Wednesday Thoughts

I'm sorry Wednesday Thoughts is so late today. You don't even care anymore, do you? It's practically Thursday! Today has been a really busy day. And a stressful one at that. I had my annual work evaluation today. I was a nervous wreck all day anticipating it. All I had for lunch was a Snickers and some carrots. I couldn't be bothered to microwave my veggie burger and eat my salad. That's how stressed I was. I could only deal with sugar, nothing more complicated than sugar. But thankfully, the review went well. So, phew.

So on to some Wednesday Thoughts.

You know what I could never pull off? Being a hipster. I mean, I've never tried but I've thought about it. I'm secretly a little jealous of hipsters. I could never wear skinny jeans or say "right on." I've tried saying "right on" but I totally can't pull it off. I've only said it in the privacy of my own home but it didn't sound right. I like it when other people say it, but it just doesn't work for me. Plus, I could never be a vegan. I'm not sure I totally know what a hipster is.

I was thinking about something kind of upsetting today: the fact that I'm drawn to a certain type of guy, but that type isn't necessarily the type of guy I want to marry. That disconnect might be part of the reason I'm still single. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to bridge the gap. Anyone else experience this?

Ok so, you know I love Detroit, so I wanted to share this video I saw on CNN this morning. It has Johnny Knoxville in it who I really have no opinion of, but who I vaguely feel I should dislike for reasons I can't identify. But either way, I liked this clip.



It's 11:11, make a wish.

Happy Wednesday.

My Least Favorites

You know what I love? When the weather matches my mood. I didn't exactly wake up in the best mood this morning. I was tired and kind of stressed about a couple things going on in my life, then I walked outside and it was cold, overcast and rainy. Perfect. It actually lifted my spirits. It's like the weather didn't expect anything of me - it was willing to meet me where I was at.

That being said, today seemed like the perfect day to write a post I've been intending to write for a couple weeks now: My Least Favorites. I don't know about you, but I think it's more interesting to find out what movies, music, and t.v. shows people don't like than what they do like (or at least equally interesting). So I thought I'd share a few of my least favorites with you. I'd love to hear some of yours as well.

Before I start, let me just say that I don't mean to hurt any one's feelings here. If you happen to love one of the things I list here, please don't take it personally. We all come at things with different backgrounds and experiences that make us react to them in our own unique way. So no hard feelings, k? Anyway, here we go.

My Least Favorites:

Movie: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Ugh, I hate this movie. Ferris is annoying - is he supposed to be charming? The principal is disgusting. I hate every scene he's in. And what is wrong with Cameron? Why is he like that? I get it, he's from a family where he's ignored or something - but he's still really weird. And a little creepy. And Ferris's sister's life is horrible! I've been subjected to this movie many times and I loathe it.

Music: There really aren't any artists I hate,  but there are some I'm more likely to switch off the radio than others. These are: Annie Lennox, Phil Colins, and Tom Petty. I can't explain why. Something about their music or voices. I can't decide. I like a couple songs from them, but overall, not a fan. Listening to them is like walking on-walking on-walking-on broken glass, if you know what I mean.

Books: The Book of Ruth. Not the book in the Bible, the novel. I read it forever ago but I still have a bad taste in my mouth from it. I don't even want to get into it. It was creepy and not in a spooky way. Just... bad. The kind of book that lingers with you for awhile and you can't shake it off.

And now for some least favorite "shorts":

Food: Yogurt. I can eat it once per month or so, but not twice. The first time, I like it. The second time, gag.
Animal: Snakes. I saw one again last week! Terrifying!
TV show: Nah, I'm going to stay away from this one. I have a feeling some of you love this show and probably feel passionately about it. So, next!
Color: This brick-orange color that I can't really describe but it makes me feel sick to my stomach when I see it.
Word: Flesh. Yuck. I hate the way it sounds.

Tell me about some of your least favorites! And I'll try to be more positive in my next post.

Almost as good as the Smitten

What other product comes with these instructions?

1. Access the inconspicuous valve.
2. Gently bite the base and inflate in less than a breath.
3. Zzz...Zzz...Zzz...

Can you guess? Ok, I'll just tell you: the Pillow Tie. I came across this on someone elses blog and had to share it with you guys!

Guys, would you wear one? If you check out the website you'll see that they come in tons of colors and styles and they look like real ties. Until inflated, that is...

I don't know about you, but it seems like the perfect gift! Men are impossible to shop for. And Christmas is just around the corner. Would any of you guys be disappointed to receive one as a gift? I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed that there isn't an inflatable piece of clothing for women. I think an inflatable scarf would be awesome.

