Mish Mash with a Side of Mindless

Well...now that the colossal cavalcade of birthday and anniversary celebrations is complete, I can return to writing about the mindful and the mindless, with no particular emphasis on either one. Curious about the state of my 40-Before-40 list? Yeah, me too. I plan to revisit that project in the next week and create a grand finale-ish of a post (don't get too excited, I never got around to making those homemade cat treats you were so excited about).

In the meantime, how about something from the mindless category? I'll take "Three Things You Might Not Know About Angie/Three Things Angie Wishes Were True About Herself for $1,000."

Three Things You Might Not Know

1. I have an spooky-excellent memory...especially with names. I can meet someone, not see them for a year, and remember their name. Plus, I'll remember where they work, how many kids they have, what their favorite movie is, and the name of the song that was playing when we were first introduced. Sometimes this freaks me out because I really don't want to remember things like stories about people's irritable bowels and painful boil lancing, but there they are. "Oh yes, Francine, I remember you....you are the one who gets God-awful diarrhea from eating cottage cheese. Thank you for forever searing that into my brain."

2. You would not believe how much I despise the condiment known as mayonnaise. I cannot open a jar of it without gagging. Funny thing is, I can eat it mixed with things, as long as I don't have to see it or smell it in its original state. Oh, and I like tartar sauce, which is just mayo and pickles...go figure.

3. I failed my driver's test twice because I could not parallel park. I still am completely parallel-parking-challenged. I nearly have a panic attack when I am in the city and see that the only parking will require me do the math required to do this kind of parking. See...it's math! That's why I don't like it! It's all about space and angles and all that business. I will drive around for half an hour looking for a regular parking space before I attempt this kind of math.


Three Things I Wish Were True About Myself

1. I wish I could drink coffee all day long and not get a stomach ache. I love the taste, the smell, and the comfort of a nice strong cup of black coffee. The truth is, I can only manage about a cup in the morning and a half a cup in the afternoon, which is better for me anyway. I do love jasmine green tea a whole lot and that that has its own sensory goodness as well. Coffee is just so...satisfying.

2. I wish I could read in the car. I get terrible, terrible motion sickness and always have. Sometimes just reading or sending a text message (as a passenger, not a driver...) makes me want to heave. I always envied those people who could read a book or magazine on a road trip. I'm usually stuck reading the back of a Dramamine box. Once I was on a work trip to Costa Rica and had forgotten to pack Dramamine. Think you've traveled on bad roads in 100 degree + humidity temps? We spent two hours in an un-air-conditioned van, up a crazy-craggy mountain, going five miles an hour. I learned the Spanish words for "Pull over!" pretty quickly.

3. I wish I could sing well. I love to sing...the unfortunate part of all of this is that people, in general, do not wish to hear me sing. Much to the dismay (or sick amusement) of my family and friends, I will Karaoke all day long. Give me a couple of drinks and I'll break out in an impromptu song and dance (seriously, I need no prodding to perform on command). I guess I'd just like my audience's reaction to be, "Wow! What a voice!" instead of "Wow! My ears are bleeding!"

Maybe I should look into taking driving lessons and voice lessons -- maybe there's a teacher that could combine the two and cut me a deal... I just hope her bowels aren't irritable.