Life is NOT a Dress Rehearsal!

Cue sound effect: *tires squealing* I slam on the brakes and pull a full 180° U-Turn. I've been going about this all wrong!! What exactly do I mean by, "this" you ask? To put it bluntly, pulling my head out of the sand and getting my life together! This is not a dress rehearsal Shannon, this is the real thing!

Over and over, God has revealed to me that He does have a plan for me. I see it, I point out the reveal, then I continue my merry way trying to do things by MY rules. Here's a big surprise, it's NOT working ! Yesterday I hit a pretty big low, I spent most of my day either on the verge of, suppressing or just full out tears. I was teetering on the edge of a severe breakdown, so I did what any girl would do, I called my mom and sobbed, "I need my mommy". And I do, it's no lie, I need her love, her support and her respect. But what I didn't initially hear in my despair was I also need my daddy. My Abba Father. I know I love Him, that I don't doubt, but I've not been very good about calling Him and letting Him know that. (Hmmm sounds like a familiar complaint I have). But of course, like all parents, He was waiting for my call. Cue God's timing and a simple post by a friend on facebook. "Check out this eBook, it's on sale, today & tomorrow only". One review on the book's web site and I was sold, because it spoke volumes to me.

“Sarah, thank you, from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful resource! God bless Flylady – she’s a tough cookie – but I just cannot keep up with her, and I cannot find motivation in her methods. This book, however, with the Mary and Martha approach, gives me not only motivation to clean my home, but also to haul out my Bible and spend time in the Word, searching out scripture to go with the daily devotional… My mother and I are doing this book together. She lives 8 hours away from me, and we’ve found this to be something to do together. We can challenge and encourage each other in this area, and your book is a wonderful guide for us.

Thank you, once again, for your obedience in writing this book! God bless you!” -Val, Amazon Review

I love the FlyLady, don't get me wrong, I think she rocks it out for teaching and encouraging women of all ages and situations, but after I don't know how many years now, 6? 7? I'm not sure, I've yet to get airborne for more than a few days. I flap, I flutter.... and I flop, every, single, time. I've read her book, I've started at page one, "shine your sink" so many times, I've lost count. I wake up to a shiny kitchen, and then I lose motivation. And I blame myself, "this works for everyone else??", "I must be doing something wrong", or the humdinger, "It's my fault, I'm a failure, I just CAN'T". The tapes in my head play over and over. "I wrecked my marriage", "I'm fat", "I'm lazy","I'm broken, my health issues prevent me from doing what I can/want". You get the idea I'm sure. Good grief, I've been taught extensively how bad those tapes are but still they play on like a broken record, over and over again.

So, I paid a whopping $2.48 CDN, downloaded the book and I figured out how to read pdf files on my iPhone. I went to bed and started to read my new eBook. I read and read until my body demanded sleep, and then I got up this morning, and I read some more. And then I completed Day 1 and moved to Day 2. And I read some inspirational stories and methods and I figured it out, the reason FlyLady isn't working...

There are plenty of bloggers out there that have jumped on the bandwagon of this particular book. Since I'm not much of one for joining someone else's bandwagon, with God as my pilot, I will co-pilot another wagon right here. Feel free to join me or just follow along. With prayer, hope, grace and loving support of friends & family, I can complete something I start.

I'm hoping by now that I've captured your curiousity and you're sitting there thinking, "What book????"  Well, to keep my posts not too longish, I'll share that info with you in my next post ;).... Join me in my journey as I seek to renew my heart, my heart for Jesus, my heart for self, and my heart for my family.

Wishing you a glorious day, filled with grace and joy!

~ Shannon *Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ*

Oh how I love a good book!!

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. Instructions: Copy this into your NOTES or blog. Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt. Underlining for saw the movie only. Tag other book nerds. Tag me as well so I can see your responses.

