Wednesday, February 15, 2012

10 Things You May Not Know about Me (with sneak peek photos!)

1. My husband is so charming.  When I asked him to tell me some "interesting and/or funny things that people don't know about me" he said "Um...I don't know.  Nothing?"  Nice.

2. I can take my shoulder out of its socket and put it back in anytime, any place.  It's a super duper summertime party trick, I tell ya what!

3. If you like Myers-Briggs personality types, I am ENFJ...but am thisclose to being an I.  And people who know me will be all "WHAT????  You are not an introvert, you lying sack of cow dung!" and I'll be all "Au contraire, mon amis.  I like people and fun and talking, but I also like silence and alone time and never answering the phone.  Sorry to those of you who try to call me.  Nothing personal, I swear."  In fact, I think my cell phone has been in silent ever since Sunday.

4. When I was 12, I got grounded from reading.  It was an illness.  It still can be sometimes.  And sometimes I have to ground my oldest daughter from reading and people get so scandalized but to them I say "You have no idea!".  Even good things in obsessive quantities stop being good.  Even wine, as much as it pains me to say it.

5. I've been getting into a tizzy about food freedoms lately.  Like, really, Wisconsin judge who now works for a firm that defended Monsanto?  You're going to say it's illegal for farmers to drink the milk from their own cows? 

6. And speaking of Monsanto- don't ever make the mistake of getting me started on them!  I believe in minimal government intervention, so I don't think that "someone" ought to do "something" about them as a big, bad corporation.  But I do think WE can do something about them if we can stop buying products originating with them.  Money talks, friends.  And honestly, with the former Monsanto employees in the federal government and the former government employees working for Monsanto, we can't trust "someone" to work for us anyway.

7.  Alright, sorry for that.  Back to something funny and/or entertaining.  Like...have I told you the story about the mouse who ran out of the heater vent and unto my sweater when I was in elementary school?  PHOBIA EXPLAINED!

8. My good Lord, I do hate the "dock" at the top of the Dell Inspiron 1525 screen.  Who the heck needs that crap popping up ever time they move their cursor up there??????

9. When I was about 13 years oldish, I was CERTAIN that I would not only meet Chris O'Donnell some day but that marrying him was a distinct probability.  Um, hello?  The Three Muskateers?

10. Oooooh, we finished painting the girls' rooms!  True story.  I still have some spiffying up to do before I post the big reveal, but I'll sneak peek you to whet your hungry appetites....
 
Lizzy's room...


Katy's room...

We were victorious over the black stripes and their evil cousin black trim!  Hallelujah!

I'm linking up with Allison at Rambling Follower.  Head over there to check out all the other fab entries!

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53 comments :

  1. I've heard lots about Monsanto lately. I like to spend my money with business that share my values, so I like your idea to vote with your cash! Can anyone weight in with what products / brands should be avoided? Thanks.

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    1. They are connected to a LOT (if not all) big name processed foods. Because they control a huge portion of the soy and dent corn grown in the country, anything made with artificial corn sweetener probably makes Monsanto money. I know...that's a HUGE portion of what's sold in our grocery stores. So I'm thinking baby steps. Trying to cook and eat whole foods as much as possible. Slowly working toward buying locally produced foods and even growing our own when we can. It isn't a problem that was created overnight, so I don't think we can solve it overnight, but if we as consumers become knowledgeable about the market and the situation, I truly believe we can be the catalysts for real improvement.

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  2. See? I told you what happens to me if I go off on food freedoms. Combine wine, Monsanto, and anyone who'll listen, and you'll be throwing your shoulder out of its socket just to try and shut me up.

    Honestly- it's copyright infringement, and therefore illegal for farmers to save seed if it so much as contains traces of Monsanto frankenfood genes in it? Are you kidding? Do they not understand how pollination works? Oh, that's right. They DO. And they also know how a corrupt system works, too.

    See? Now I have to go spend some time on cakewrecks or something to calm me down.