Hmm.... I just thought about how odd that might look. But that doesn't mean I don't want one. Don't you?

Would You Rather?

Did you guys see that 30 Rock tried to beat me to it with an episode full of "would you rather" questions last night? I had no idea the writers of that show read my blog! (That's the only logical explanation.) Hopefully their questions just warmed you up and got you ready for my first question in the Would You Rather series! So without further ado,

Would you rather:

Live as an Amish person in a conservative Old Order ordnung for 3 months, with the following rules:

• No internet
• No cell phones
• No electricity at all.
• If you are a man, you will work outside laboring from dawn to dusk.
• If you are a woman, you will spend your days cooking, baking, cleaning, and quilting.
• You can not get shunned in this time. You have to follow the rules.

OR

Spend the summer touring with singers from the 80's and 90's who are trying to revive their careers (Sinead O'Conner, Ricky Astley, Tori Amos, Terence Trent D'Arby). You will:

• Sing backup
• Do choreographed dances (and some interpretive dance)
• Do stand up comedy before the show to get the audience pumped
• Travel nonstop for three months
• Promote the tour by running a non-ironic tour website.

Which do you choose and why?

Wednesday Thoughts

Ok, here's what I've decided - I think my new feature is going to be "would you rather." I'll start it on Friday and try it out for awhile. If you guys get bored with it, we'll move on to something else. I think it's going to be fun though - I already have a good question dreamed up for the first one!

That's not to say that I'm not going to blog about the other things though. I mean, I already blog about dating questions all the time. And I blog about T.V. from time to time too. I wonder how many of you watch the shows I watch? I'm going to put a poll up on the upper left. If you have a favorite show that you think I might like, let me know! I might be up for adding a new show to my schedule.

So, I noticed that only women commented on my last post. Do men not have issues with self esteem? Or is it that they don't want to talk about feelings in a public forum? Insights?

And my last thought is this: this morning on my way to work, I noticed that a local farmer has set up his pumpkin stand for the fall. There's no more denying it, fall is here. Whenever I hear that Katy Perry "California Girls" song on the radio, I think, "move on. Summer's over, Katy." It seems out of place now. Do you know what I mean? (Like Katy is the d.j. playing it - I know, that doesn't make sense. But you know what I mean.)

Happy Wednesday!

The Confidence Question

I know this guy - he is a sweet, nice guy who also happens to be a bit of a nerd. Kind of awkward, kind of unaware; not unlikeable, just awkward enough to be put in the "nerd" category by most girls. But here's the thing about him - he's confident. Really confident. He's said things to me that make me blush upon telling them to my friends. He's not inappropriate, he's just bold.

How does he do it? What makes him so confident? And I gotta say, his confidence makes him more attractive. It even makes him less nerdy.

Guys always say they like girls with confidence, and obviously, girls are attracted to it too. I feel like I'm generally a confident person. But lately... not so much. I've lost my mojo! I think it's just a temporary thing - I mean, this happens now and then. But what if it's not? How do you get your confidence back when you've lost it? Dating guys who are no good for you? ( Does not work in case you're actually considering it.) Posting affirmations on my mirror? (Might work.) Fishing for compliments? (Kidding! I mean, unless you insist.) Listing my positive traits? (I hate that one.)

Last week I was playing games with some friends, and one of the games we played was "Loaded Questions." Instead of following the real rules of the game, we just asked the questions and everyone had to answer. My friend picked a question she thought we'd all enjoy, "What is something people usually compliment you on?" No one wanted to answer it. Everyone gave the most vague answers, like "I'm nice." Please. You know that's not what people compliment you on the most. I was one of those people though - I didn't want to tell the truth because it would seem like bragging to acknowledge that I have good qualities. But I think this is the problem in some cases. We're afraid of acknowledging our good qualities either because we're afraid we will seem vain, or because we're too focused on our perceived or real negative qualities to recognize our good ones.

I think it's ok to focus on the good things about ourselves. This is something I am going to work on and see if it works. How do you keep your confidence up? Affirmations? Natural good looks and charm? Delusions?

New Feature

I'm thinking about doing a new regular feature on my blog - something kind of like "Wednesday Thoughts," although I haven't decided if I want it to be a weekly thing or not. I think it could be fun though! Since you're the ones who will be reading it (presumably), I thought I'd get your feedback on what you think sounds interesting! Here are some options:

1. Would you rather? I looooove asking people would you rather questions. I think you can not only learn a lot about a person, but you can also get some really good conversations going. Here's an example question to give you an idea of what you could expect from this feature:

Would you rather....