This is another one of those meme things. I haven’t actually participated in a meme in quite some time, but being the lover of reading that I am I couldn’t pass this one up. I actually got it from a friend’s facebook notes, but decided I’d add it to my blog instead. Feel free to use it in whichever way suits you best, or not at all ;-)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulkner

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell 

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown 

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving 

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins  

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery 

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Total read in this list: 51 at least once and 6 started but never finished, so I’m just over halfway there. Although, I think it’s odd they count “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” apart from "The Chronicles of Narnia". If I could count how many times I’ve read some of these over and over again I’d likely hit 100 easily, but I don’t think they count that? There are a couple I may not read at all, but I think I’ll make it my goal to have most of them read by December 12, 2012. You know, because the world will end then… or is just that the Mayans ended so they didn’t get to finish their calendar? At any rate, that’s my goal, to read (or finish reading) the remaining books in the next two years. Feel free to share with me how many you’ve read and which of these are your favourites.

When I started this I just focused on what I'd copy & pasted. Being the me that I am, as my friends can confirm, I'm a bit anal particular and was trying to clean up the html when it came to my attention that #23 & #26 are both missing. Curious, I of course googled the BBC list. I found the original list, aka The Big Read, the wikipedia entry for the list and this blog100 here. with some easy to read history of where the list came from. The above is not the original list at all, it's definitely been modified but I'll leave it as is for now, but you can see the full

I think I’ll expand on this, by creating my own list of “must reads” that I think should have been included (and which may very well be in the original list but I've only briefly glanced at it so far). However, that’s for another blog post on another day. For now, it’s late, so I am off to the land of nod.

“Only a little more, I have to write, Then I'll give o'er, And bid the world good-night.” Robert Herrick

One Blessing at a Time...

This morning I woke up before my alarm. This isn’t particularly unusual except that it was timed a bit nicer this time, rather than 2 or 3 hours before, it was only about 10 minutes so no great loss and kind of nice to not be jolted awake, even the radio can be a bit unnerving after a crap sleep some nights. I find waking up to a specific time (due to erratic sleep patterns perhaps) extremely difficult, and it doesn’t seem to matter what time that is, so I set my alarm a good half an hour before I actually need to be out of bed so I can let myself wake up a bit more gradually.

My routine is basically this: iPhone harp alarm goes off, I wearily hit snooze and attempt to doze off for a few then radio alarm comes on and I blearily try to listen to the "97 second" news update. By this point I might open my eyes, if I can, I reach for my iPhone and check out fb & twitter. Yes, I’m an addict, my name is Shannon and I’m addicted to social media. There, I said it, but I’ll tell you something else, just seeing others starting their day with cheery (and sometimes not so cheery) messages helps to put me in a better frame of mind to start my day.

Here’s the weird thing about today’s routine, I’m laying on my back, reading tweets and suddenly it occurs to me, I have my ankles crossed, and not only are they crossed, it doesn’t hurt! What? No pain? What is this? A small smile starts to tug at the corners of my mouth. One of the cats jumps up and walks up my belly, across my chest, to give me a nose kiss, still no pain. That smile is growing by leaps and bounds, so I call in the other cat just to be sure and then I start poking myself, maybe I’m dreaming. Nope, I seem to be wide awake. I get out of bed and I feel awesome!

Ok, so what, big deal you say. I tell you what, if you’ve ever had a bad case of influenza remember what the first day felt like after you were better. It’s a big deal, but soon you forget all the aches and pains and life goes on it’s merry way, you take it for granted that, other than an occasional headache or after you bump your knee on the corner of the coffee table for the umpteenth time, you will go about your day pain free. For someone with FMS (Fibroymyalgia Syndrome) amongst other things, pain is a constant companion, those flu like aches and pains are NEVER gone. Imagine this, your cat jumping on your legs while you're laying down is uncomfortable, a hug can leave you breathless and forget your child ever sitting on your lap and cuddling, the pain is so excruciating you feel like someone is pouring a layer of hot lead on your legs.

