[source]
Friends,
Thank you for taking time out of your weekend to stop by my blog. I was tagged by my Style Me Bloggers friend, Deena at Shoes to Shiraz to participate in a love-hate-tag challenge. The rules to this challenge are super simple…simple always works for me. Share ten things I love, ten things I hate (such a powerful word…maybe don’t love- at all?) and then tag ten more bloggers to do the same!
Deena is a creative, intelligent blogger and her lists were well thought-out. In several ways, Deena and I are a lot alike. In fact, I could almost copy and paste over half of her likes and dislikes to my post. You can read what she wrote here and if you know me well, you can probably match up those items on Deena’s list that would work on mine.
To avoid being influenced by Deena’s loves and hates, I am not going to look back at her list til I publish mine. A mutual friend of ours and another Style Me Blogger friend Katie, over at The Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life, shared her list yesterday. Check it out here. She began her post by saying, “If you’ve been reading the blog for any amount of time, you know my love of family, friends, my home, coffee…and drinks are a given!” Then adding that the items are her list would be more obscure, lesser known details.
In the spirit of David Letterman’s Top Ten feature on the Late Show, I am going to count backwards to my numero uno. Here goes:
Loves:
10. Chocolate. Anything but especially chocolate kisses. I love to let them melt in my mouth. M&Ms of all varieties run Hershey’s kisses a close second.
9. The smell of patchouli and lavender essential oils mixed with Lucky You perfume for women. (Not to be confused with Lucky You for men). I know that the fragrance of patchouli is an acquired taste but I bet even if you don’t care for patchouli alone, you would like it mixed with a little lavender and Lucky You. Love that outdoorsy, old flower child scent.
8. Cleaning, or at least having a clean house. I don’t mind a bit that Liliana does a lot of my cleaning these days. Everyone should have a Liliana. But I do the seasonal, big-time, deep cleaning myself. And I have to admit I enjoy it. Thanks to a daily dose of OCD meds, two pills every morning, I no longer feel the need to vacuum and dust constantly and can occasionally leave my bed unmade on Saturdays. I also like having a place for everything and everything in its place. Or in the general vicinity of its place. And nothing says clean like a combination of bleach and Fabuloso. Mmmmm!
7. Being creative, participating in creative activities. I love arts and crafts projects, scrapbooking, cross stitch, painting, working on my mosaic, making cards, writing and reading. I used to love incorporating crafts into my library lessons. And I think Brennyn and Lauren would say they grew up having had a number of artsy-craftsy experiences as children. I have kept a journal much of my life. And this blog has become a creative outlet for me.
6. Massages. And facials. I love the whole multi-sensory-ness of a spa visit. Aroma therapy, the colors of the spa decor, the music, the stillness and the opportunity for relaxation. I always try to remember to begin my massage or facial with a prayer of thanks because I enjoy them so much. I am so glad someone thought of the whole spa deal! Were the Romans the first spa-goers? Or maybe the Greeks? Just grateful someone came up with the idea.
5. Kissing. And hugs. But mostly kissing. I tell PC that I love the push of the lips against each other and the smack noise that is part of a good kiss. I just love kissing. Hugging isn’t half bad either. Lauren once gave me a hug in a McDonald’s parking lot that was unforgettable. And when we were first dating, Paul used to hug me every morning when we would meet at the gym. My head hits just right on his shoulder. Awwww.
4. Beach. Going to the beach is kind of the same multi-sensory activity that going to the spa can be. Sounds, smells, warmth of the sun, cool water, the feel of the sand between my toes. Piña colada scented sunscreen. Soggy but once crunchy Flamin’ Hot Cheetohs with lime. A cold beer. A good book. Floating on my boogie board. (Notice that I didn’t mention anything about bathing suits)
3. My home. I love to go to the beach and the spa but better than both of those is the feeling of being home. I love being home. I love my home. I love it. The sunshine coming in the windows (that are smudged because I haven’t done spring cleaning yet). My organized cabinets (I did organize them last week). Our bedroom, the colors, the fabrics. The special keepsakes and pictures and mementos that make this house my home. I love my home.
2. Animals. I love all animals but I really love my animals best. I love my Purrsimmony and Purrsnickitty. I love and miss the many kitties who preceded them in my life and the puppies who have come and gone. They are always in my heart. My Cici, my Cheyenne and my Piggy.
1. Family. I love my family. I had to add them. I know they should be a given. But sometimes it isn’t a given that a person loves his or her family. I absolutely love mine. And my friends. I have never thought of myself as a person with friends really because I don’t like hanging out much with friends (socially awkward X 10), don’t do the phone calls with friends (socially awkward X 10). So I guess that makes me a bad friend to have. But there are a lot of people I consider myself friendly with that I do love. I don’t think you can ever really love too many people. Innocent love in a general sort of way…not in the Biblical sense. Your heart just expands to let you love more, i.e. The Grinch.
Hates…Dislikes:
10. Humor at someone else’s expense. I like to laugh as much as the next guy. But I don’t like, make that I really dislike when someone makes fun of someone else. I don’t really care for sarcasm too much. Maybe because I am not witty like that. Clever quips just don’t come to me. Or maybe it is because I have been the brunt of other’s sarcasm in the past.