* travel with a freaky circus for a month in a foreign country as the personal assistant to the bearded lady (with additional work cleaning up after the elephants and snakes),

or

* train a dolphin for a show at Seaworld - the show is in one week and you have to work alone, using only the information you currently have about dolphins. Oh yeah, and it's going to be a packed show.

2. Another feature idea could be a dating question. You know I have TONS of these. What's a good first date idea? Does it matter if you like the same t.v. shows? How much older or younger would you date? Questions like these and many more.

3. T.V. season is starting again which means that for two nights, I will be a slave to the t.v. It also means I will be looking to talk about my favorite shows with anyone who will listen. Sadly, this will not include Lost anymore (my voice just cracked when I wrote that), but I will still have several other shows to discuss. And I could discuss them with none other than y. o. u. What do you think?

Those are three ideas I'm tossing around, but I'd be open to others too. What do you think?

Wednesday Thoughts

The geese are starting to migrate. The other day I saw a group of them flying south. Well, technically they were flying east, but I'm assuming they met up with a bigger group in Detroit to do some sort of caravan thing. Safety in numbers and all that. But either way, they were flying somewhere. The geese migrating is one of my favorite parts of fall. There's something kind of melancholy but peaceful about it.

In other Wednesday Thoughts, I was listening to public radio yesterday, and they were doing a little piece on celebrities "tweeting" about Michigan. As I've mentioned before, a lot of movies are being filmed in Michigan because of tax incentives. Some celebrities, such as David Arquette, Ashton Kutcher, and Demi Moore have apparently mentioned how much they like Michigan in their Tweets recently, and the question was, "should we care? Does it help our morale in Michigan if celebrities like it here?" What do you think? (Side note, one of my coworkers met David Arquette last week! What!)

They concluded that: meh, who really cares, but also, well, yes we do care. Most people just associate Michigan with Detroit and let's face it, Detroit doesn't really have the best reputation (shocking, I know). But as you know, I think Michigan is beautiful (even Detroit). And I kind of like it when they say positive things about it. But once again, what do you think?

Heads up, Wednesday Thoughts is about to get real immature. Ready? So, one of my Facebook friends is selling a health shake and posted some information on it last night on FB. Out of curiousity, I thought I'd check out the website for the shake. What I found caught me off guard. Listed on the page were testimonials about the product's effectiveness:

"I lost 26 lbs!"

"I feel more energized!"

"My elimination tripled"

Um.... elimination? Tripled!? Ew ew ew!!! (I warned you this was going to be immature). Ok, ok, I can be a grown up about elimination. I guess I was just caught off guard by it. And for the record, it didn't make me want to buy the product more. I suppose for some people that might be an incentive though so I don't mean to knock it. But, ew.

So..... on that note, Happy Wednesday.

Autumnal Math

Farm Animals

+
Blue Ribbons
+
Country Music Performances
+
Demolition Derby
+
Carharts
+
Stuffed Animals
+
Cotton Candy
+
Prizes
+
Ferris Wheel
+
Colored lights
+
Tractor Pull
+
Fried everything (broccoli, Twinkies, mushrooms...)
=
The County Fair

The perfect way to usher in fall. What symbolizes the start of fall for you?

And P.S., If you haven't checked out my guest piece over on the Singles Ward blog, please do!

Check it out!

Hey ya'll (I lived in Texas for awhile, so I'm allowed to say ya'll)!

Guess what? The guys over at the Singles ward blog asked me to write a guest piece for their blog and it's up today! Why don't you check it out, and maybe leave a comment, if it's not too much trouble?

Here's the link!

I had a lot of fun writing the piece and always enjoy reading the Singles Ward blog. They seem like great guys! I'm sure you'll agree.

Feelings

Kinda feeling this way tonight. Not sure why. (And yes, I wish I could dance like this.)

Wednesday Thoughts

Happy Wednesday, guys! Isn't it nice when Wednesday falls on a Tuesday? It feels that way at least. I can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday.

Anyway, I guess if you're here, you're looking for some Wednesday Thoughts, and guess what? I have a few for you. Just a few.

My first thought is about the cold. I'm so confused by it. Just last week it was 90 degrees, and today - cold! I saw kids riding their bikes to school with coats and hats on this morning. Tonight I went on a bike ride with Sarah - we went a bit later than usual and it was getting dark. The wind was blowing hard and whistling through our helmets and I said something to Sarah about how it sounded like a witches scream. She said that with the wind and cold, it felt like Halloween tonight. How about something in between, Mother Nature?