I just had an odd memory this morning, when I was a child I often woke with “growing pains”, yes, I know that’s not odd, shush for a moment. What I’d forgotten is what I felt like in the morning some days. As far back as I can recall, say the age of 9 or 10, some mornings I would wake up and feel like the Princess and the Pea. Remember that story? With all those mattresses, what was it, like twenty or so, that poor princess could still feel the pea and woke up feeling bruised and battered. I remember relating to this story so significantly that I thought maybe I am a princess and somehow I was switched at birth (not kidding). I know I am no princess (except in my daddy’s eyes, but he’s been gone some time) but that tells me just how far back I’ve lived with pain. In just a couple of months, I'll turn 42 years young, so that is at least 32 years of almost daily pain. I’ve had periods of remission, but I think that’s still pretty significant.

This time it’s been well over four years since I’ve had any reprieve. Last time it was for one blissful day. Pain free is so significant and such a blessing that I can recall the exact feeling even if I can’t recall the exact date. I’d been at a prayer meeting the night before and the pastor and attendees prayed over me. It may once again only last for a day (I was going to add maybe only an hour but it’s already been 3 hours :D ), but even if it lasts one week, or one month, I pray that I NEVER, not for a moment, take this blessing for granted!

So, when I say I woke up today and I am pain free, I can shout for joy and tell you that it is a HUGE deal! “Thank you Abba Father, thank you for this gift, for blessing me with this day. Thank you for giving me the pain too, so I can remember to never take any day for granted!”

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord” Psalm 100:1

Blessings, ~Shannon

For more understanding of the life of those with chronic pain read Christine Miserandino's "The Spoon Theory" and check out her website, "But You Don't Look Sick"

Casting Crowns, "Praise You With the Dance"

Judged...

Warning: long post!

I have been catching up with some blog posts by the woman that inspired me to start my own blog, Dawn Meehan. I was shocked and dismayed to find out she’d recently finalised her divorce. It has been so long since I’ve read hers, or anyone’s blog, that I had no idea she even had marital problems, let alone that it had gone that far. As I read her posts and about how she is not just accepting but moving forward, Dawn continues to inspire me by her amazing character and strength as a woman and now a single mom. In searching for more information, I came across this blog post on judging others from 2008 and although I understand the original context in what she wrote is different from my situation, I believe the message is universally applicable.

Let me explain…

Recently I found myself drowning in judgement from a friend I thought would always understand me, a friend I’d always thought of as a sister. After months of silence from her, I wrote an email asking what I had done that she seemed to be so upset with me, upset enough that even when I spent a few days in hospital in April she really didn’t seem to give a crap. The reply I received from her felt like someone had taken a knife and stabbed me in the heart.

Engaging in a short email conversation via fb, I received replies that had accusations that felt judgemental, accusatory and essentially indicative that because I was struggling in my Christian walk and faith (perhaps one day I will feel ready to write about this) that I was no longer “good enough” to be acknowledged. I read her words and found myself feeling that if I “get my shit together” (my words) I will then be acceptable to spend time with??? Did she bother to ask me what was going on? Not at all. Did she take time to learn that I spent a lot of time keeping my mouth shut around her and not sharing some things because I didn’t want to worry or upset her? No, instead I was accused of not thinking of her at all, that I didn’t take time to stop, whilst in my own personal hell, to see how my actions were affecting her life. What??? Other comments in her emails indicated that she had the idea that my faith struggles were based on some whim, that I “decided” God no longer fit my lifestyle so perhaps it was better He didn’t exist. That I traded in God for activities, the internet and men (I’ve dated one guy in the past year, what a ‘ho I am ! And heaven forbid I not spend every spare moment in or near a church or listening to sermons). Not once, to anyone, did I ever say God doesn’t exist. I cannot now, or ever, deny His existence, I’ve seen too much and experienced too much and felt too much to not believe. It wasn’t about not believing, it was far bigger than that but when I tried to explain to the one person I thought would understand I got pushed away and I didn’t hear from her for months until I sent that fateful email a few weeks ago.

