Seven Things I Like

Juli Ryan, an ex-pat living in New Zealand, tagged me with a great meme that I thought would be perfect for today since lately all I do is tell you what I don't like.  Juli, who is very funny and smart and sarcastic, might have been trying to tell me something.  And I appreciate it.  Because a nudge into the positive column is a good thing for me.

Seven Things I Like

1.  I like mornings.  Okay, let me qualify that - I like mornings after everyone has left the house.  Having to look at those half-open eyes and disgruntled, yawning mouths, and pulling from them what they might want for breakfast because, yes, like an idiot, I do set myself up to be a short order cook, is hardly worthy of rainbows and birdsong.  The good thing about that is that their requests are pretty simple - cold cereal usually. 

But once they are all gone for the day?  I'm all aaaaahhhh, breakfast on the deck with a book?  Why not?  So there's the upside to being unemployed.  In the old days, mornings meant driving, driving and more driving.

2.  Which means it's a good thing I like to drive.  Were it not so expensive and horrible for the environment, I would drive around more.  I love driving fast but not recklessly, I love winding meandering drives through the countryside.  I like city driving.  Emphasis on driving.  Not sitting in traffic.  You can keep that.

The last week or two without access to a car really was a severe clipping of my wings.  Maybe I should consider becoming an OTR driver.  Would I have to have my own truck?  Must research this.

3.  I like old time radio shows.  The Jack Benny Show, The Great Gildersleeve, Fibber McGee and Molly, Suspense, The Shadow, Lux Radio Theater, X Minus One, The Further Adventures of Johnny Dollar, Gunsmoke.   I love how the past is captured in sound and story.  I get a kick out of the dystopian visions of the future in the sci fi shows, the silly, almost verbal slapstick of the comedies, the running jokes in Jack Benny, and Fibber McGee.  Can you guys tell if that influences my writing?

4.  I like order.  Clutter makes me pissy.  But not enough to really do much about it.  Right now, I can see four instances of Lisa-induced clutter, but will I eradicate them today?  Highly unlikely.  Because....

5.  I like having a house fully stocked of groceries. And today is payday so I must go do the gatherer thing.  When we hit the skids, I realized how reliant we'd become on take out and going out.  Now that we eat almost exclusively at home, running out of ingredients and staple goods combined with living in the middle of nowhere is a pain in the cook's butt.  Hence, I love the Buy One Get One Free things that so many of the grocery stores are now doing.  Except, I always have to question - want or need?  Need has become the filter by which all pennies are spent.  This is not whining.  It's a statement of fact and something I wish I'd been more capable of when we still had my income.

6.  I like music.  All kinds.   I've shared with you my like for the sappy stuff we listened to in the 70s and 80s, but I also like 20s jazz, big band, classical, rock, rap, hip hop, punk, new wave, metal, Argentinian tangos, alternative, old school country, pop, emo..... music is playing throughout most of my day.

Recently, I was nudged by this blogger to expand my listening even further.  He sent me a link to some to Opeth and I was, at first, a bit unsure.  Then I listened and listened some more.  And now while I clean and lift weights, which I do when no one is around, because can you imagine MathMan and the kids' faces? this is the soundtrack.  You haven't scrubbed out a bathtub until you've done it to Opeth.

Don't worry, Randal.  I'm not going to muscle in on your territory.

7.  I like getting fun mail.  Like this from Lola who ran a contest which I won!!!!!!

The whole shebang.

I haven't smelled this good in a long time.

Clearly, Lola was prescient in the choosing of this gift.

You remember the Blue Flying Monkey I used to Gaslight my kids? It went missing. Now I have the IT magnet.  Mwahahaha.

In addition to all this cool swag, Lola included a bag of confetti and a blower so we could have a little party while we opened our gifts.  And we did.  Thank you, Lola.  This made for great fun over the weekend.

You guys know how I hate tagging people so here's the deal:  Do this in comments.  Or on your own blog when your muse has gone missing as we all know muses do (the unreliable tarts).  You can say I tagged you.  You.  Yes, you.  And you. 

P.S.  Number 8 of the things I like?  You guys.  I mean it.