New Addictions and Getting Organized

When I was in school, eons and ages ago, it was nearly impossible to find real wooden pencils. That makes no sense, I know. Apparently pencils that melt rather than burn was a stupid fad of the 80s, and damnit I wanted wood. Maybe it was my internal architect screaming to break free, maybe it was stubbornness, but nothing but a Dixon Ticonderoga would suffice.

Why am I writing about pencils? Well, I went pencil shopping this weekend, and darned if every pencil I found wasn’t real wood! As a matter of fact I didn’t see a single “plastic” pencil in the lot. I thought it would be as simple as it used to be to grab the only box of wood pencils on the shelf and be on my merry way, but nope. I had my work cut out for me in selecting just the right pencil, and I took my sweet time.

Why did I need a pencil? If I tell you I recently purchased and read Nick Cernis’ ebook, Todoodlist , most of you will probably begin to understand where my head is. Before that I was drawn in by his blog article Moleskine Notebooks: The Ultimate Guide (and how to rank your addiction), and I can only hope “How to Deal with Your Moleskine Addiction” is soon to follow, because I’m in danger of hand cramps as it is.

While I’ve been noticably absent from the blog world, I have been writing, and enjoying it! Never fear, I believe this trend of absenteeism will soon pass, because I’m building up ideas and thoughts on things to write here. I’ve been jotting down things that I think of that normally I would forget within minutes. So now when I sit down to write a post, I should have plenty of fodder.

So, what have y’all been up to?

8 Things About Nicole

I’m not a meme person (I know, I know. Everyone says that. Sue me!), but this particular meme gives me a chance to share some things about me that I may not think to share under normal circumstances. So without further ado, here are “8 Random Facts About Me”.

1. I was adopted when I was six weeks old, and I count myself extremely lucky to have been chosen by the most amazing couple I’ve ever known. As a couple, M&D (aka: Mum & Dad) are an inspiration to just about everyone who knows them, and people often make a point to tell me so, though I am well aware of the fact. I was truly blessed the day the adoption agency called M&D telling them I had a birthmark on my finger and asking if they still wanted me. They still picked me, flaw (singular!) and all.



2. I just may have had the perfect childhood. Mum quit nursing when they got me, and Dad was a high school teacher. We adopted my brother when I was five  and he was two. Somehow, and to this day I don’t understand how, on a high school teacher’s salary we had a large house “in town” and a second “cabin” on Sugar Island AND a 27″ Chris Craft cabin cruiser (very much like this one). It was like having three homes my entire childhood. Each summer when school ended we would close up the house and move, lock, stock and barrel, to the cabin. Then, at some point during the summer, we would go on at least one boat trip to little towns in Ontario for at least a week. How all this was managed financially, I have no clue.
3. In 7th grade I had a computer class for “Basic”. I learned the whole, start, print, goto, end thing and figured out how to place green pixels on a black screen. I haven’t had another computer class since then, and yet I have: 1) become a Cisco Certified Network Engineer and worked all over the country, 2) designed, created and maintained a database driven intranet for a major travel agency, and 3) worked as head of a web design department. I’m good at teaching myself how to do things that snag my interest.
4. I am allergic to duck eggs. Are you? Are you sure? Have you ever had duck eggs? It is entirely possible to be allergic to duck eggs and not chicken eggs, so you’d have had to have eaten them to know. Me? I’m extremely allergic to duck eggs. I’ve imagined that one day in the not very far off future, some brilliant soul is going to find that the cure for the common cold or cancer is based entirely on using duck eggs. Great!
5. I adore Photoshop. It’s an obsession really. I spend hours just fiddling with images and learning how to do new things. I can watch Bert Monroy video podcasts for hours (and admittedly, I do). Alas, this doesn’t mean I’m at all… good at it. But one day, if I keep practicing! :)
6. I went to Art School at the University of Michigan. I thought after high school that I wanted to be an architect. After all, what else would I do with my mad drafting skillz?? Who knew it would take nearly twelve years to measure up to Mike Brady level? So I moved on to Industrial Design. Six years later, and I was outta there… and I haven’t even looked for a job in the field. Not my thing. Ah well. One day I will have the loans paid off for the myriad lessons learned in those years.
7. Disney. I can’t write a list of things about myself without mentioning Disney. (In fact I’m watching Enchanted as I type this.) In one of my very first forays into the online world I discovered FDC. The Future Disney Cabinet, an online role-playing community (in MUCK format) featuring Disney characters. I immediately signed up and played Archimedes (from The Sword in the Stone) for several years before FDC sort of faded away as the original members got caught up in “real life”. :) Luckily, we had become such a tight-knit group that many are still close friends both online and off. My life would have been very different without them.
8. I miss the water. I consider myself a boater. After all, I grew up living on the waterfront (both addresses) and vacationing on a boat. I haven’t lived near the water since leaving home, and I miss it so much. I’m literally like a fish out of water. From the time I was 5 or 6 Dad promised me a sailboat when I turned 13. When I turned 12 he surprised me a year early with a sunfish, and I was in heaven. My goal is to one day live on the water again.

So there they are, 8 things. This got a little long, so I’ll leave it at that. :)

I’m not going to tag anyone else to do this, because almost every blog I follow has already been tagged by someone else. :) But if you’re reading this I encourage you to join in, simply beacause it’s fun! Here are the rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to read your blog.

Leave a comment if you’re going to join in, because I would love to read what you post. And enjoy!

Reserved Tea Time

Most every day, some time between clearing the dinner dishes and heading into the bedroom for the night, I fill my silver tea kettle and put it on the stove to boil. My tea kettle is huge and it whistles marvelously. It sounds just like you would imagine it should, cartoonishly perfect. I leave it to sing long enough to enjoy the sound, yet not long enough to cause the rest of the household to start shouting at me, then I pour the steaming water into my Lore coffee mug. Selecting from my stash of coveted herbal tea bags, I unwrap one, dip dip dip, and I wait.

I stand there in my kitchen waiting for the tea to steep, and I can already feel my body and mind relaxing in anticipation. (Is that possible, or does anticipation automatically mean tension? I don’t think so.) I remove the tea bag and squeeze out every last drop by wrapping the string around the bag against my favorite teaspoon, the one with the scrolled “N” on the handle that I bought for a nickel at Goodwill, and I’m almost ready. Almost.

While the entire tea making process is ritualistic, my favorite part I share with the small honey bear that lives on the second shelf of my “beverage cupboard” where I store my teas, coffees, creamers and biscottis. I flip his top open and upend him over my steaming mug, then I squeeze his tummy as I swirl the thick stream of honey around and around, watching as it disappears into the hot amber liquid. A couple clinkety clinks of my N spoon, and I’m ready.

I may not have had a moment for myself the entire day, but that’s fine. Now, here with my fingers wrapped tightly around my hot mug of fragrant tea, this is my time. Until this cup is empty, nothing else is important. Nothing can get to me, and the chaos in my head starts to softly and gently click into some sort of order. My thoughts are so clear and my body so relaxed, more so than any other time of the day. The ritual and the tea can do this for me, and it is so freeing to know I can bring myself to this place any time I like with the simple ritual of making myself a cup of tea.