Hurt, angry, confused and in tears I retaliated with accusations of hypocrisy and other words that I knew would hurt. Yet I still kept back most of what I really wanted to say as I still had hope that our friendship was salvageable. I tried to start an explanation of why I was in the place I was AND that I was actually working my way out of that black place (with the help of extremely supportive and non-judgemental friends). Her reply indicated that she had no idea I had been struggling (yet I know I had tried to explain months earlier) and left me feeling she was not interested in hearing what I had to say, that all I said in explanation fell on deaf ears. Comments such as “I had to distance myself to protect my faith as you were taking me to a dark place” Huh? Then in complete contradiction of that saying, “had you talked to me about it I would have been there to help”?? Ummm, I TRIED and my email was deleted (apparently on fb now if you delete an email it’s gone from the sender’s box as well) and I didn’t hear from her until I initiated a new conversation months later. After writing an angry and hurt filled email which I never sent, I finally wrote that I saw no point in attempting to explain further or argue my side, as she appeared uninterested, to say the least, in listening to what I had to say. I got no reply to that email, just another deleted conversation. So where do I/we go from here?

I’ve struggled with this question for awhile now as her friendship, her complete understanding of me, the things we shared, meant everything to me, beyond the popular term of bff she was the sister of my heart. The person I thought I knew, the one single individual I thought would tell me anything without fear, and I her, has become a stranger. There were indications over the past couple of years that there were changes I wasn’t crazy about, maybe I changed and it’s not her? But 18 years of friendship are essentially down the drain. She was the one person I could go to and tell ANYTHING to, she knows things about me that very very few people know. It’ll take me time to trust anyone again the way I trusted her after feeling trampled over and abandoned. I was accused of not thinking of her when she has no idea what I was thinking, that I should know better and that my life choices were unacceptable. Essentially I felt that because I am not a perfect Christian, that I have moments where I have struggled in my faith, then I have to “get better” before I’m “good enough” to receive her friendship. This is where I am left feeling, if it was intended or not, this is the message I picked up.

For the most part it’s been a busy summer and I’ve kept this on the backburner. My faith is renewing, I have amazing friends both online and in person that stand by me and I by them. I’ve been spending time in a fun activity that keeps me and the boys off the computer and outside playing. Until I read Dawn’s blog I could keep my hurt hidden, I could avoid deciding how to react, then these words popped out at me from that post…

Matthew 7
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”

"It's easy to judge someone else and decide that they're incompetent when things are going well for you... A look (or word) that says - I understand; I'm sorry you're having a tough time, it’s ok.

I'm telling you, don't judge others. Let your words and actions be a blessing to them.

Even if you think you know all about the other person or the situation, you don't. Not until you've walked a mile in their shoes, can you truly understand.” ~Dawn Meehan

This is EXACTLY how I felt after our fb email conversation. It’s easy to sit in your Ivory Tower, with no financial struggles, no unpredictable disability, confident in the love of your husband and in a “holier than thou” voice point fingers at those that struggle in their day to day life, alone, financially struggling, debilitating disabilities and feeling unloved. I don’t pretend to understand where my “friend” is at in her world, from my side I see something akin to a perfect life and although slightly envious, I’m also very happy for her and proud of her. What I see, and I don’t think she does, is that it’s far easier to keep a strong faith when you’re life is going well, it’s much harder when your life feels like it’s falling apart. I hope, should I ever have the blessings of a much “easier” life, that I never forget the struggles that brought me there and that I never hand out judgements as if I’m better than the person I am pointing at. No matter where I am in life, I am no better or worse than the majority of those I share this world with.

The more I think about things that have been said and actions that have been observed or lack of action, the more I realise we are no longer as similar as we once were. As I look at these things and the differences I see in the two of us that were never there before, the more I realise that the season of this friendship is over. I don’t understand. I have tried, I have struggled, it just doesn’t make sense to me but there it is and I can’t abide intolerance of the frailty of the human condition, physical, mental, spiritual and emotional, none of us are infallible. I am not perfect, I never will be, and as the beautiful Norma Jean Baker once said, “If you can’t handle me at my worst, you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best”. I will stand by my friends through all their trials and triumphs, give praise and hugs when their lives are going great, be a shoulder to cry on and pray for them when times are tough, but I will not put up with being made to feel like I’m unworthy unless I subscribe to anything other than who I am.

