Here is a list of things about me that you may or may not know...
1. I love chocolate and I usually eat some every day. One year, I gave up chocolate for Lent. It wasn't good... I'd say about 39/40 days were wacky. When Easter Sunday finally rolled around, I ate chocolate before I did anything else. Yes, to say that I love chocolate, well, that's an understatement.
2. I sleep with my mouth open. I can't sleep any other way.
3. Sometimes I snore because of #2.
4. I dislike the smell of Pine Sol. Even typing this makes me shudder.
5. I wonder about everything.
6. Sometimes #5 annoys people, but it doesn't make me stop wondering.
7. I'm complicated.
8. I'm artistic.
9. I'm nosy.
10. My hair wasn't always naturally curly. There was a time when it was straight and worn in braids.
11. I have a wild sweet tooth. Just think about #1!
12. I love looking at the night sky.
13. 13 is my favorite, and lucky number. After all, I was born on the 13th.
14. I'm often late. It's not that I don't care about being on time, it's just the way I roll. Don't hate me because of it.
15. I'm insecure, and I know it.
16. I have always loved cats, even when I was highly allergic to them. I have two cats of my own.
17. My daughters feel that I can communicate with dogs. It sounds weirder than it is.
18. I have always loved mint chocolate chip ice cream.
19. I am a true Libra. I always strive for balance. Unbalanced scales make me crazy.
20. I have trouble remembering names. Yes, I know that names should come easily for teachers, but I struggle to remember them.
21. Adventure is always welcomed.
22. Nature fascinates me.
23. I don't eat asparagus. Yes, there's a story behind that one...
24. Certain foods or candies can take me back to my childhood with just one taste or smell.
25. My parents are great. I'm lucky that I have them as part of my family.
26. I am impatient.
27. My mother used to try and force me to eat liver and onions. I don't eat something that filter's an animals waste. Thank you very much!
28. I love to drive - fast.
29. I don't like being wrong.
30. I'm loud.
31. Sometimes I talk too much.
32. Numbers 29, 30 and 31 can be really annoying.
33. I wish I knew how to be quiet.
34. I love Science.
35. I can wiggle my ears. The kids love that!
36. McDonald's Filet-O-Fish has always been my favorite.
37. My toes go in descending order from the big toe down to the pinky toe.
38. My car has a name.
39. I had a 1.6 GPA after two years of college, transferred to a new school and graduated Cum Laude; with Honors.
40. I love marshmallow Peeps. I can eat them any time of the day, and prefer them slightly stale. They taste better that way!
41. The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music are my all time favorite movies. As a child, I never got to see the end of The Sound of Music... it was always on WAY past my bedtime. I didn't see the end of the movie until I was older.
42. The older I get, the worse my sense of smell gets, but the better my sense of hearing gets. Go figure!
43. I love photography.
44. My crazy, curly hair is never brushed. Brushes break curly hair.
45. Both of my children were delivered 100% naturally, and they came VERY quickly.
46. Bugs are awesome. I love bugs.
47. My best friend from childhood, Heather, and I have not seen each other since we were 11. Last weekend we were reunited, and it was amazing. Boy, we have a lot of catching up to do. She's amazing, and a source of inspiration for me.
48. I love the way snow makes everything sound so muted.
49. Whenever I leave Germany, I blink back the tears as the plane is taking off. I always promise myself that I'll return... even if it does take me a while to get there. I am sad when there is an ocean separating me from my Oma.
50. Marzipan coupled with chocolate is my all time favorite. My Oma still remembers that, and she's 94!
Okay, so now you know 50 new things about me... maybe. I say maybe because some of the items on this list might not be new to you. I hope you enjoyed my list!
Hugs!
-Susan
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Half Full or Half Empty
There are always multiple ways of looking at things. For most, it's cut and dry. Half full or half empty. For years, I was always viewing the world from the half empty perspective, but that gets tiring. Always looking for a flaw or a reason why something won't work - playing the Devil's advocate, if you will. Albeit fun (at times), it's a lot of work - not to mention draining as well! I'm tired of looking at the half empty glass. Time for a shift in perspective.
First of all, I've got my health, which is not something that everyone can proclaim. I think it has something to do with the yogurts and Special K that I eat daily. LOL! All kidding aside, I made up my mind a few years ago that I was going to get in shape. I lost 24 pounds, and have managed to keep most of the pounds off. That's no easy feat, especially considering the fact that I love chocolate, and eat some every day, but that's a blog entry unto itself.
