25 Random Things Update

Today is a random day. It's 48 degrees and mighty blustery outside. It's one of those days where I have little to say. I was going to blog about our adventure to the sporting goods store yesterday that entailed almost three hours of walking, but I didn't take any pictures. Maybe some other time... 

I wandered over to Facebook and re-encountered my one and only "note," whatever that means. In a rare window of opportunity, I responded to the "25 Random Things" internet meme that was going around. I wrote it just a shade over two years ago. I thought I'd repost it here. Updates are in bold.


1. I'm only doing this because I am not skiing on our youth group's ski trip, and I have the rare opportunity of sitting around and playing on my computer all day. Clearly I have the the not-so-rare-anymore opportunity to sit around and play on the computer all day. Fingers crossed for a job soon.

2. My husband, Nathan, and I had an "arranged marriage." Our wedding day was the 10th time we laid eyes on each other. I am head over heels in love with him. Still true.

3. I scare easily. I am a very jumpy person, according to Nathan, who lives to jump out of dark corners with a mask on. I HATE being frightened, scary movies, haunted houses, etc. I was spending some time thinking in bed this morning and got scared when I heard him cough. I thought he had already left for the library.

4. If I ever win the lottery ( if I ever play the lottery) I'll hire a full time driver. I don't like to drive, especially at night. My friends in college called me Granny Nico. No car in Durham means no driving. Yay! I don't miss it at all, except when I have too many groceries and it's snowing outside.

5. I think blogs are a great tool for keeping up with friends and family. There are several people who I blogstalk every chance I get: Kristi, Bekah, Lorie, Christy, B-Hog, etc. I check my own blog every day too, even thought I don't update it every day. I think I'm just checking to see if anyone has commented. Is that vain? I blogstalk a lot more people now, and I check for comments on our blog multiple times a day. The vanity disease is getting worse.

6. One of my 6th grade students told me that I had a five o'clock shadow the other day. I'm pretty sure he didn't know what it meant, but I couldn't shake some insecurity for a while. I miss that kid. We're FB friends now.

7. I'm not a morning person. I'm not a night person. Nathan is both. I'm neither. I'm a love-my-sleep person. I slept from 12:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. last night. Good, but not good.

8. My parents are awesome. I'm so glad I'm half of each of them. Still true.

9. My sister and brother-in-law are making me an aunt next month. They're making me an aunt again today.

10. My brother is adopted, deaf, blind in one eye, mentally challenged, an addict, quasi-homeless by choice, and generally pretty kooky, but he's the best thing that ever happened to our family. He recently told my parents that he only smokes "only a little bit of pot." I guess that's an improvement.

11. I was diagnosed with type I diabetes about three months ago. The thought of drawing blood and giving myself insulin shots in the stomach four times a day made me seriously nauseous at first, but somehow, by God's grace, I'm doing it. Two years on, I'm still dependent on God's grace to manage the 'betes. I hate it.

12. I've recently gotten back into coloring as a medium for stress relief. I won a bunch of coloring contests when I was little, probably due to the mixture of my mom's love of winning things and my love of staying inside the lines. I just bought a coloring book at Tesco last night. They were out of the good crayons, so I bought the small box of eight Tesco crayons. I'm working on Valentines for the fam today.

13. I admire really great photographers. I blogstalk them too. :) I have a bunch of links to the ones I like on my blog, like Joel Flory, my wedding photographer, who made me wonder if I may have missed my calling as a supermodel. Photographers who make you wonder that are really good. You can check out my favorites in the sidebar on the right, including our wedding photos by Joel.

14. I love to cook and entertain, but I had pretty much no practice until I got married. Now I'm trying to muster up the energy to write a cookbook. I just lack the time and the photographer who can make my food look like a supermodel. This has seriously fallen by the wayside. I finished the desserts section on that same ski trip, but there are still no pictures. Maybe when we get back to the States and I can have all my kitchen stuff back...

15. Meatloaf (the singer not the entree) asked me to dance at George W. Bush's inaugural ball in 2001. I had seen him dance with Rosie O'Donnell on her talk show on TV and then French kiss her, so I was a little scared, but I still said "yes" just for the story. Thankfully, no French kissing ensued. Not much to add here, except for the fact that this was 10 years ago makes me feel old.

16. Julia Kate is going to help me with the rest of my 25 Random Things. JK just turned 18. That makes me feel old too.

17. I only get on Facebook every month or so, because we don't have the internet at home and the site is blocked at school. Somehow the kids manage to update their statuses during school hours, but I don't have time to circumvent the system. Talk about the firewall backfiring! My, how times have changed. The Parkers are now in the 21st century. 

18. I tried out for the Taylor University Chorale my freshman year, but I didn't make the cut. I didn't like singing in front of people, or think I was even close enough to being good enough to, until my friend Hannah Heth asked me to sing at her wedding. Since then, I've sung in... I'm not sure how many weddings and sing at church monthly. Thanks Hannah. I don't sing at church anymore, and I kind of miss it. I mean, I sing at church, but not up front. You probably gathered that. Never mind.

19. I lick the gum wrapper before putting a new piece of gum in my mouth. In first grade our teacher taught us about habits, and I didn't have one, so I thought I'd start one. Licking the gum wrapper was the first thing that popped into my mind at the time. If Nathan gets me a piece of gum, he holds out the wrapper for me to lick before putting the gum in my mouth. True love.

20. I pretend to like people's pets, but I don't really. The only pet I loved was our dog, Bebe, who lived to be 16 years old. My mom had her put to sleep on my 25th birthday. Thanks Mom. That sounded bitter. Sorry Mom. And sorry to Frank, who kind of scares me.

21. I'm not very athletic. My sister got the athletic genes, and I got the singing and dancing genes. Painfully true. Although, I could probably beat her at any sport today, but that's because she's in labor.

22. I learned to swallow pills when my mom sneaked them into my applesauce as a kid. Is sneaked used in the proper form here? I think it is.

23. If money were no object, I'd love to run a beautiful and restful bed and breakfast by some body of water. Nathan would to the outdoor work and keep the books. I'd just make things pretty and cook stuff. The North Barn is a mini version of that. Come visit!

24. When I was in college, I had a wall of pictures and concert ticket stubs dedicated to Steven Curtis Chapman. I owned all of his tapes/CDs and saw him in concert 12 times. When I think if this past summer, I think of his newest album, "Beauty Will Rise." Before we moved, I gave it to Ryan's parents. 

25. I congratulate you if you read this whole thing! Amen, and amen!