“A real friend is someone that knows all about you, but loves you just the same.” ~E. Hubbard

“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” ~E. Hubbard

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You…

~Shannon.xo

Best laid plans......

During a twitter conversation Thursday morning with a friend, I mentioned that things rarely go according to plan so I usually attempt to “go with the flow” in my day-to-day life. As with most important lessons in life, I’ve learned this very one the hard way. Having fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) there have been far more occasions than I care to count where I have made plans and promises to do something, and ended up laid out flat; Barely capable of dressing & making my boys pb&j’s for supper, let alone attempting to follow through on plans. Becoming adaptable, and hopefully teaching my children the need to be adaptable, has become something of an art form for me, this past Thursday being another example.

Weather in our area has been less than stellar this spring, with it snowing up to the last weekend in May, many plans have had to either be set aside or permanently squashed. The school track & field day was originally May 28th, then postponed until June r3rd due to said snow, only to wake that morning to dull grey skies, temperatures barely moving into the double digits in Celsius and a light drizzle. Lovely.

They did go ahead with the track meet but as the rain turned to a steady downpour and temperatures dropped I realised that I could not be there in the afternoon to watch as I had assured my children I would. Standing outside in cold, very wet, weather would have left me incapable of doing much for the remainder of the weekend, leaving any further plans I may have in the dust so to speak. I feel terrible, I always do, even though I know I have to make these choices. Sometimes it’s worth the pain and sometimes, quite frankly, it’s just not. I tried to make it up to them, we got takeout from town, picked up the newly released “Alice in Wonderland” blu-ray, some movie junk food and had a nice family movie night. Maybe this weekend, weather permitting, we’ll work our way to the city geocaching and/or a trip to the zoo. It won’t bring back the memories of their last track meet with his school, but it’ll help, hopefully, ease their frustrations with Mum’s limitations.

Aspects of adaptability in the face of FMS:

· Rarely make promises beyond promising to do your best to be there or complete a task.

· Deadlines best be set, at minimum, to double the amount of time it takes others to complete the same project. Then add extra time on top of that.

· Lower your standards. I don’t mean to substandard levels, but perfection is rare at the best of times… for us, expecting such is counter-productive (I think many of us are often perfectionists, so this is easier said than done).

· Go easy on yourself. We may want to be like “normal” people, with “normal” energy levels, but we’re not “normal”… therefore….

· Just do your best!

No matter how much I plan, or decide I want to do, in the next day, next week, next month, or even within the next year, I have to include some a bit a LOT of room for adaptability and that some plans may never come to be. Acceptance, with gumption, is crucial to not just surviving but living a life where pain is our constant companion. Don’t give in, and never give up hope!

MAWOY!!

~Shannon *hugs*

Because I currently have nothing better to do...

Or rather because I don't feel well enough to do anything better than this... Stolen from a friend on Facebook... another pointless meme so you can learn more useless trivia about me...

1. The phone rings, who do you want it to be?
Hmmm... no one in particular really, if you want to chat call me, I don't bite..... hard :)...

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?
Yes, actually I do, because I do not want to be hypocritical... When you already have to park far from the entrance because your vehicle actually does need to occupy two spaces, I don't want to have to go further because some idiot was too lazy to walk 2 parking stalls further to put it away in the cart corral... morons... (this would be a pet peeve, bet you couldn't tell)...

3. If you had to kiss the last person you kissed again, would you?
most definitely... it was my boys seeing them off for a weekend at dad's... now if you mean in the sense of "boy meets girl"... well yes for that too ;)...

4. Do you take compliments well?
Not really no, I like them, but I don't take them well because I often don't believe them...

5. Do you play Sudoku?
Nope... it hurts my brain to have to think that hard...

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness would you survive?
Perhaps, technically speaking I should be able to... trained and all that... but one never knows and I would rather not have to test it...

