Be My Guest!!

Well hey there! Welcome to my blog. Please make yourself at home, ladies and gentlemen. Have a look around, and be sure you pick out a bedroom. There's only 20 of you registered here, so the rest of you will have to head over to the check-in counter if you really want to get involved.

Because... I just made my very own Blog Award (see above)!! Hooray!! In honor of my 20th follower (and yes that doesn't seem like much but come on, a few months ago it was 2) I've decided that I want to delve into the wild and wooley world of guest blogging.

So... anyone up for it? I do plan to ask people individually, but I did just give out an award so frankly, I'd just like to see who's interested. If you would like to write a guest post for me, please consider the following:

1. This blog is all about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. So it's fairly general, but typically there's gotta be some sort of takeaway that makes my readers think "Wow, I'm glad I read that." (oh no, now I'm going to wonder if my readers are actually thinking that!)
2. I'm not the most technologically-blessed person so if you have tons of imbedded videos and stuff you have to be willing to help me post it. :)
3. You do have to follow my blog. Come on, you've gotta be at least nominally committed to the idea of reading me before and after I subject my readers to you.
4. Perhaps, just maybe, you would consider inviting me to be a guest blogger on your site?

Well, that's mainly it. If you're interested, please post a comment below and I'll email you. If you're one of those people who hasn't set up your email address in Blogger yet, please check out the tutorial at GoodNCrazy (This is where I learned). I tell ya, if you've ever wondered why no one responds back to you, this is the reason why.

Well ok, that's about it. I hope you like my Be My Guest Award, at least enough to want to earn it. :)

Six Word Saturday

Up at two, up till two.

Yessirreebob, I got up at 2pm on Friday. Clearly I do not get into Black Friday. But I'll tell ya, I do enjoy a day when I have absolutely no obligations, when I can be in bed for 12 hours (that's right, twelve) and then the only reason I put clothes on was to go pick up dinner (which I ordered, not cooked). :) And yes, I'm still awake at 2:45am. But have you ever tried going to bed after less than 12 hours of being awake? It's odd. Besides, I was busy watching, um, I believe it was my 4th movie of the day.

It was a good day.

But in case you're thinking "oh my goodness this girl is lucky insane trying too hard to rub it in my face clearly single," please understand that from Monday through Wednesday nights I only got a total of 10 hours of sleep. That's in 3 nights: 4, 4, and 2 hours. Yeah, I needed this. To the extent that I had a dizzy spell while at my bff's house on Thanksgiving.

But ok, enough with all that. I just have to say that I am so very Thankful for being at a time in my life when I can actually catch up on my sleep, and watch movies, and get a start on catching up on my emails. It was absolutely fantastic. At some point I will be depressed again that I'm still single, but not today. Today was an Extraordinary Day. And we are all called to enjoy where we are at. At some point in the future I'll look back at today with longing, I'm sure. Of course at some point in the future I look forward to spending 12 hours in bed with a hot man at my side. Because that'll be an Extraordinary Day, too. :)

What's making your day Extraordinary today?

Fictionary Friday - Coruscate

So here are the rules. I will post a word and its definition. It will be a real word, and its real definition. But then I will create a fictionary definition for the same word, and invite you to do the same. Sound good? Here we go:

Dictionary Version:
Coruscate: v. to give forth flashes of light; sparkle and glitter

Fictionary Version:
Coruscate: v. the cast of Glee on ice skates

Wit & Wisdom Wednesday

Time for Wit & Wisdom Wednesday, where I post a quote from a well-known (or not so well-known) person. Please feel free to comment with quotes that have touched your soul.

~

"If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share."

~W. Clement Stone~

You Make Me Want to Write

Thank you! Thank you all! Really honestly, thank you.

You don't even know why, do you?

Well, here's the deal. I've been a very very part-time blogger the last few weeks. When I realized that you could have comments emailed to you, and then respond to them through your email instead of bouncing around your blog, I was so excited and planned to anwer every one in a timely manner. Um... yeah. If you've commented in the past month, you're probably still waiting for a response, huh? But I really really am planning on it, because I think the Blogosphere just might be the place for me.

Why is that? Two reasons:

First: I have won my very very first award ever. Huzzah!!!

Thank you so much to Ally and Lela! Please check out Two Normal Moms. I absolutely love that they blog together and have been friends for 35+ years (which clearly means they're each not a day over 36, right? just like how my bff and I have been friends for 25 years--since we were in the womb, of course.)

