop it all off. I’ve had a number of hairstyles and hair colors, and I think it’s because I thrive on change. Or because I can’t make up my mind.
6. I love getting things for free or super cheap, but without sacrificing quality. I guess everybody likes that, but I personally would much rather find an old-yet-quality table at a garage sale or on the side of the road, and then fix it up, over a pre-made job at Target. Which is why it’s ironic that our place is almost exclusively furnished by IKEA. I also love checking Goodwill first for high-quality brands before I go shopping for clothing elsewhere. It’s amazing the stuff I’ve found there, especially the Lake Austin location. High-end neighborhoods usually “throw away” great stuff.
7. I usually read about 4-5 books at once. To me, it seems like different occasions call for different types of reading material. For example, I usually like to read a novel just before falling asleep in bed. Typically I’m juggling a novel, a theological book, and a few practical books, like on homemaking, cultural issues, parenting, etc. etc. Or a history book. I’m a nerd.
8. I would love to go to culinary school, beauty school (for cutting hair), take calligraphy classes, swing dance classes, photography classes, and sewing classes. I can think of five different cooking classes alone.

Okay, this is the part I like least. I’ll go ahead and tag people, but friends - please don’t feel obligated if you’ve got things to do. I’d love to read what you have to say, of course, but no pressure… I’ll tag baby Josh, Cheryl, Katie, Bologna and/or Squash, Jason and/or Meena, Daryl, Sarah, and Rachel.