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    1. This is why we are soul sistahs, Donaldson. The image of the farmer choking back tears because he is basically their legal PRISONER haunts me still.

      Everyone...buy heirloom seeds! We get ours from Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. I'm not even playin' here.

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    2. AMEN SISTER! They outrage me!!!!!!!!! So illegal and wrong.

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  3. Ooo the pictures are tantalizing!

    Also, I was only introduced to the whole Anne of Green Gables series in high school. Well, I got so into them that my mother and I had an argument about my attitude while I was reading them. She just couldn't understand how reading about Anne's lost baby could utterly ruin my day. It took me a while to recover from the tragedy. I was *almost* grounded that time.

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    1. I'm trying to take it slow with my girls (we're reading the series out loud) because I don't want to be reading that part while I'm pregnant. Tooooooo sad!

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  4. I don't have anything specific to say, other than I loved all of them! You go from silly to serious and back again. Plus, I super-heart those polkadot curtains! Can't wait to see the reveals!

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  5. I knew I liked you for more than one reason Dweeja, you are like a kindred spirit. I was once grounded from reading too.

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  6. Just say no to corn! Seriously. There isn't any left in this country that isn't genetically altered and controlled by Monsanto.

    I'm glad I'm not the only person in the whole world who was grounded from reading as a kid. :)

    The pictures are so pretty! I can't wait to see the whole rooms!

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    1. Corn on the cob is so quintessentially summertime that we're going to grow our own from non-gmo heirloom seeds this year. 'Cause you just don't know what you're gonna get at the grocery store anymore...

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  7. I think I could have written #3 myself ;) Fun list!

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  8. Re: #4 - I wasn't grounded from reading, but I got in trouble a lot for not doing my after school chores because I wanted to read instead. I could see how conflicted my mom was - she didn't want to punish me for reading, but on the other hand, those dishes were not going to wash them selves.

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    1. That's totally it, Paula. Reading is good, but so is exercise and helping your family :)

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  9. ...and re:#9 - doesn't Chris O'Donnell also have 5 kids? It was obviously meant to be!

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  10. I have two boys in one of my classes who do that shoulder socket thing, It completely creeps me out. They say they are just stretching. If we ever meet in real life PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don't do that to me.

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  11. I love that green. I'm looking for a green just that color! Share the name?

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  12. Monsanto. Just the name makes me shudder.

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  13. Totally in agreement about Monsanto. They are an example of evil personified.

    My Chris O'Donnell crush came from "Circle of Friends" (though the book was better than the film).

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  14. This was so entertaining! You're really funny. I have to agree- shoulder thing very creepy and Monsanto is the devil. Have you seen Food Inc.? It's a documentary on this sort of thing.

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  15. This was so entertaining! You're really funny. I have to agree- shoulder thing very creepy and Monsanto is the devil. Have you seen Food Inc.? It's a documentary on this sort of thing.

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    1. Yes! We've watched a whole bunch of documentaries lately on sustainable agriculture, how the gmo fruits and vegetables are causing bee colonies to collapse, good farmland being ruined by the chemicals over time....it's been so eye opening.

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    2. And how they use stronger chemicals to beat of the bugs that adapted to the other chemicals each year, so essentially we are getting a higher dose of pesticides EACH year...ahh! I can't stand the way that things are happening right now.

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  16. So, with that creepy shoulder thing, does that mean you can escape from a straight jacket?! Or did those Lethal Weapon movies lie to me?

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  17. Oh gosh! You're opening a can of worms bringing up food freedoms and Monsanto... And seriously... Who does that judge think he is?!? As an agriculturalist raised AND educated... THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!! I'd like to know what he's basing that decision on... Besides the fact that he's probably going to leave the bench to become a lawyer and advocate for a HUGE dairy farm or something.... sheesh.

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    1. He DID leave the bench and become a lawyer! For a firm that defends Monsanto! What a turd.