7. If your house were on fire, what would be the first thing you would save?
In order: Kids, kittens, laptops, photos...

8. Who was the last person you slept in a bed with?
myob !!!... LOL =D...

9. Who do you text the most?
Currently, friend I recently met...

10. Favorite children’s book?
Velveteen Rabbit, Chronicles of Narnia...

11. Eye color?
Clear green...

12. How tall are you?
5' 4 1/2... exactly one foot shorter than the personage I pillaged this from...

13. If you could do it over again, start from scratch, would you?
Some days, yes... overall, no...

14. Any secret admirers?
How the heck would I know if it's a secret?!?!? You tell me...

15. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden?
Ummm... no clue, been ages... what is this, a shameless commercial plug???

16. Favorite ex?
If they are an ex... there is usually a reason for that... well there is one that is still a friend... but he doesn't count for reasons I won't iterate here...

17. Where was the furthest place you traveled?
(people that create these things should learn to spell first... )
I think London, England is the furthest I've been... Australia is the furthest I'd like to go...

18. Do you like mustard?
Not particularly... no... and now that I've learned this... it was used by the Romans to cover the taste of rotting meat... even less so...

19. Do you prefer to sleep or eat?
odd combination of choices... as we need both for survival... choosing for what is over and above what is required for basic survival, and based on current waistline, would seem it is currently eat...

21. Do you miss anyone?
Yes...

22. Can you do splits?
no comment...

23. What movie do you want to see right now?
I don't really know all there is offered out there right now, but I am going to see "Twilight" tomorrow night...

24. What did you do for New Year’s Eve?
Which year?... I brought in 2008 at a gathering at a friend's home with an old high school buddy in tow...

25. Do you think The Grudge was crappy?
No clue...

26. Do you own a camera phone?
three camera phones actually...

27. Was your mom a cheerleader?
Not that I'm aware of...

28. What’s the last letter of your middle name?
N... which happens to be the last letter of my first name and last name as well...

31. Do you like care bears?
sure... even have a t-shirt with lucky bear on it...

32. What do you buy at the movies?
wine gums, or if not avail, licorice... and popcorn...

33. Do you know how to play poker?
I would need a refresher and I prefer to play with rumoli... but yes...

34. Do you wear your seatbelt?
Yes...

35. What do you wear to sleep?
whatever the situation warrants... when, where & who are factors needed to determine the answer...

36. Anything big ever happen in your city?
not really, no...

37. Is your hair straight or curly?
Straight...

38. Is your tongue pierced?
No...

39. Do you like Liver and Onions?
Yes... if cooked correctly...

40. Do you like funny or serious people better?
Seriously funny...

41. Ever been to L.A.?
three times...

42. Who is on your mind right now?
my boys, Alan, Lorrie, Kip...

43. Any plans for tonight?
rest and get better so I can go out tomorrow with..... =D well you know who you are...

44. Whats your favorite song at the moment?
that would be a list as I'd have to choose from each genre I listen to...

45. Do you hate chocolate?
No, who hates chocolate?!?

46. What do you and your parents fight about the most?
as I really only have my mom left, well if she was fighting with herself I would likely have to suggest serious intervention of a psychiatric kind...

47. Are you a gullible person?
only when it comes to love...

48. Do you need a boyfriend/girlfriend to be happy?
no, I'm not that pathetic...

49. If you could have any job what would it be?
writer/photographer...

50. Are you easy to get along with?
Sometimes, well most of the time... others, particularly when I first wake up in the morning, it is best to just stay away until a decaffeinated beverage is consumed...

