Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Thirty Things

I have completely and unapologetically stole this from the blog Hopes & Dreams.

I love her idea. Here is a list of questions to ask on your first, or 21st or 2591st date.

THE LIST:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.
14. Describe 5 strengths you have.
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What is your love language?
29. What do you think people misundertand most about you?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The new sisterhood

I don't post too much here anymore. And that's ok. I'm not going to feel guilty about it.

I keep up with my off line journal (IRL) and Facebook, Twitter, Path, Instagram. I think that's ok. If you really want to know what's up, you know how to find me.

But I do want to share something that I am extremely proud of.

Last month, while out to dinner with two of my friends, I mentioned that we have been our support for trying times in our lives. And that's wonderful -- that's what friends do -- but friends are also each other's cheerleaders. We need to be able to celebrate the amazing things we do with each other, and not feel self-conscious about it.

And the idea of Brag Supper Club was born.

There are eight of us in our group of friends. All smart, independent, open-minded women who all genuinely support each other. It's rare to make close friends as you get older, and even more important to maintain those relationships that mean so much to you.

We agreed that on the last Wednesday of each month, we will rotate hosting dinner at our home. It could be potluck, or whatever. We even have culinary themed nights: Mardi Gras, Puerto Rican cooking... Our only requirement is to get together, eat, drink and be merry.

By itself, that would be enough. But I wanted to make it something more.

As it turned out, the first dinner of Brag Supper Club was last week at my house and I had something special planned.

Dinner and conversation was casual, but as soon as the pizza was done, I broke out the Brag Jar. (I can't believe I didn't take a picture!) It is a large glass jar with a lid.


As women, we often wind up taking care of other people -- co-workers, partners, family and friends -- that we can neglect our own needs. Then we become frustrated or guilty because of:
"I didn't do this..."
"I didn't finish that..."

Its time to remind ourselves that we need to pay attention to ourselves and celebrate our successes -- no matter how big or small. We are a group of women who support each other and are each other's cheerleaders.

We need to be comfortable saying "Look at me, here's what I did!"

Everybody was given a glass stone. It represented something that we wanted to brag about ourselves. We had to put in at least one, but we could include as many brags as we wanted. As we shared our brags, we added our stone to the Brag Jar.

  • Claudine: Now the Campus Division Lead for the Circle of Sisterhood charity she volunteers for
  • Lori: Standing up to her mom and letting her know that she doesn't see children in her future
  • Kristine: Joined a gym - that she actually has to pay for!
  • Kelly: Running 13+ miles this weekend
  • Kristin: creating a new home for Bailey
  • Kim: Supporting Savannah in her first boyfriend break-up crisis
As the months progress, we can see how our collective 'brags' add up. The next host will hold the Brag Jar until the next monthly 'meeting' of the Brag Supper Club.

In addition... as a sorority girl, I have gained much support from my organization. We essentially do the same for each other. Now that we have our own Ritual, I hereby declared ourselves Beta Sigma Chi sorority (BSC - Brag Supper Club). Our motto is "Fun, Food, Friendship"


We all received initiation certificates and in lieu of a badge, we received our own commemoration BSC stone.

Welcome to the Sisterhood!


Friday, January 06, 2012

My evening

So, how was your night?

Me? Well I woke up at 3am because I had to pee. When I open my right rye, it got stuck. My eyelid was in the way.

WTF?

I reached to feel my face and my entire right side and jaw to my left ear felt like there was concrete beneath the skin.

Really, WTF?

So I went to the bathroom and switched on the light. At first the brightness was blinding and I couldn't keep my eyes open. But when I did, this is what stared back at me from the mirror.


What the hell? Who came in and beat the shit out of my face?

So I got to thinking. Do I go to the hospital? Is there an urgent care center open? Should I wait until the morning to see a doctor.

My choices ran in my head for about a minute. There was no way I was going to be able to go back to sleep, so I let Barry out, put on some deodorant, brushed my teeth and got dressed. Then I googled the closest hospital. And off I went.

As I was driving there I wondered, do I call someone? Do I call Charles? He's only a mile from the hospital.


I went in and there were a few people waiting in the ER. I gave my info, and spoke to the triage nurse.

I told her all the medications I had taken that day. In addition to my normal meds, I was dosing up on pain meds to get rid of a headache and body aches I had had for the last two days. The last thing I took was Alka-Seltzer Cold tablets before I went to bed.

She handed me two Benedryl and I thought that these might be the most expensive Benedryl I have ever taken.


I sent out a quick text to a friend to let someone know where I was.

I waited back in the waiting room for about 30 minutes. I finally got called back by the doctor and he ran through the routine blood pressure, listening to lungs, but by this time the swelling had gone down enough where I looked human.

I was prescribed steroids and said was discharged.

As the nurse was gathering the rest of my insurance information I asked if I overreacted by coming into the ER. She said that allergies could spread quickly to the mouth and throat causing breathing problems, so I did the right thing by coming in. I think she was trying to make me feel better because I felt pretty stupid about the whole thing. Not that I was hoping for a full Scrubs episode, but I was in and out of the ER in less than an hour.

I'm glad I didn't call Charles. That would have been awkward.