some randoms; do it if you want

While I didn’t need any prompting for a post on Sunday, because I was too busy driving forklifts, I will take the prodding from The Cuz to participate in this meme.

Here are the rules, the latter two of which I’m not doing, because I’m a rule-breaker, dammit:

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Share seven random things about yourself
3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs
4. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs

I kind of hate these, because if this blog is nothing else, it’s years of random things about me.

1. Up until about two and a half years ago, I was scared of dogs. Like deathly scared of them. It stems from some childhood trauma that involved being chased from the bus stop every single day by two big ass Chow Chow dogs, while their owner stood in the drive way, both drunk and laughing. I love him a lot. And, well, now there’s Riley, who is possibly the best dog on the planet and I’m not really scared of any dogs at all.
2. The past 6 weeks that I’ve been unemployed has been the longest stretch I’ve ever went without a job since I turned sixteen. I’ve put time in babysitting, selling corn dogs at the Missouri State Fair, making sure the shoes went the right way at K-Mart, managing shifts at Taco Bell, being a delivery driver and managing a pizza restaurant, processing school pictures at a photography plant, signing people up for internet service at an ISP, writing sports stories for a newspaper, lying to bill collectors that called a telecommunications company I worked for when I first moved to Minnesota, a gamut of customer service gigs at a very large electronics retailer, checking out rental cars for Budget (for six hours), and selling overpriced software and Shithole Company, Inc. These six weeks? They’ve lasted forever.
3. I had no real desire to ever visit a foreign country or leave the United States. Then Jenni mentioned a cruise last summer, and holy crap, I didn’t know what I was missing. A cruise is the best thing in the world for a person that’s never been anywhere that’s not within driving distance, because there’s so much to see and it’s completely overwhelming in the most awesome way possible.
4. There were two things that I really wanted to be when I grew up: a neurosurgeon and a band teacher. Clearly I achieved them both and am now just enjoying living off your tax dollars.
5. I didn’t go to a single high school formal dance. I really don’t regret that at all. And there were a lot of them. I even lied and said I had to work during the dance that the yearbook staff threw every year. As a photographer for the yearbook, we were required to attend. Ain’t no way in hell I was going to dance where a formal dress was required.
6. I was on the front page of the paper Saturday morning – my local hometown newspaper, that is. I woke up My mom woke me up early enough to go stand in line with the other idiots at Staples, so I could snatch up an awesome deal on my Tommy (we fought a lot today, by the way). And wouldn’t you know it, the newspaper came to take pictures. My ass-end ended up splashed across The Sedalia Democrat. I lived there for almost 24 years, and that was the first time I ever made it to the front page… that I can remember.
7. I’ve been on TV twice. The first time involved Leroy Van Dyke and a Pepsi commercial – no lie. The second time, I was on the news because a flu epidemic had hit my hometown and I was one of the only suckers left still going to class. It was my junior year (or maybe senior) of high school and I had my feet up on my desk in a law-related class of some sort. For the rest of the school year, that teacher jumped my case every time I put my feet up.

After I wrote all of those, I realized that many of you probably know them already… But only because you’re loyal and I love you for that.

P.S. I’m back home in my apartment now, and it’s 54 degrees inside. BRR.

i’m pretty thankful for a lot

This morning, I’ll ignore the Torii Hunter signing with the Angels situation (pending a physical), because I’m not thankful for that. Not at all.

Here’s what I am thankful for, in no particular order:

• My unemployment finally went through, meaning four weeks of unemployment moolah was depositing into my account. Hooray for getting paid.
• My friends are amazing, and everyone needs some just like them. I can go back and read archives here that talk about having "real" friends and it’s sad. Sure, I’ve had some really rock solid homies that have been through so much with me, and yes, those are real friends. There have been others, though, throughout the years that have just faded with time, or stuck true to the whole "out of sight, out of mind" cliche. I’m very thankful for everyone that I call my friend today, because they’re as real as anyone possibly could be. And, holy nuts, I appreciate that so much.
• My family, as eclectic and dysfunctional as they might be, are pretty top notch. For instance, I’m unemployed and get offers from everyone to squat at their place a few days.
• Riley. Of course, I’m thankful for him. Two and a half years ago, I never would have been thankful for a dog. And then I got one, and man. I probably do a lot of bitching about him, more than he deserves, but he’s one of the best things that possibly could have happened to me in the past few years. Even with chewed up paws, dirty ears, and everything else that comes along with him, I don’t know what I’d do without him.
• The 3 Day is the best thing in the world for so many reasons and I’m thankful for that. Every year it makes me dig down deep for the emotion and physical ability to finish the walk, as well as all the hard work it takes to raise the money year after year. I love it so much and can’t imagine a year going by without being involved with it in some capacity. It continually makes me a better person.
• I’m pretty thankful for myself. Does that sound conceited? This past year, I’ve especially grown comfortable with who I am and how I am, and it really makes things a whole hell of a lot better on a day-to-day basis.

And those that doesn’t receive long explanations:

• The Minnesota Lynx and all their fine players (just not their front office)
• Netflix and Tivo, that have both kept me entertained while unemployed
• My car that keeps running and running, knowing it can’t be replaced right now
• The Minnesota Twins, even if they suck as signing players I love
• The friends and family of all my friends and family, because you make them happy
• Facebook’s Scrabulous for filling every moment of my time
• The Internet and all it’s capacities, because without it, I wouldn’t have met so many awesome people, both in person and otherwise
• My great Aunt Helen’s corn casserole that I’m going to be enjoying in just a couple of hours, or at least once I take a shower