My Bizarre Family

Archive for the ‘Life According to Me’ Category

You don’t have to be old or dying to have a bucket list, and it’s never too early or late to start one. I’ve been working on mine for several years now and figured it was time I published it.

What is a bucket list? It’s a wish list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket”. No one is promised tomorrow, so why put it off?

I want to see the world, so my list includes a lot of traveling. I want to see every state in America, so my husband and I plan on taking short (lasting three or four days) trips to a different state on the list at least once or twice a year, with a long trip in between. Of course, three to four days is not enough to see everything, but it’s a start! One trip we have discussed is visiting Salem, Massachusetts, so we plan on making that a four day trip either this Fall or next. We also want to spend some time in Louisiana, seeing the bayou and visiting New Orleans, so that is another trip we are looking into.

It helps that my husband and I share the same interests and want the same things. It means I don’t have to do this alone! It’s always more fun when you have your best friend with you to experience new and exciting things!

Check out my super long Bucket List and watch as I start to mark them off! I’m sure I’ll also be adding more to the list throughout the years…in fact, I just thought of another adventure…

Remember to dream as if you’ll live forever and live every day as if it were going to be your last!

I’ve been contemplating buying a Kindle for about a year now. When they first came out, I wanted nothing to do with them. I just couldn’t imagine giving up my precious books. I am a proud book hoarder. At last count, I had twenty-five large (and heavy) boxes of books (which my husband and kids give me grief over…since they had to cart them from house to house each time we moved). I’ve added more to my collection since my last move eight months ago (Wow, I can’t believe it’s been eight months already!), so it’s probably at twenty-six boxes by now.

My husband wanted to get me a Kindle two Christmases ago, probably in hopes that I would stop filling his house with books that he knows he will have to move at least one more time in the next year or two. I told him I didn’t want one. I spend so much time sitting in front of a computer working, surfing and blogging that I just couldn’t imagine putting my face in front of another electronic device when I wanted to read a book.

I should have let him buy the Kindle. Now, I’m trying to win one by entering in sweepstakes. I don’t think a Kindle could ever replace my books, but I must admit it would be handy to have at times.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books? Should I get a Kindle? I’m looking at the Kindle Fire HD. Pros/cons?

Spring is finally here! Actually…it’s been here for a while according to my calendar, and now the weather has finally reflected it …off and on…

One thing you are quick to learn about living in East Tennessee is how quickly the weather changes. One day it can be a balmy 82 degrees and the next,  you are freezing your hiney off in 30 or 40 degree weather…and then there are snow flurries! Seriously, the weather here is crazy.

Spring and I have a love/hate relationship. With Spring comes flowers blooming, garage sells, trips to Dollywood, trips to the mountains, family outings to the Drive-In, etc., which I love….and some of the not so fun things that I hate like mowing the yard, allergies, Spring cleaning, and storms. Sometimes I really dread Spring because of the bad storms Mother Nature throws at us.

I am terrified of tornadoes. About eight years ago, during one of the harder times we went through financially, we were living in a single wide mobile home (and boy were we packed like sardines in there) and a doozy of a storm was heading our way. Needless to say, I freaked out so badly that I packed up the entire family and stayed in a hotel for the night. Have you SEEN the devastation that a tornado can wreck on mobile homes?! Then you have the news anchors saying “seek shelter, but not in a mobile home”.  Yeah I had a freak out moment. My step-kids still talk about it sometimes. I don’t over-react like that anymore, but knowing that there is a safe place to go if there is a tornado warning is uppermost in my mind before I move to a new house. I mean, it’s right up there with “Can we afford this?”

Storms are the biggest thing I hate about Spring. But I am thankful that we do not get many tornadoes in East Tennessee. In fact, I think this is the safest place in the country to live. We don’t have blizzards (except that one time in 93…), we don’t get earthquakes (well, not ones that you can actually feel unless you are just lucky), we don’t get hurricanes, obviously….and we only get the rare tornado. See? Safe. I would never want to move anywhere else, though I do love to travel.

The biggest thing I love about Spring is knowing that Summer is close! Summer is my favorite season…going to the lake, camping, swimming, shorts and sandals, etc. What are some of the things you love or hate about Spring? Do you share my fear of tornadoes?

I’ve discovered a few things about myself recently. One of them is that I do not like to see clothes hanging all over my house, like this…

(yes, that IS the treadmill my mom loaned me when I told her I wouldn’t hang clothes off of it like she did) and I do not like my clothes, towels in particular, to be so stiff that it feels like sandpaper. I do not like socks on my bar stools.

and I especially do not like to see dirty clothes piled up and overflowing like this

But, this is what happens when a major appliance, such as a dryer, kicks the bucket…and it couldn’t have happened at the most inconvenient time (not that any time would be convenient). This has only happened to me one other time in the past ten years, and my husband was able to fix it in no time at all. This time…the dryer is not fixable…it’s just dead. Have you ever seen anything like this?

The dryer drum is off the bearing ring and the drum itself has cut into the front panel. It’s put several huge gashes in it, so the clothes were getting hung up causing rips and tears. There are actual pieces of the dryer falling out into the drum when it’s running. Then the little fact that it’s not even getting the clothes dry…yep, it’s dead. Anyone ever had this happen?

I actually thought about going to buy clothesline and run it in the back yard until I could come up with the money for another dryer, but then a friend told me not to worry about it, that I should expect a call to set up a delivery for a new dryer in the next few days. This person (who wants to remain anonymous) said that we had enough worries at the moment and if he can relieve just one of them so that we can focus on the more important things…he was more than happy to.  There are just no words, ya know? None.  He is such a blessing to my family, and I hope pray that we can be as much a blessing to him or to someone else in need one day.  God has an amazing way of showing up just when you need Him, and through the most unexpected people. I mean, this friend is not local at all, but lives several states away. Sure enough…I got a call from Sears about my new Kenmore a few days ago.

So, the final thing I learned about myself recently, is that I can still be surprised (alright, shocked into silence…right before I broke down in tears) by the kindness, love and generosity of people. Even in troubled times, there are still blessings to be found.  As a friend at church told me the other day…It’s a “God Thing”.

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