Second of all, I have an amazing, supportive family. We don't live in the same town, or even in the same state for that matter, but we hold one another in our hearts. As for my girls and Karl, they're the best. I am very lucky and I know it. Without support, life is a struggle. It's a struggle against all of the things that work against you. Support changes things, and it has changed my life.
Friends. I've been blessed with wonderful and amazing friends. I make friends easily, and they surround me like a warm blanket. There's nothing like getting refreshed or recharged when you see or speak with a friend. I'm thankful that I have a variety of friends, for we all know that variety is the spice of life. I wish that everyone could have friends like mine. I especially like the fact that my friends keep it real - like reminding me that it's normal for my cheese to be moved from time to time!
Cheese, and it's location comes next on my list. It's easy to forget that sometimes your cheese gets moved. Of course it doesn't move itself, someone or something moves it. If you had a map to the maze, well, you'd always know where your cheese was, and then what would be the point? Things would be so easy Where would the lesson to be learned? At that point, why even have cheese at all. I suppose it all boils down to what Keith always says to me. "Look deeper. Did you look deeper?" Looking deeper isn't easy. It's like accepting that someone moved your cheese, and setting off in search of it. Life is a constant... a constant change. So why would you expect the cheese to always be at the end of any given road? Exactly! Yeah, when the cheese moves, go with the flow - adapt and enjoy... cheddar ain't the only cheese in the world, you know.
I've gone from glasses being half empty or half full, to cheese. Those two go together. Remembering that the glass is half full and that it's normal for life to move your cheese from time to time. Today, the life lesson from the glass and the cheese was the following: "We will always find what we look for; if we look for the bad, we will find it. If we look for the good, we will find that too. But what we look for, we become!" Thanks, Larry, for that perspective. For me, it was a wake up call. Thanks for having forsight and perseverance. Right now, the cheese is calling, and I'm off to savor my adventure as I enjoy the taste of new cheese!
First of all, I've got my health, which is not something that everyone can proclaim. I think it has something to do with the yogurts and Special K that I eat daily. LOL! All kidding aside, I made up my mind a few years ago that I was going to get in shape. I lost 24 pounds, and have managed to keep most of the pounds off. That's no easy feat, especially considering the fact that I love chocolate, and eat some every day, but that's a blog entry unto itself.
Second of all, I have an amazing, supportive family. We don't live in the same town, or even in the same state for that matter, but we hold one another in our hearts. As for my girls and Karl, they're the best. I am very lucky and I know it. Without support, life is a struggle. It's a struggle against all of the things that work against you. Support changes things, and it has changed my life.
Friends. I've been blessed with wonderful and amazing friends. I make friends easily, and they surround me like a warm blanket. There's nothing like getting refreshed or recharged when you see or speak with a friend. I'm thankful that I have a variety of friends, for we all know that variety is the spice of life. I wish that everyone could have friends like mine. I especially like the fact that my friends keep it real - like reminding me that it's normal for my cheese to be moved from time to time!
Cheese, and it's location comes next on my list. It's easy to forget that sometimes your cheese gets moved. Of course it doesn't move itself, someone or something moves it. If you had a map to the maze, well, you'd always know where your cheese was, and then what would be the point? Things would be so easy Where would the lesson to be learned? At that point, why even have cheese at all. I suppose it all boils down to what Keith always says to me. "Look deeper. Did you look deeper?" Looking deeper isn't easy. It's like accepting that someone moved your cheese, and setting off in search of it. Life is a constant... a constant change. So why would you expect the cheese to always be at the end of any given road? Exactly! Yeah, when the cheese moves, go with the flow - adapt and enjoy... cheddar ain't the only cheese in the world, you know.
I've gone from glasses being half empty or half full, to cheese. Those two go together. Remembering that the glass is half full and that it's normal for life to move your cheese from time to time. Today, the life lesson from the glass and the cheese was the following: "We will always find what we look for; if we look for the bad, we will find it. If we look for the good, we will find that too. But what we look for, we become!" Thanks, Larry, for that perspective. For me, it was a wake up call. Thanks for having forsight and perseverance. Right now, the cheese is calling, and I'm off to savor my adventure as I enjoy the taste of new cheese!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sometimes...
it's crazy how a few words can make a flood of emotions wash over me. The wounds are healed from the outside, but certain words feel like glass in my throat - and that's when I hear them... never when I speak them. My heart rate quickens and I tense up.