The rule to this award is you have to pass it on to up to 15 blogs that you love. Please forgive me for only highlighting a few, but here they are, in no particular order:

1. Chicago: A Daily Photo Blog Beautiful city, beautiful photography. Brilliant black & whites.
2. Me, Myself & Pie Strangely enough, it's about cooking. But you won't find many sites with such witty stories and phenominal food photography!
3. At The Meadows What makes life great at the meadows? Lots of stuff--you'll always find something awesome there!
4. Nouns Make Verbs One of the first blogs I started following. And one of the most profound.
5. Strangers in a Normal Land Ok it's been a bit since she's written because her boy is sick and she's newly preggers. But she's one of the best out there and hopefully this will lure her back in!!! :)

And Second (Second? What? Oh right, this is the second reason why I'm thankful):

I'm so very thankful to you because you make me want to write. Really, you do. I was finally able to read a few blogs tonight and post a few comments, and those blogs and my comments gave me ideas for posts. And with how busy and crazy I've been over the last few weeks, it's been hard to see the extraordinary behind the film that daily life leaves on everything. Plus, the fact that you're still commenting on my posts even though I'm woefully behind... that makes me want to try harder. Because if you're up to reading, by golly I'll be up to writing.

So thank you, thank you all!

Fictionary Friday - Deluxe

So here are the rules. I will post a word and its definition. It will be a real word, and its real definition. But then I will create a fictionary definition for the same word, and invite you to do the same. Sound good? Here we go:

Dictionary Version:
Deluxe: adj. of special elegance, sumptuousness, or fineness; high or highest in quality, luxury, etc.

Fictionary Version:
Deluxe: v. the act of ridding yourself of extra luxuries; downsizing

I Believe I Just Accomplished Nothing

Don't you hate those days when you have the best of intentions?

I emailed myself a few documents from work today that I planned on finishing up at home. I thought Hey this works, I'll put on a movie, open up the Word doc, compile it with the info from this other doc, and voila! I'll be done with the project before tomorrow.

And then I opened up the document--or rather, I tried to. Turns out the person who made the originals saved them in the new document format. You know, the format that Word 2007 saves in. The only problem is that the version of Word I have at home is not that new. And the Word that most of our stores have isn't the new one either, so I didn't even contemplate the possibility that other people were actually saving documents in the new format.

And now it's one in the morning, and I've got nothing accomplished other than a lack of sleep. Ah, those best-laid plans. They never seem to turn out the way you think they will. Perhaps I'll try flying by the seat of my pants more often. It seems to be just as

Wit & Wisdom Wednesday

Time for Wit & Wisdom Wednesday, where I post a quote from a well-known (or not so well-known) person. Please feel free to comment with quotes that have touched your soul.

~

"Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

My Cat Makes Me Feel Guilty For Having a Life

One of the things I love most about cats is their ability to take care of themselves for extended periods of time. I have left Mau-be home alone for 5 days before (ironically I left him alone because I was dog-sitting for a friend of mine) because all I had to do was leave him lots of food and water and clean litter. I'll admit when I got home the litter was a bit full, and he maybe made a bit of a mess playing with his toys in my laundry pile, but otherwise, he was just fine.

The thing is, no matter how much cats will have you believe otherwise, they are social creatures. My cat is for sure. He's not the kind to jump in my lap whenever I sit down and generally avoids cuddling with me while I watch movies (which is both very annoying and also makes it really special when he does). But he always sleeps next to my pillow, he always sits with me while I eat (ok, I admit he has ulterior motives there) and he always meets me at the door when I come home so I can pick him up and hold him while he purrs.

Sadly, I realized that lately about the only thing I do with him is sleep. So now he's like super-clingy. Always jumps up to the computer desk so he can curl up around my arm (which makes using the mouse very interesting) and is even more belligerant than I am when the alarm goes off enough times for me to actually get out of bed.

I know you moms out there have your own stories about the big googly-eyes you get from your kids when you leave them at the sitters/with your mom/in front of the TV with 8 hours of ho-hos and Veggie Tales. But what about your pets? I write about what I know, and I know my cat is lonely. Do you have lonely pets at home? How do you deal with it? It's not like I can buy him a DS to make up for how often I'm away.  :)

But What do YOU get out of it?

I've got a question for you. Most of you have probably been on the blogosphere for longer than I have--as active participants, anyway. And I'm just wondering--what do you get out of it?

I'm not asking in a critical way. I enjoy blogging because it gives me a venue for writing, a direction for my posts (how can I see life as out of the extraordinary if I'm whining about it all day?) and it allows me to connect to other people--all 17 of you, at least. :)

(by the way, I am terribly behind in all of my emails, including responding to your lovley comments. I will get caught up soon and thank you to the people who are still commenting anyway.)