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  18. Dwija, have you read Small is Still Beautiful by Joseph Pearce? You may like it. :) - Rhonda

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  19. Hate to beg to differ, but I do. Without the advances that companies like Monsanto have made, crop yields would be WAY lower. My uncle is a farmer and I asked him about organic farming, genetically altered seeds etc. and he says the world would starve if we all went organic. Please lets NOT give the population control crowd more ammunition for their "world is too populated" nonsense. Its in small part due to these advances that the modern world is living longer with a better standard of living previous generations.

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    1. No, no, no Matthew, this is just not true. Yes, crop yields would be lower, but people would actually be eating the crops rather than feeding those crops to the cows at the factory farms. The huge amounts of crown grown in the US is dent corn- inedible by humans. It's not food in and of itself. And you know the problem of Mexican farmers leaving Mexico to come here to America and work? It's because of all of our government subsidized, high-yield corn being shipped into Mexico and making their farms nonexistent. The modern methods of farming decimate the topsoil and will eventually result in no quality farmland in the world. If your uncle owns a mass production, high yield farm, that's the only method he knows, but somehow humans existed for a VERY long time before this stuff was invented, each family producing enough for their families. I encourage you to do some independent research outside of a someone who currently uses these methods of farming for their livelihood. You may be surprised at what you discover.

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    2. I totally agree with Dwija. And I disagree with the claim that the industrialized food system has made our lives unequivocally better. That's a myth that mother culture whispers in our ears at night. We can't complain that industrialization has allowed for the specialization of the economy that has led to many of the technological advances that have improved our lives... however it has also produced a corn (re: meat; re: corn syrup) surplus that has made us fatter and less healthy than ever before.

      And hey, I'm also an ENFJ almost INFJ! I wonder if people tend more often to follow blogs written by people with their same or similar Myers-Briggs type? ;-)

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  20. Monsanto has done some very evil things (and I don't use the word lightly). And to clarify, it's not copyright infrigment they use as much as sort of intellectual property--thei genetically modified products are patented. If you haven't all heard of Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian canola farmers sued by Monsanto for growing their patented GM canola when, in fact, his crops had been contaminated by their seeds. He counter-sued, which marked a turning point in public awareness of the issue and also set a precedent for other farmers to seek damages. His website gives more details: http://www.percyschmeiser.com/

    Which I why I feel it's important to address the minimal government/ not a case of "somebody should do something" sort of concern. The most fundamental purpose of government, according to even the most libertarian of socio-political philosophies, is the *defense* of *individual liberties* against agressors--Oliver Wendell Holmes' classic "your right to swing your fist at my nose" premise.

    Laws which would (or do) protect farmers and consumers from the damages imposed (accidentally or intentionally) by another party, Monsanto in this case, are hardly an example of "big government"--they are legal restrictions placed upon the behavior of one (in this case, a corporation) in order to protect the individual rights of farmers.

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    1. I see what you're saying. But it seems like so many of the already existing laws are what ALLOW them to make their intellectual property infringement claims and win those cases. So now we need additional new laws to compensate for the old laws. New departments to balance out the old departments. And meanwhile Monsanto and the federal government are trading employees back and forth. It's hard for me to put my faith in a group of people that, in general, I don't trust. Individuals voting with their dollars, on the other hand, is just something I can't find a way to argue with.

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    2. ooooooooooooh, yes, totally a big fan of voting with my dollar (as you know)... just trying to clarify that the things Monsanto et al do are a clear case of a corporation using its massive economic and political clout to violate individual farmers' rights--and so, however it goes about it (i.e., enforcing existing laws, creating new ones if none exist, deploying hordes of winged monkeys, I don't care), the government needs to protect the rights of those farmers.

      hope it didn't sound like I was siding with Monsanto on that one!

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    3. Oh, no! No, I think we're definitely both on the same page here :)

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  21. I'll look into it Dwija. I appreciate your response.

    BTW - What do you feed that donkey of yours? Genetically modified corn from Monsanto seed I presume??!! How else can a donkey speak??!!

