Journal entry 217--Vices

What is the strangest vice you've ever overcome?

When I was three years old I had a strange habit of scratching my belly button. I really don't remember too much of it because I was so little, but my mom said I couldn't keep my hands off of it. I do remember our mean family doctor who threaten to sew my belly button closed if I didn't stop playing with it. I still to this day believe he would have done it and that it wasn't a threat! After that I stopped scratching my belly button and ended my strangest vice ever!

Journal entry 216--Gardens

How does your garden grow? Describe your gardening plans for this season or a past garden attempt.

I grow a garden every year and some years are good and some, like last year, are bad. I can always grow foods that are not my favorite like beets and squash. Last year my tomatoes were destroyed by worms, and our new puppy who discovered tomatoes were tasty. I'm trying my hand at hydroponic gardening this year and will let you all know how that goes. So far in my little Aerogarden I'm growing herbs quite successfully and have several little seedlings growing in my kitchen window. I'm really just glad that my family doesn't rely on my garden for life support otherwise we'd be in big trouble.

Journal entry 215--Sayings

Have you ever said something that you had no intention of it being said out loud, yet somehow it did?

When I was 11 years old, the movie "War Games" came out and I loved it! I remember my family was eating dinner with my brother's girlfriend's family and someone asked me if I liked the movie. I blurted out, "Yes and Matthew Brodrick is so cute." As those words were exiting my mouth I was trying to think of a way to crawl under the table. I had no intention of saying those words out loud! I was thinking that but didn't want everyone at the dinner table to hear it! My brother totally teased me for that one.

Journal entry 214--Saving

How do you save money? What are your tricks if any?

I've started using coupons and shopping deals lately and it has become more of a game for me. I've been checking out the ads and comparing them with my clipped coupons to stock up and get the lowest prices. I've also just tried to ask myself before a purchase, "Do I really need this?" Most of the time I don't or I wouldn't hesitate before buying it. The thing that's nice about saving money with groceries is that I don't feel as bad about buying a want item. The whole process has been liberating.

Journal entry 213--Crank Call

Have you ever made a crank phone call? Describe it.

Before caller ID, it was easy to crank call people. Not that it's okay to do that. The crank calls I made were innocent, mostly to boys I liked. I would call their number, hear their voices and hang up. Then my friends and I would giggle hysterically like the silly little girls we were. Probably the worse crank call I made was when I was 8 years old and I randomly called some man and sang "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone to him. He was nice and told me, "Not bad." Pathetic!

Journal entry 212--Spring

What do you think about when the season Spring begins?

Whenever Spring hits and the weather becomes warmer, I start thinking about the beach. I live in Southern California so when it's Spring I start getting antsy for Summer weather and the beach. I also have grand aspirations of spring cleaning my house and throwing away unnecessary items, but I never quite see it come to pass. You see, I have children who think that any work longer than an hour violates child labor laws. We did, however clean out our garage today, so I think we're on the right spring cleaning track.

Journal 211--Say what?!?

Describe a time when you were told you something only to find out later that it was false.

When I was 3 years old, I went to a preschool that had a big tree house. It was so much fun climbing up there and looking down at all your friends playing on the school yard. One day as I reached the top of the ladder and went into the tree house, there was a pile of doodoo on the floor. I quickly climbed down and told the teacher who replied, "It was probably done by a dog." I believed her and went off to play. After I got home that day, I told my mom what had happened. Her reply? "Can dogs climb ladders??" I thought for a minute. "No, then who did it?" My quirky mother's answer? "Probably a little boy!" Thankfully I never did find out the culprit.

Journal entry 210--Dumb

Have you ever done something so dumb, you just had to laugh at yourself afterward?

I actually burned my cornea with a curling iron! I was getting ready to go to church and because it was the late 80's, I needed to curl my bangs. Somehow the curling iron slipped from the hair and hit the inside of my eye. It was quick but hurt so much I wanted to cry. I went through the day with a watery eye and blurred vision until I finally decided to go to the emergency room. I was trying to avoid the ER because I was a poor college student. The Ophthalmologist fixed me right up with eye drops and an eye patch. My future husband had a good laugh and now I can laugh at it too.

Journal entry 209--Memories

Describe a childhood memory.


My best friend growing up had a little pond in the front of her house. This pond attracted many frogs and tadpoles so we decided to catch them and keep them as pets. It was great watching the tadpoles turn into frogs and then have a bunch of frogs as pets. My mother wasn't too happy with that. But I was and ended up with 10 little frogs. To feed them, we would place a plastic bowl with honey inside it and leave it outside to collect ants. Once the bowl was filled with captive ants, I put the lid on and left the bowl in the freezer. The ants froze and came out of the honey easily for the frogs to eat. They were happy little guys.

