And the Phlegm Goes On . . .

I have been in absentia . . . again. I have a whole photo montage detailing why I've been out of touch, but right now, just typing this post is taking all my energy.

My blog friend over at The Creamery is doing a thing this week and next (?) and maybe for even longer in which she is posting about finding joy every day. As always, I am loving her posts. And right now, it is definitely a good challenge for me.

Here's my little bit of joy for the week:

For a year, we lived in Flower Mound, Texas, north of Dallas, not too far from DFW, smack dab in between two huge reservoir-y type lakes. To say that we hated it there would be a huge understatement. Mr. J and I were both miserable. The Dog, on the other hand, loved it. Never had he experienced the joys of lukewarm lakes and creeks and bugs, bugs, bugs galore to hunt all night in the backyard. But as much as we love The Dog, we were not willing to sacrifice our souls to stay in that town. (No disrespect to any Texans out there. It just was not our scene.)

Anyway, while living in Dallas, I had one and a half gals and one and a half guys that I would consider friends. For an entire year. I can survive on my own just fine and am able to keep myself entertained for weeks on end without seeing a soul (see: learning how to knit), but a girl needs more than a total of three friends to keep her sane. Sad, sad times. But there was a silver lining: With all that alone time, I don't think I got sick even once that entire year. No sore throats, no horrid stomach bugs, no weeklong flu that saps the very life out of you. Other than my weird, annoying skin rashes, I was the picture of health.

Here in Boise, on the other hand, we have more friends than we know what to do with. It's already gotten to the point that when we invite people over, we have to wheedle down the guest list. Otherwise we'd end up with close to 50 people for a small barbecue. And we only just moved here in August. It's actually incredible. And it is all very joyful. But that is not the joy I am finding today.

Today I can barely see through my two eyes, thanks to a raging case of conjunctivitis, which I haven't had since I was, oh, I don't know, 8? On top of that, it hurts to swallow and cough, and my ear is aching like nobody's business, all thanks to an upper respiratory infection. Joyous. So for the third time this year, I am going on antibiotics again! (Me, the woman who HATES drugs, especially antibiotics). Yes, it is all very sucky and lousy and so very annoying. And yet, it is all because we have friends. Friends who say, "Here, try this piece of brisket," as they feed it to Mr. J with their bare hands (which led to the horrid stomach plague of early spring). Or who offer a sip of their drink to see if I would like to order the same thing, which, I believe, has led to this wondrous trip down phlegm alley. So that is where I am finding the joy. I may be sick, but I am in a place I love with people I look forward to getting to know better and better. I can see myself living in this city for many, many years (like more than 10). And that is something this Air Force Brat had never even considered in any of my past homes. I am home and I belong here and that is so very joyful.

Now pass the antibiotics, please!!

And the GMBOA Goes to . . .

I loved reading the different answers and have even written out Bethsix's to keep near at hand as a little reminder. (I have a whole host of sayings on Post-it notes scattered around my desk. And thanks to Wandering Nana's GMBOA, I now have more Post-it notes to fill up, all with a cute little pen.)

I thought perhaps Mr. J would go with Erin's, what with him being a true Calvin fan. But I think, as usual, his stomach beat out his brain!

So, without further ado, the next GMBOA recipient is Jayme and her "Mmmmm, bacon" mantra.


Jayme, you clever girl. You knew exactly the answer that would go straight to Mr. J's heart and soul ... and salivary glands. His one true love (other than me . . . most days) is bacon. His favorite ad is the one that says "Bacon makes everything taste better, even bacon." He just recently tried bacon-infused vodka and thought it would be the perfect complement to a Bloody Mary, and I do believe he may be right. And all of this from a man raised in the Jewish religion. He's so devout, don't you think?

So, Jayme, please send me your address via email, and I will prepare the Golden Minion Box of Awesomeness for its next grand adventure. [And now the fun part ... finding all the little goodies to fill the box. Yay!]

GMBOA Contest

Eek!

I am rapidly approaching the 3-week deadline for getting this contest up and running. I must admit, I am very nervous. The Minion-lympics were an inspired weeklong series of fun contests and questions, and the "How DO you pronounce GMBOA?" contest was so much fun (and I'm not just saying that cuz I won, which I am still in shock about ... OK, I'll let it go, already). So what do I do?

Well, as I alluded to a couple days/weeks ago, Mr. J came up with a pretty clever idea. And I think I have it sorted in my head how it will work. So here goes:

Provide a headline or cartoon strip or fortune cookie saying or line from a book, poem, song or anything else already written by somebody else that captures who you think you are. Answers can be serious, funny, self-deprecating, self-aggrandizing. Whatever you like. You may also offer explanation(s), as needed (see example below).

Enter by posting a comment in response to this blog post. You can enter as many times as you like, depending on how you feel at any given moment. (I know that my vision of who I think I am changes hourly, and sometimes even minute-ly, which is different from minutely.)

In one week (on May 13th around noonish Central Standard Time), I will read all the entries to Mr. J for him to judge, according to his own wishes. It's all very scientific and technical.

In order to compete, you must be a follower (Minion) of Miss Whimsy over at the Creamery.* Just head on over there, and click on the follow button. You won't be sorry! [Note: This link also takes you directly to the full rules and regulations for the Golden Minion Box of Awesomeness.]

* Whimsy, I do recall the two exceptions to this rule, and will take that into account when judging.

For a very bad example of an answer to this contest, when I was a teenager, my favorite pin button thingie read, "I used to be apathetic, but now I just don't care." Because, of course, as a fully suburban teenager, I thought I was all cool and tough and that cool, tough people just don't care. Plus, the wordie in me thought is was so incredibly witty and funny. I mean apathetic means "I just don't care." Get it? Get it? Oh Lordie, I was just so dang sophisticated as a teenager.

Mr. J, on the other hand, might have had this very cartoon in mind when he came up with the idea. He and I used to debate this question, with me getting very aggravated by the end of each debate. I've since decided that Hobbes has it exactly right! [Cartoon taken from The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, reprinted here without any permission, which probably means I'll get in super-duper trouble, which probably means I'll panic in a couple days and take it down from this blog post all together, because I'm a paranoid weirdo.]

So that is the contest, in all it's glory. I look forward to the answers and to sending on the GMBOA to the next Creamy Minion!