Damn words.
Time heals all wounds.
Does it really?
Where's my mind eraser? You know - like in Vanilla Sky?
Yeah, that one didn't work out either.
If people really knew that what they said could fuck with your mind forever, do you think they'd choose their words more carefully, or would they continue to use their words like weapons? I already know the answer to that. They would use their words like weapons as a means of self preservation.
Damn words.
I held my tongue as to not cut with it. I have played over those words in my mind. Over and over and over. I have banished them from the corners of my mind. I do not dwell on them and I try not to play with them that often any more, but when I hear them spoken by someone else... well then those flood gates open up and the demons have a party. I have a throat full of glass and sorrow washes through my veins.
Just remember that sometimes, you should hold your own tongue too.
Damn words.
Time heals all wounds.
Does it really?
Where's my mind eraser? You know - like in Vanilla Sky?
Yeah, that one didn't work out either.
If people really knew that what they said could fuck with your mind forever, do you think they'd choose their words more carefully, or would they continue to use their words like weapons? I already know the answer to that. They would use their words like weapons as a means of self preservation.
Damn words.
I held my tongue as to not cut with it. I have played over those words in my mind. Over and over and over. I have banished them from the corners of my mind. I do not dwell on them and I try not to play with them that often any more, but when I hear them spoken by someone else... well then those flood gates open up and the demons have a party. I have a throat full of glass and sorrow washes through my veins.
Just remember that sometimes, you should hold your own tongue too.
In Like a Lion...
March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb...
and how true THAT'S been this year - at least in my neck of the woods. We've had rain, and lots of it lately, and the wet ground just couldn't take much more. On Saturday, March 13th, we endured one Hell of a rain storm. Winds originated out of Oz and the rain pelted down. Trees released their roots from the ground... almost as if they were trying to move to higher ground. Well, we all know that trees can't walk, so those trees fell flat on their faces! As they fell, they stretched their branches out and tried to grab onto anything they could... and anything usually ended up being houses and powerlines.
"Do you know the origin of the weather proverb about March, "in like a lion, out like a lamb"? For most locations, the average temperature at the end of the month is higher than at the beginning, so the proverb typically has some meteorological truth to it, but where did it come from?
The phrase apparently has its origins with the constellations Leo, the Lion, and Aries, the ram or lamb. It has to do with the relative positions of these constellations in the sky at the beginning and end of the month. But don't take my word for it, check out this illustrative cartoon from the Stargazer himself, Jack Horkheimer."
Posted by Bob Swanson at 04:37 PM/ET, February 28, 2006 Permalink
Yup... once again, related to the stars. And that weather we had on the 13th, was in many ways, the perfect storm. Monday the 15th, was the Ides of March. It also coincided with a new moon (which can be just as powerful as the full moon). The storm blew in and before we knew it, nothing but a huge mess was left in its wake. We're all chomping at the bit for warm weather. Perhaps one of the consolations that we have is the fact that March goes out like a lamb, and since were already approaching March 24th, the lamb is right around the corner. It's officially Spring and lamb like days are going to be around more often.
Until then... I've got my eyes turned to the sky... looking straight ahead, with Aries on the horizon, soon I'll be marching into April!
and how true THAT'S been this year - at least in my neck of the woods. We've had rain, and lots of it lately, and the wet ground just couldn't take much more. On Saturday, March 13th, we endured one Hell of a rain storm. Winds originated out of Oz and the rain pelted down. Trees released their roots from the ground... almost as if they were trying to move to higher ground. Well, we all know that trees can't walk, so those trees fell flat on their faces! As they fell, they stretched their branches out and tried to grab onto anything they could... and anything usually ended up being houses and powerlines.
"Do you know the origin of the weather proverb about March, "in like a lion, out like a lamb"? For most locations, the average temperature at the end of the month is higher than at the beginning, so the proverb typically has some meteorological truth to it, but where did it come from?
The phrase apparently has its origins with the constellations Leo, the Lion, and Aries, the ram or lamb. It has to do with the relative positions of these constellations in the sky at the beginning and end of the month. But don't take my word for it, check out this illustrative cartoon from the Stargazer himself, Jack Horkheimer."