9. Messiness. I dislike messy rooms, messy cars, messy kids. Not the kids, themselves, but I have a problem with parents who don’t at least take the time and energy to make sure their children have clean clothes, clean hair and clean faces. Oh, and short, clean nails. So many of my poor babies would come to school in filthy clothing. Not stained but unwashed, dirty, foul-smelling clothing. A little soap and water and a pair of nail clippers goes a long way. Along with messiness comes stuff in the sink. Don’t leave me your dirty dishes in the sink. My time is just as precious as yours. Put that glass in the dishwasher!
8. Religious judgement. Or intolerance. I don’t really like the label Christian. People say “She’s a good Christian” interchangeably with “She’s a good person”. Can’t SHE be a good person and be Jewish? You never hear someone say “She’s a good Jewess”. I also dislike having professed Christians pass judgement on me. As in “I am not going to talk to you anymore until you are saved.” Now that’s a good Christian, huh?
7. FAT. GAY. JAPS. JEWS. COPS. I don’t use those words. And I don’t like them. They are like labels to me. Derogatory labels. I prefer chubby, overweight, big. Homosexual. Heterosexual. Japanese. Jewish. Police.
6. Being creative. I dislike being creative because I am scared of failure. I am scared I am going to mess up a scrapbook page. Not be able to paint the ocean right. Make a mistake on my cross stitch that means ripping it all out again.
5. Not being able to find something. I dislike having to look and look and look for something. Totally goes against my grain; trying hard to be neat and organized over here. Sometimes my neat and organized is really organized chaos, though. Especially at work and in my mind.
4. Violence in movies. Cursing. Excessive use of nudity. I don’t consider myself a killjoy or a goody-two-shoes but my goodness! I hate seeing cars (and people) blown up. Someone could use that car. I hate to see musicians bang their guitars around on stage til they are nothing but broken pieces. Somewhere there is a child who wishes he could have a guitar to play. And I don’t need to see every Hollywood starlet’s breasts.
3. Laziness. In my opinion, our country’s headed for trouble. No one does their best any more. Really. How many times do you pay to have someone do something for you…fix you a hamburger, work on your car, ring up your groceries, only to have them do it incorrectly. I don’t know if it is laziness or just a don’t care attitude but it is really bringing our country down. We are over-run with lazy, entitled people. IMO.
2. I dislike corruption in the school district where I worked. And the people involved in it.
1. Nazis. I can almost say hate for this one. I really don’t like Nazis at all. AT. ALL.
There you have it. More than you probably ever cared to know about me. Your turn! Share a love and dislike with me in the comment section below or on my blog Facebook page, here.
I don’t really have ten bloggers to tag for this. I think most of the bloggers I know were tagged already. So I am just going to tag my daughter Lauren at Curls and Cardigans. Come on, Lauren, you’re IT.
Hugs and kisses,
Valerie
Dislikes
10. Improper use of myself. It is not Sammy and myself will go to the store. Leave out Sammy and you get Myself will go to the store. You would never say that so why say the other.
9. Improper use of the word done. Steaks are done people are finished. (and no I do not teach English)
8. Airlines who raise the price of airline tickets and cause me not to be able to spend more time with my loved ones afar.
7. Fifty five year old legs. Ugh help my skin return to 30.
6. Traffic. I can not even imagine going further than my 10 miles to work.
5. People who won’t even smile at you when you smile at them! Go look at yourself in the mirror. Is that the way you want to be remembered.
4. Isis and other intolerant people. God has a special place for you!
3. Chaos when I am trying to work on something. This last year provided lots of chaos and my quaility of work suffered.
2. People who complain and are not willing to do anything about it. I was unhappy at work and I got out. Yes the grass is greener, you should try to walk in it.
1. CANCER! especially pediatric cancer which took my baby. “The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you’ll never have.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
Loves
10. That I only have to be kind and people will like me. (Its not high school anymore.)
9. My new kitchen albeit never quite finished but getting there.
8. Wine and chocolate and couch time with my husband as we discuss our day.
7. Kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, third graders and getting to like fourth graders. Sorry fifth graders, I don’t miss you in my new school.
6. Books not ebooks (althought those could have been number 10) pages, pictures, the smell, the feel, particularly Capstone books.
5. Parent volunteers in the school. Yes some of them might me there for the wrong reason but smile with them and you win them over.
4. Giving blood. It makes me feel that I am actually saving a life. I was so thankful to all those who gave blood to save Andrew and now I am repaying.
3. Scrapbooking and no it doesn’t stress me, it relaxes me. Especially SKRYPING with my sister, Leslie. It is almost as good as being together. Thank you whoever invented SKYPE.
2. Shopping and lunch with friends. Never a bad time always memorable.
1. My family. Sitting around the fire pit on the two cool Sundays of winter and drinking a glass of wine with Roby and Trey popping in and out for some of the cheese and nuts cut on the cutting board waiting for the steaks to finish cooking. What a fabulous way to wind down a weekend and prepare for the week.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Wow! Love your lists. You are inspirational to me and to everyone who knows you. I love you!!! XO
Deena
Fantastic list!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you! Could have just about copied yours word for word. XO
Lana
Such a great list, and I learned so much more about you. And I totally agree on the chocolate – it’s my favorite food, and I love M&Ms and Hershey the best!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Sometimes I think the simplest blog posts are the best. Certainly the easiest. So many more things I could LOVE about.