51. What is your favorite time of day?
Late Evening...

52. Are you generally a happy person?
Yes, I do my best...

---

1. Real name: Dakota Zipporah Dayberry... aka Shannon, but then most of you knew that already...
2. Like it? well, golly, 'course I do hun...
3. Single or taken? Single...
4. Zodiac sign: Chinese: Monkey/cusp with Rooster; Greek: water bearer; Celtic: The Rowan...
5. Male or female: la femme...
6. Elementary: Several...
7. Middle: McKernan/Robert Warren...
8. High School: Fr. Patrick Mercredi Community High School...
9. College: attended Keyano... attending Athabasca University...
10. Hair colour: auburn from a bottle =D...
11. Eye colour: clear green...
12. Hair length: medium long...
13. Current worry: boys having trouble at school...
14. Race: irish/scottish & human, although some days don't even want to admit that...
15. Are you a health freak? to a degree...
16. Height: 5'4 1/2...
17. Do you have a crush on someone?
Of course, I wouldn't be much of a hopeless romantic without some sort of unrequited love (I stole this from the previous author of these questions as I liked it)
18. Do you like yourself? definitely...
19. Piercings: ears and nose...
20. Tattoos: One... want more...
21. Dexter or sinister: Dexter...

FIRSTS-
22. First surgery: laparoscopy...
23. First piercing: when I was little, ears...
24. First best friend: Debbie Trudeau...
25. First award: baking a cake in junior high...
26. First sport: sprinter...
27. First pet: cat named Snoball...
28. First vacation: not counting the numerous camping trips as a kid, probably Disneyland when I was 9...
29. First teacher: Mrs. Beaty... I think... that's a long dang time ago...
30. First crush: Tommy...

THIS OR THAT-
31. Orange or apple juice: Orange...
32. Rock or rap: Rock...
33. Country or emo: Country...
34. NSYNC or Backstreet Boys: gag me with a spoon...
35. Britney Spears or Christina Agueliera: see above...
36. Night or day: Night...
37. Sun or moon: Moon...
38. TV or internet: Internet...
39. Playstation or Xbox: does it matter?...
40. Kisses or hugs: both, definitely both...
41. Iguana or turtle: Iguana...
42. Spider or bee: bee...
43. Fall or spring: they both have their own beauty...
46. Soccer or baseball: Soccer...

CURRENTLY
50. Drinking: water for now, thinking about some Bailey's...
51. I'm about to: finish this and watch movies...
53. Singing: "Let's Get it On" - Marvin Gaye... hey, it was just on the movie I'm watching...
54. Typing: this blog post...

FUTURE-
55. Want kids: have enough, ty...
56. When: last one was 6 years ago...
57. Want to get married: yup...
58. When: When I God lets me know I won't get hurt again...
59. Where do you want to live? PEI or Ireland...
60. How many kids? got 4 boys... they are wonderful... but don't wish any more...
61. Any names in mind? ...
62. What did you want to be when you were little? Pilot...
63. What do you plan to do now? Write & take pictures...
64. Mellow future, or wild adventures: Wild Adventures... with my camera in hand =D...
66. Something you would never try: skydiving...
67. When do you want to die? when God thinks I'm ready...

WHICH IS BETTER WITH A PARTNER?
68. Lips or eyes: the eyes are the window to the soul, they really are...
69. Hugging or kissing: Hugging, cuddles, kissing... all of the above...
70. Shorter or taller: taller, definitely taller...
71. Tanned or not: healthy... shade or colour is irrelevant...
72. Romantic or spontaneous: both...
73. Dark or light hair: I like brunettes, but whatever...
74. Muscular or normal: somewhere in between is lovely... muscular enough to make me feel safe...
75. Hook-up or relationship: relationship...

HAVE YOU EVER
78. kissed a stranger? yuppers...
79. drank bubbles? not that I recall...
80. broken a bone? yup...
81. climbed up a tree? yes...
82. broken someone's heart? yes...
83. turned someone down? yes...
84. had your heart broken? too many times...
85. liked a friend as more than a friend? definitely...

DO YOU BELIEVE IN
86. yourself? sometimes...
87. miracles? yes...
88. love at first sight? yes... and it hurts like hell...
89. Santa Claus? you bet...
90. kissing on a first date? if all is going well...
91. angels? yes...

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY
92. Is there one or more people you want to be with right now? yes, there is...
93. Who is it? now that would be telling wouldn't it...
94. Like anyone? I like lots of people... but if you mean romantically... yes, that too...

LAST
95. text message: Alan...
96. received call: Alan...
97. call made: my ex...
98. message on Facebook: Deb...
99. missed call: Kim...
100. person you hung out with: Kim...