Posted by Bob Swanson at 04:37 PM/ET, February 28, 2006 Permalink
Yup... once again, related to the stars. And that weather we had on the 13th, was in many ways, the perfect storm. Monday the 15th, was the Ides of March. It also coincided with a new moon (which can be just as powerful as the full moon). The storm blew in and before we knew it, nothing but a huge mess was left in its wake. We're all chomping at the bit for warm weather. Perhaps one of the consolations that we have is the fact that March goes out like a lamb, and since were already approaching March 24th, the lamb is right around the corner. It's officially Spring and lamb like days are going to be around more often.
Until then... I've got my eyes turned to the sky... looking straight ahead, with Aries on the horizon, soon I'll be marching into April!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Libra's Northern Claw
Balance. I am constantly seeking balance. You may not see that at first. Inside, there is a storm, and I seek a way to calm the waters using balance. Sometimes the storm is at bay, and things are quiet. Other times, the storm is raging, and things are ugly. Always seeking the path that leads to balanced scales.
As a true Libra, the quest for balance should not come as a surprise to you. Nor should the fact that my birthday is known as "The Day of the Tough Cookie". I actually laughed out loud when I read that one. Boy, have they got me pegged! This weekend, I learned something new about the constellation of Libra.
There used to be only 11 signs in the zodiac, and those 11 were all living things. The calendar had 12 months, and so balance was sought after and the constellation of Libra was born. How odd... the need for balance gave birth to the scales. Interesting! The scales of Libra were squeezed into the sky between Scorpio, the scorpion and Virgo, the virgin. That being said, Scorpio used to have some really long claws, but they were lopped off in the attempt to balance out the sky.
The star Zubeneschamali, which means "northern claw" is the top of the constellation. The star Zubenelgenubi, which means "southern claw" is located to the right of Zubeneschamali. Zubenelakrab, which means "scorpion's claw" is the third star, and it is located to the left of Zubeneschamali. The the three stars form a triangle. A line descends from each end of the triangle, and those lines represent the baskets that would weigh items.
In the quest for balance, I begin this blog. Blogger is my new home, as the site I have called my home for 2 1/2 years will be closing shop at the end of this month. I hope you will join me on this journey, as I marvel in the things which balance my scales and rant about the things that throw my balance off.
I raise Zubeneschamali and tip my head slightly... come on in and stay a while. Read and think and enjoy. Take time to dig deeper and look closer. Make sense of the world around you and drink it all in. If you're lucky, you'll have a spring in your step and a song in your heart and I'd like you along they way, right by my side. Remember the possibilities of a New Day Yawning!
As a true Libra, the quest for balance should not come as a surprise to you. Nor should the fact that my birthday is known as "The Day of the Tough Cookie". I actually laughed out loud when I read that one. Boy, have they got me pegged! This weekend, I learned something new about the constellation of Libra.
There used to be only 11 signs in the zodiac, and those 11 were all living things. The calendar had 12 months, and so balance was sought after and the constellation of Libra was born. How odd... the need for balance gave birth to the scales. Interesting! The scales of Libra were squeezed into the sky between Scorpio, the scorpion and Virgo, the virgin. That being said, Scorpio used to have some really long claws, but they were lopped off in the attempt to balance out the sky.
The star Zubeneschamali, which means "northern claw" is the top of the constellation. The star Zubenelgenubi, which means "southern claw" is located to the right of Zubeneschamali. Zubenelakrab, which means "scorpion's claw" is the third star, and it is located to the left of Zubeneschamali. The the three stars form a triangle. A line descends from each end of the triangle, and those lines represent the baskets that would weigh items.
In the quest for balance, I begin this blog. Blogger is my new home, as the site I have called my home for 2 1/2 years will be closing shop at the end of this month. I hope you will join me on this journey, as I marvel in the things which balance my scales and rant about the things that throw my balance off.
I raise Zubeneschamali and tip my head slightly... come on in and stay a while. Read and think and enjoy. Take time to dig deeper and look closer. Make sense of the world around you and drink it all in. If you're lucky, you'll have a spring in your step and a song in your heart and I'd like you along they way, right by my side. Remember the possibilities of a New Day Yawning!
"A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your step as you walk the tightrope of life."
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