But I want to hear from YOU today. Especially if you are just stopping by for because of the SITS Saturday Sharefest (and thank you for coming!) What do YOU get out of blogging?

Thanks for sharing!

Fictionary Friday - Illiterate

So here are the rules. I will post a word and its definition. It will be a real word, and its real definition. But then I will create a fictionary definition for the same word, and invite you to do the same. Sound good? Here we go:

Dictionary Version:
Illiterate: adj. unable to read or write; uneducated

Fictionary Version:
Illiterate: adj. overly "knowledgeable" on every type of illness that has ever existed, and tends to discuss them over and over and over again with anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby

~

So, what's your version?

My Cat Makes Me See From a Different Perspective

Sometimes when my cat does something annoying, I'll lift him in the air above my head. This keeps him out of the way of whatever he was getting into, and gives me a minute to look him in the eye while he can't get away.

Of course, sometimes I think he doesn't really get that he's in trouble, because he'll just start looking around the room like "Oh, so this is what it looks like from up here."

If you have a cat, do you notice them doing that? My cat is also the kind who will lie doen on a chair (or the top of my couch) and flip his head upside down, then stare at me. You know how freaky it is looking at upside down eyes, don't you? I always wondered why he did that, but I really do think my cat just likes seeing the world from different points of view.

This does make sense, however. I just watched Dead Poet's Society again for the first time in forever, and of course the best part is when that one shy kid gets up on his desk and cries out "Oh Captain, my captain!" He was showing that he will see the world differently, not just the way that he's being taught to do.

So let's all take a lesson from my cat today... or from Robin Williams, whichever is easier for you. Stand on a chair today. Walk down a different side of the street. Do something just a little bit different. And look at the world around you. You just might see it in a whole new way.

Wit & Wisdom Wednesday

Time for Wit & Wisdom Wednesday, where I post a quote from a well-known (or not so well-known) person. Please feel free to comment with quotes that have touched your soul.

~

"Failure doesn't mean you are a failure, it just means you haven't succeeded yet."

~Robert H. Schuller~

My Cat Makes Me Speak Gibberish

"Hi baby, how are you? Who's a boo-boo? Who's my boo? Ews ma bu? Eweszebooboo? Ewdebodo? Ewdebodo!"

Um, yeah. How really really bad is it that talking to my cat becomes absolute gibberish after about three sentences? I blame it all on Ace Ventura, who forever ingrained the "who's a boo-boo?" line into my head. But really, it's a bit sad that I don't actually converse with my cat in normal language. It's not like he's going to talk back either way.

Please tell me I'm not the only one. What horribly cutesy thing do you say to your pet or (maybe worse) your baby? Go ahead, we're all in it together.

Fictionary Friday! Fortitude

Ok everyone, we're trying out a new "Thing!" I do not like when blogs do a "something day" every single day, but I think two a week isn't that bad, especially because this will help both of us with our writing, and that's a good thing, right?

So here's the rules. I will post a word. It will be a real word. But then I will create a fictionary definition, and invite you to do the same. Sound good? Here we go:

Dictionary Version:
Fortitude: n. mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously.

Fictionary Version:
Fortitude: n. a superior attitude owing to having built a much better fort than anyone else.

So, what's your version?

Eggnog and Candy Canes

Do you know what I bought at the grocery store a week ago?

Eggnog.

EGGNOG!

A week ago it was still October. It was still pre-Halloween.

Eggnog doesn't last a long time so the grocery store stocked up on it, knowing that people would buy it, apparently to use as a chaser for all the candy.

What?

And the day after Halloween the drug store was full of candy canes.

CANDY CANES!

Now, don't get me wrong. If the church spent as much time gearing up for the celebration of the birth of Christ, maybe I wouldn't mind as much. And yes, someone has been working on planning the big Christmas Eve service. But we haven't started singing Silent Night yet. We're still looking forward to Thanksgiving. Oh right, you know that day when we sit around and eat all day, but with no presents. (As opposed to Christmas, where people give each other gifts and then sit around and eat all day.)

I guess what gets me is the over-commercialization of "the world," and the under-recognition of the church. Does anyone else see this?

Wit & Wisdom Wednesday

Time for Wit & Wisdom Wednesday, where I post a quote from a well-known (or not so well-known) person. Please feel free to comment with quotes that have touched your soul.

~

"Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude."

~Ralph Marston~