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  22. Oh my gosh Dwija!!!! Hello! Fellow(ette) ENFJ-PRACTICALLY-INFJ, right here in the house, yo! Haha I knew there was a deeper connection there. Being an avid psychology buff & undergrad (for life, it would appear,) personality testing is at the top of my fun-things-to-study list. (...Am I nerding myself out big time?) Myers & Briggs hit the nail on the head. Did you know their genius brains rode in on the coattails of the almighty Carl Jung, mega superstar? Just a fun (and also nerded out) little factoid.

    So my E's are always 1 answer above the midline, vs the I's, meaning one more I and I would be even-steven. Nerdingest fact of all? I've taken the test countless times (just for nerd-lovin' fun,) and will often shoot just over into that midline. And my reason? Well, for one, I. HATE. Answering/calling/even listening to others on... the phone. :) And get easily overwhelmed with noise and peeps all up in my grill... much as my super-Extrovert side LOVES those very same peeps! So weird and cool, all at once.

    And guess what else is cool about that? You have an automatic sympathizer for your wonderful cause. I couldn't agree more, and I'll add one more thing -

    God made this world ridiculously abundant and then gave us all brains to imagine and conceptualize and implement and solve... hands to work... dear friends to help... faith to inspire... and hearts to share our harvests.

    There is NO need to mass produce at the level we do. (Cringe.) I know many disagree but the heart of the problem -hence the solution as well - is with the individual. Haha, down with big gov't! (Cringe again. Just cuz I'm vibing on the occasional yet inevitable hate stares my comment is gonna be feeling! Lol.)

    Love ya my favorite NF'er! Hahahaha that is SO awesome.

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  23. I love the look of those curtains already!

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  24. I should've known you'd be another personality testing nerd. If you're into that sort of thing, read about the enneagram. It ties in with Jungs personality theory. I'm I (just barely) NFJ. And an enneagram type 7, which will make sense if you read about it. I like The Enneagram Made Easy. I think it's by Helen Palmer. It's super simple to read, with cartoons and everything for us lazy people:)

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  25. Chris O'Donnell is still my celebrity crush. That is one smokin' hot man.

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  26. Funny, I'm an INFJ, but I'm abolutely nowhere near an "E".

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  27. I'm an ISTJ or something like that :P The girls' rooms look amazing! can't wait for that post.

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  28. Good to know we're not the only parents who feel the need to periodically ground our daughter from reading. :D And boy do I remember the mouse in the sweater incident (since I was sitting right next to you). Eek. Freaky things those mice. I'm so excited to see your girls' finished bedrooms!!!!

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  29. Boo Monsanto! I can't stand that crap!

    And um, the shoulder thing? Is it weird that that instantly made me think of Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon movies? He could do that, too, but he said it hurt. Does it hurt when you do it? Because if not, you are tougher than him!

    Those curtain/pretty paint pictures look kind of delicious. Can't wait to see the whole thing!

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  31. Hi, You just signed up to follow our blog Catholic Moms Connect, I would like to talk with you, can you call email me? jkmuss@gmail.com

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  32. Get ready for your mind to be blown. I can take my shoulder out of socket and I'm an INFJ.

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  33. Haha, you are too funny, lady! Your mouse story reminded me of my mom's phobia of mice. She was in San Antonio at a band parade in HS (dorky, right?) and a RAT ran out of the gutter and up the leg of her polyester band pant suit. Horrifying! I went to university in San Antonio, and she had never told me that story but kept looking down on the city. It wasn't until I heard that story that I found out why. Talk about traumatizing. Feel for ya!!!

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  34. That menu/dock/whatever at the top of the screen DRIVES ME INSANE. I never ever use it but every time I try to go to a different tab in my browser, it pops down. GRRR!!

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  35. Two members of my family have developed a sensitivity to corn and soy -- and guess what the most genetically modified crops in the US are! It's like they're not even real food any more. I'm glad to know heirloom seeds are available. I wonder how our HOA would feel about my growing crops in the front yard?

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