Journal entry 208--Surgery

Have you ever had surgery? Describe the event and what went through your head before hand.

I had surgery on my shoulder last Tuesday repairing some torn cartilage. I was quite scared before the surgery. Realistically I knew that I would be okay and survive but every time I said good-bye to my kids that day, the crazy thought of "is this the last time I'll see them?" Yes, I know it was crazy thoughts but it was difficult to stop them! Everything turned out alright and my shoulder is now healing. My blog posts for the next few weeks might be a bit shorter because it hurts to type for a long time, but I'll try to keep up. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Off for next two days

Hello all,
I just had shoulder surgery today and will not be able to write any entries for the next few days. Continue to write on your own. I'll be back. Thank you.

Journal entry 207--Theft

Recently two of my neighbors were robbed. Has this ever happened to you? Describe your experience.


I've never had my home burglarized but I have had things stolen from me. One that comes to mind is my wallet. I was shopping at the grocery store and I think my wallet fell out of my purse. Later I noticed it was missing and went back to the store. No one had turned in my wallet, yet it had all my identification in it. The entire experience was simply aggravating because then I had to cancel all my credit cards and make sure everything is in order. It's also maddening to think that people can be so dishonest. What ever happened to the golden rule?!?

Journal entry 206--Fathers

Describe your father or a memory about your father.


I really can't do this entry because I grew up without my father in my life. The few times he came around, the memories are not so good. Hopefully you will have better memories to write about. I feel blessed that I married a man who is an amazing father to our children and can give them the love I never felt from a dad.

Journal entry 205--Regret

Is there anything you regret in your life? Describe it.

I was 20 years old when my mom died. There was a moment when she was in the hospital that I had a strong impression to talk to her about a will or getting her to put something in writing. I ignored the urging because I didn't want to think about her dying or give up hope. The following day she went into a coma which eventually ended her life. Consequently my mom did not have a will and her entire estate went into probate. Thank goodness my uncle was there to help my brother, sister and I. After many months of court hassles, we were finally able to settle her estate. At that time and for many years after, I regretted not listening to that prompting to talk to my mom about a will. Things worked out and I have no more regrets about it. I've learned, however, to listen better.

Journal entry 204--Dislike

Have you ever disliked someone at first sight? Write about your experience and what if anything became of it.


There have been a handful of people in my life who for reasons I can't explain, just bothered me. I don't know why I disliked those people. I've certainly tried to like them but it's just a feeling I get around them. There is a person I know right now that I try to like but they really bugged me! The problem of it all is this person is quite nice but for some reason I don't like them. So what do I do with this dilemma? I'm civil and friendly to the person. I don't hang out with them because I don't have to and I'm trying to find something I can enjoy about the person. It's hard but I'm trying.

Journal entry 203--Play/work

Can you play in your work? If yes, write about an element of play in your work. If no, why not?


I'm a stay home mom so play is always a part of my work. I play house, tea parties and games with my daughter and I play the Wii with my boys. When our family is doing their chores, we try to make a game out of it so it is not drudgery. It's important to play and let loose. I love having fun with my husband and children. Those are the memories I want and not mopping my kitchen floor.

Journal entry 202--The past

What are some behaviors that used to be the custom when your parents were younger that you wish we still did?

With all the technology we have today, communication has really taken a backseat. No one writes letters anymore. I have some old letters that my great uncle wrote to my grandfather from 1920 and they are some much fun to read. It's even interesting to see their handwriting and their way with words. I have letters my mother wrote to me when I was a child and I love to look back at them and remember her from her handwriting. What will my children have to look back on from me? I've thought about going a year with only writing letters to communicate! That would be challenging and interesting!

Journal entry 201--Motivation

What motivates you to finish something you didn't really want to do in the first place?

I hate housework but I know it has to get done because I also hate my house messy. My motivation to getting the house clean is enlisting the help of my husband and children and setting a timer for 15 minutes. During that time we clean as fast as we can and try to get the most done before the timer goes off. It motivates me because then I have to focus on one thing at a time rather than get distracted and work on something unrelated like cleaning out a drawer I haven't looked in for months!

Journal entry 200--Grandmother

Describe one of your grandmothers. Do you have a special memory of her?

My grandmother on my mom's side was hilarious. She let us call her "granny good witch!" Every Saturday, she had her hair and nails colored red and had a back so straight that when my husband first met her, he thought she had a rod implanted into her back. She played the organ her entire life, (that's why her back was so straight) and I can still hear her nails clicking across the keyboard as she played. My grandmother and I shared a musical bond; we both played the piano. Although, she mainly concentrated on the organ. After grandma died I couldn't touch the piano for 6 months. Everytime I tried to play a song, I'd start bawling. My granny good witch was a talented, classy woman whom I admire still.