Nixon: Now More Than Ever

The inquisition…
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player tags 5-6 people, posts their names, then leaves a comment in their respective blogs to let them know they’ve been tagged.
4. Let the person who tagged you know that you posted your answers.

Questions…
1. What were you doing 10 years ago? 

Wow. 10 years ago feels like it was yesterday. I had just finished my freshman year at JBU and was bored out of my mind the summer following it. All my friends were out of town for the summer so I spent a lot of time on the phone. I was working for my mom at Formal Evenings by day and taking kick-boxing by night. It was not my favorite summer. By far.

2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today? 

-blog (check and check)

-go to the library

-laundry

-start packing

-lay on the couch (I get to put this since I’m pregnant and all!)

3. What are some snacks you enjoy? 

Ugh. Right now nothing sounds good. I haven’t had any real morning sickness but food in general is just not appealing. Normally I would say just about anything sweet. Since food isn’t working for me I’ll suggest that napping counts. It is delicious and good for me!

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? 

Please! I can’t even imagine how much money that is!!! I would definitely do a lot to help out the orphans in the world. I have such a heart for these little babies and kids and would love to be able to do something huge for them. (Although I think we can all do SOMETHING for them and the greatest of all gifts is adopting them into our families…not to get off subject though.) I would love to be a benefactor to others and give gifts that can change lives. Of course-I’d also travel the world with my family and probably own a few houses here and there but who wouldn’t!

5. What are 3 of your bad habits? 

Only 3? Are you sure? Okay-I am notorious at leaving clothes in the dryer when they are done. I just hate hanging them and folding them. Perhaps this stems from when I was a child and would get in trouble I would have to fold baskets of laundry for punishment. So-I’m blaming this one on my parents. Sorry, mom. Another habit (although not bad but perhaps strange) is my insistence on wearing shoes (flip-flops) around the house. I have a strong intolerance of any dirt or grit on my feet and let’s face it…unless you have new carpet…it’s gross. So-knowing that some other family used this carpet before me, I really don’t want to walk barefooted on it. Now, when we owned our house and put new carpet it I actually enjoyed walking on it. It was clean and fresh! Wood floors are okay too as long as they are super clean and there’s no grit but what are the chances of that? The reason I put this under bad habits is b/c it drives my husband nuts! And lastly. Hmmm…I have the tendency to leave behind tissues from where ever I was last using them. I will clean them up but not always immediately. This is really only a problem when I’m sick or my allergies are acting up. BUT-in my defense I would like to say that this is a better habit than one I saw displayed last night regarding used kleenex. We were at our church small group and we were praying. Well…my eyes slipped open long enough for me to see one of our member using tissues and then putting them BACK INTO the box of clean ones! Talk about GROSS! Oh course…he’s only 2 years old but still! It IS worse than my habit!

6. What are 5 places you have lived?

-Siloam Springs, Arkansas…born and raised

-Dallas, Texas

-Plano, Texas

-Allen, Texas

-to be determined

7. What are 5 jobs you’ve had?

-Photographer

-Camp Counselor

-Interior Designer

-Nanny

-Intern of Event Activities (JBU)

8. What is currently playing on your IPOD? 

The most played is my workout mix but since I’ve been so tired as of late the only workout I’ve been getting is my arms routine. That consists of lifting the remote. Sad, but true.

9. What are the last 5-6 books you’ve read? 

Whew. I read books so fast I can hardly remember them. Let’s see. In the past couple of weeks I’ve read Karen Kingsbury’s Firstborn Series (5 books), Shopaholic, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Constant Princess, and Your Pregnancy Week by Week.

10. Who do you want to tag?

-Sharee

-DeAnn

-Sara

-Dayna

-Julie

Do you suppose Jesus was ever distracted by an enriched macaroni product?

The man who sat in front of me at church yesterday had a macaroni stuck to the back of his shirt. One lone piece of pasta. A small shell. Try to pay attention with that kind of distraction. Bad carb.

I mean…really…HOW did it get there?

Is it possible to overdose on flavored oatmeal? Is there such thing as MSD (maple syrup disease)? I enjoy a nice hot bowl of instant oatmeal almost daily. Right now I’m eating the Quaker Weight Control Maple and Brown Sugar flavor. I love the weight control variety for all the protein and fiber it gives you. However, today it has quite possibly gone above and beyond the call of duty. Maybe it’s the oatmeal…or maybe I’m just too sweet…

My husband noticed this evening that my hands smelled of maple syrup. And he’s right. They really do. You’d think I’d just come in from tapping a tree in our backyard. Curious as to what caused the smell I washed my hands with a scented soap several times over the course of the night. At first smell it seemed successful. I thought perhaps I’d just touched the syrup bottle in the fridge. However, after a little bit of time my maple ‘perfume’ would once again appear. It’s been about 9 hours since the initial discovery. So, I’m left wondering, do I need to seek medical attention or call Ripley’s? Is there any way I can make money off this? Could this bring me my 15 minutes of fame?

With so many questions roaming through my mind I find that it is 3am and I am still up and still smelling my hands every 3 minutes. It’s a pleasant smell really, just unexpected. I’m thinking it would be perfect for the Bath & Body Works fall 2007 line. I worked there in college and I strongly feel like this is a scent the consumers would love. It might even become a new classic. I can already see (and smell using my hands) all the lotions, scrubs, candles, and wallflowers in this new scent…of course, we’ll need a lip balm in it as well. Hmmm…Marvelous Maple, Maple Delight, Morning Maple…the name possibilities are endless.

After smelling my hands a few more times I think I am going to go lay down, one hand under my pillow, one under my cheek and dream of a simple life living in the northwest harvesting that sweet syrup. Oh…and just so you know…most syrup that you buy in stores is NOT real maple syrup. (You will notice a price difference for the real thing.) It’s usually just flavored corn syrup. Those tricksters! So if you’ve never had genuine maple syrup go buy some or go to the Cracker Barrel and use theirs. It really is quite spectacular.

Here’s some fun maple syrup facts for you:

• It takes 30-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup
• Maple syrup is boiled even further to produce maple cream, maple sugar, and maple candy.
• It takes one gallon of maple syrup to produce eight pounds of maple candy or sugar
• A gallon of maple syrup weighs 11 pounds
• The sugar content of sap averages 2.5 percent; sugar content of maple syrup is at least 66 percent or more
• Usually a maple tree is at least 30 years old and 12 inches in diameter before it is tapped
• As the tree increases in diameter, more taps can be added - up to a maximum of four taps
• Tapping does no permanent damage and only 10 percent of the sap is collected each year. Many maple trees have been tapped for 150 or more years.
• Each tap will yield an average of 10 gallons of sap per season, producing about one quart of syrup.
• The maple season may last eight to 10 weeks, but sap flow is heaviest for about 10-20 days in the early spring.