health warning

Do not spray item 1 into your mouth, mistaking it for item 2. Trust me on this one.

meme

I think I am one of the last folks on the planet to do this one. Presbyterian Gal tagged me yesterday. Then I remembered that Kathy tagged me a long time ago, but I never played. So here goes...

Rules: The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about himself or herself. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Ten years ago:
1998. I was living in Birmingham and working for the insurance company I worked at for 17 years. Was in a new process leader role, and reported to a guy that had absolutely no soul. Am I clear that he was heartless? Paid a great price for the exceeds performance evaluation I got that year. Shaky sobriety. Beginning of new realization that there had to be more to life than this.

Five things on today's "to do" list:
- clean out flowerbeds
- plant peppers, tomatoes, herbs
- laundry
- make Texas Caviar for cookout
- church

Things I'd do if I was a billionaire:
- pay off all debts of family members
- redo the kitchen
- give more to my favorite non-profits
- road-trip around the country, flying in different friends to meet me for different legs of the trip
- buy a place at the beach
- fully fund Urban Skye

Three bad habits:
- too much time on the internet
- being lazy about unloading the dishwasher
- Sugar-Free Red Bull

Five places I've lived:
- Henderson, Tennessee (where I grew up)
- college dorm
- Homewood, Alabama
- Littleton, Colorado
- Denver, Colorado

Five jobs I've had:
- lifeguard
- camp counselor
- retail clothing store salesperson, manager, bathroom cleaner, grunt (this is what happens when the parents own said establishment)
- industrial first aid and safety supply sales person
- virtually all positions within the auto claims industry from claims adjuster to manager to everything in between

I will tag:
- Tammy
- Denise
- Karey
- Jenny
- Southern Cheesehead

And, if you are reading and haven't played, join the fun!

home sweet home?

Hanging out with the latest issue of Oxford American tonight. Kinda weird as I ponder the concept of home a little differently than I did a mere 2 1/2 months ago.

Losing my Dad, the last parent, has caused a profound shift for me in what home means. When I walked out the door that last day, after taking care of disposing/distributing his worldly goods and left that place that symbolized home, something changed. Not necessarily good or bad, just different. Still working through it.

emerson on success

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - this is to have succeeded.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

snippet of conversation with one of my brothers

Me: Is Mrs. X (childhood teacher) dead? I can't remember.

Brian: Yes. Car wreck, I think.

Me: That's right. Now I remember. So shoplifting earrings at Wal-Mart isn't what did her in after all?

Brian: Nope. She didn't get the chair.

Me: Ok. Thanks.

books I've read in 2008

April
The Last Addiction, Sharon Hersh
Nurture, Lisa Bevere
Walking With God, John Eldredge
The Blue Star, Tony Earley
Crazy Sista Cooking: Cuisine & Conversation With Lucy Buffett, Lucy Buffett

March
Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni

February
The Friday Night Knitting Club, Kate Jacobs
The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron
God's Silence, Franz Wright

January
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, Warren St. John
Creole Thrift: Premium Southern Living Without Spending a Mint, Angela Parlange
Simplicity, Kim Thomas