Here's a short story I thought you might be amused by. But first you should know that I'm not very good at taking a compliment. So, this weekend I was on a walk up in Ludington when an older man riding his bike passed me and said, "they don't make 'em like you anymore!" He startled me so it took me a second to digest what had been said. By the time I did, I was conflicted about how I should feel. I mean, honestly, that could be taken any number of ways. I wanted to yell after him, "could you please elaborate!?!" But he was gone. And it was left to my interpretation what he meant.

Anyway, remember the whole dispute I had with the receptionist at my doctors appointment a couple weeks ago? I put the old time card in my purse so I can bring it tomorrow but I haven't decided if that would be too bratty of a thing to do. What would you do?

Happy Wednesday.

The Exodus

Bad decisions are made in a variety of ways. Sometimes you're foolish, sometimes you don't have enough information, sometimes you choose not to see what is right in front of you. All three of these are to blame for what happened over Labor Day Weekend.

The Scene: Sleeping Bear Dunes
The Cast of characters: Me, Katherine, Emily, Eloy, Justin, and three small children: Ally (age 6), Nick (age 4), and Kora (age 4)
The Bad Decision: To walk 7 miles round trip across the hilly, sloping sand dunes to get to Lake Michigan (which we could have easily driven down the road to get to).

All of us adults had memories of going to Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan when we were children. We all thought that once you got to the top of the main hill, the lake was right there. Wrong. We couldn't even see the lake from there. Dipping into our faulty memory banks we thought, "it can't be that far." So we kept walking to the top of another hill. Still no lake. "It must be after the next one," someone said. Once again, that proved incorrect.

Wondering how our memories could have failed us so much, we decided to walk a little bit further, thinking that any minute now, the lake would appear. However, every time we reached the top of another peak, the person who reached it first would turn around and say, "Bad news, guys."


The kids were getting a little tired out, mainly from running in a zig-zag formation, thus prematurely draining their energy sources. But they said they wanted to keep going. Reaching the lake became our main focus. I vaguely remember someone saying, "I think I read it's a three hour hike to get there and back." But we chose not to listen.

Eloy had the opportunity to turn back at one point with Nick, who was getting worn out. However, after watching the rest of us continue on the path, Nick decided he didn't want to miss out on the "fun." Eloy took three deep breaths, said, "ok" and turned to face what was ahead.

And what was ahead, you ask? Hills and sand and hills and sand. But eventually... the beach. And it really was a gorgeous beach. Not that any of us adults could really enjoy it though, remembering those steep hills we'd walked down, and knowing how unpleasant they would be to walk up. Justin tossed around the idea of breaking his ankle so we could be carried back by helicopter. We all got behind this idea but in the end he chickened out.

With the kids on our backs, we faced our destiny, and headed back. Our backs could only take so much though, so we made the kids walk some. At one point, with Kora on my back, I thought I heard gentle sobbing coming from behind me. I turned around to see Ally walking along, quietly crying. I put my arm around her shoulders and told her she was doing great. She just said, "I know," kept crying quietly, and walked ahead of us.

Thankfully, we had brought water bottles with us so no one was dehydrated, but our muscles were feeling it. The walk back was a mental game. Lying to ourselves, "this hill isn't as steep as I remember it. As long as I don't look up, I'll believe I'm almost there. This child I'm carrying is light as a feather...."

By the time we reached the final hill, we reflected on what we'd been through. One thing we all agreed on was that we were different now than we had been before we'd begun this journey. As we began our descent to the bottom of that last dune, we wondered if we'd be able to relate to those we left at the bottom of the dunes - those who were smart enough not to continue past the first huge hill. Justin said, "I feel like I should have grown a beard in the time we were gone." "Me too," I said.

When we got to the bottom of the hill, we refueled on pb&j and other sweet snacks and once they had eaten, the kids ran around in circles as if the last three hours had never happened. We collapsed on the ground and watched them run, knowing we would never be the same.

You and Me

I like to think of blogging as interactive. Many people who read this blog are people I know in person but some of you are new friends or maybe even complete strangers. Either way, I love when you leave comments because it gets a conversation going and helps me get to know you better.

For that reason, I was excited to get pictures from many of you. It's been so fun for me to see bits of your life and hear from some readers I've never heard from before. I've put the pictures together in a mosaic. I really hope I didn't leave any out. Forgive me if I did.

Thank you to all of you who participated! Click on the mosaic to see the pictures larger.


If you have any questions about any of the pictures, ask away! Maybe the person who submitted them will answer back.

Once again, thanks everyone who sent pictures. I may do something like this again in the future, and I'd love to hear from even more of you!

Post-date reflections

After a date, women experience a wide variety of emotions ranging from, "ugh, I'll never get that night of my life back," to dancing around the kitchen humming "So this is love" from Cinderella. (We've all done that, right? Yeah... me neither.)

I thought it would be fun to do a little scale of post-date reflections that I have experienced. I think most of my dates have ranged in the 3-8 range, but I've had some on the ends of the scale too, for better or worse.

We'll start with the bad dates and work our way up:

1. I'm going to die alone.
2. Wait till my friends hear about this one!

3. Maybe my expectations are too high.

4. At least I got a free dinner out of that.

5. I think I'd enjoy a second date with him.

6. I hope he got the hint when I touched his forearm.

7. How soon is too soon to text him?

8. Our kids would be adorable.

9. I can't believe how amazing he is.

10. I miss him already.

Do you have any to add? Where do your dates typically fall?

And yes guys, we always think about what our kids would look like if we married you. Just don't worry about it. It doesn't necessarily mean we want to marry you - we're just thinking ahead.

P.S. Keep those pictures coming!

Pictures

I am loving the pictures I've been getting in response to my last post! If you want to send me a picture but don't have my contact information, you can send one to misselizabethsblog@gmail.com*

I've been getting pictures of pets, kids, books, food, and other slices of life. Keep 'em coming! Show me a part of your life. I see on my map (at the bottom of this blog) that people are checking in from all over (I'm talking to you, Australia) and I'd love to see your part of the world.

I'll post the pictures on Monday!

I'll share some pictures I took yesterday to show I'm willing to participate.

Sarah and I are pretty sure this rock is actually a giant sleeping turtle.

A tree with legs.

*If you're a perve, please ignore that. Not that any perves read this blog (I hope).

Pieces of Life

Earlier this week, whenever I'd walk by my co-worker Ann's desk, I noticed she had an amused look on her face. She explained to me that her mom had just learned how to send a picture through text and had been sending her pictures all day of things around the house. She gave me permission to share some of them:

These pictures are just too funny to me. Especially the cat's water bowl!

If you had just learned to send pictures through text, what would you send someone a picture of? I have an idea, how about if you do just that and send it to me? I'd love to see a slice of your life. It doesn't have to be anything interesting. E-mail them to me, or text me if you have my number. I'll publish some of them on here after a few days - I think it'll be fun.

Not to be bossy, but do it soon before you forget!

Wednesday Thoughts

Yesterday I had a brush with death. Ish. It happened when I went on a bike ride with my friend Sarah. We rode down a path by a lake that we had discovered over the weekend. It was beautiful - the sun was starting to set over the pond and it was a very serene setting. That's when it happened. A snake slithered right across in our path. We both slammed on our breaks and squealed for about 30 seconds straight as we watched the snake slither into the grass on the side of the path. Then we realized that if we took off, we were less likely to see the snake again. For the rest of the ride we thought every stick we saw was a snake.

In retrospect, the snake was about a foot long, completely harmless, and scared out of its mind. But it was still very scary. Take my word for it. Why must snakes move in such a creepy manner!?

In other Wednesday Thoughts, I have a confession to share. Sometimes I think I need to be more straight forward when it comes to dating. This is the hardest thing for me. I know I'm not the only one who isn't perfect when it comes to dating though. I mean, it's confusing, isn't it? At least, that's what I tell myself. Last night, I was talking with a guy friend about a tricky dating situation I found myself in last month. This guy I was talking to is a great listener and does not hesitate to tell me what I'm doing/did wrong in the situation.

Here are some direct quotes from him last night (I wrote them down):

"This is vintage woman right now... This is why guys are constantly scratching their heads about women."

He may have also called me a "prototypical girl" which made me laugh though it was bit harsh. Lest you think badly of me, I'm not as bad as all that. He was exaggerating. (I hope he's not reading this otherwise I might get called out in the comments.) The situation I was telling him about was just a particularly tricky one. And it shows how differently men and women think.

Who do you think is more confusing: men or women? I think women get a bad rep - men can be just as hard to read. Don't you think?

And lastly in Wednesday Thoughts, it's the first day of September. I think I'm ok with that. I hope you are too. If you need reminders of why fall is awesome, I'm here to help. But here's a hint: next week is the demolition derby. Honestly, what is more fun that that?

Happy Wednesday.