I've been tagged...and so have YOU!

I've been tagged by Cheese and Chocolate! And... the rules are to tell 7 things about yourself and then tag 7 others. So here we go.

1. Without glasses, I am waaaaayyyyyyyy beyond legally blind. I am 24 substitute-teaching days away from having enough money to pay for laser surgery. Oh, my current vision is in the 20/450 range. Loosely translated, what the average person can see at 450 feet, I can see clearly at 20 feet. "Mountain? What mountain?"

2. According to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) psychometic test, I am either an INTJ or an ISTJ. Not many people have two scores, but I scored equally between the N (intuitive) and S (using the 5 senses) when making decisions.

3. My handwriting changes with my mood -- sometimes dramatically.

4. If stranded on a deserted island with only one food group, it would be chocolate.

5. My birthday is next week. I still spoil and paper myself, even if no one else does.

6. I generally rather blend in with the background and observe people than call attention to myself. It's an unfortunate trait for someone who creates, and wants to sell, jewelry.

7. I would love to visit the Tuscan region in Italy.

Now to the tagging part. If you want to play along, please do and drop me a comment so I can check it out.

Blogger Reflection Award

John McElveen awarded me with this honor. Me. My little blog. Awwwww, what a terrific compliment - one that I'm happy to "pay forward."



Here's how it works:

1. Copy these rules into your own post.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they’ve been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site.


Description/Definition:


"This award should make you reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy… of knowing them and being blessed by them."

And my selections are [drumroll please]:

1. Nadine. Her writing is very inspiring. What I love most is that she draws the most incredible analogies from the seemingly innocuous, everyday stuff. Who else would make such a wonderful connection between the new Transformers movie and how we are called to transform ourselves in God's love. Her posts are filled with powerful stuff. I have ADHD so it's often hard for me to just sit and reflect. Her blog regularly gives me a nice little "jumping off" point for my reflection.

2. Lala. I've been following her blog for about a year now. She writes from the heart about her day-to-day life, and although she's experienced some very difficult times, she's determined to live a Life Full of Grace (blog's tag line). Never preachy, just grateful.

3. BehavenPaPa. He is Lala's father. His blog details his many travels, which include the work he does for others in God's name. Very educational, extremely fascinating stuff. His earlier posts about Beijing and Romania are among my favorites, and although I may not have posted a comment on his blog recently, I do still read it often.

I'm going to stop at these three. I know the rules say to list 5, but if I wait until I have a chance to ponder the many, many blogs I read, I'll probably never get around to posting this (darn, ADHD!).

Anyway, check them out! Tell them Elle says "hello."

Tagged by Nise': "Countdown to Reading"

I've been tagged by Nise' (click here to visit her blog - after you finish reading my post, of course!) The rules for "Countdown To Reading" are:

Post your responses. Tag anywhere from 1-5 friends. Leave comments to let them know they've been tagged. Come back and leave a comment when your post is up. Here we go:


Next 5 books on your To-Be-Read shelf:

1. The One Year Bible: Catholic Edition. As the name implies, if you follow all the daily readings, you'll finish the entire Bible in one year. I got about halfway through last year, but lost track so I plan to pick back up at the beginning.

2. Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. My mother pre-orders each of the Harry Potter books for Son #1 and he and I usually tear though them.

3. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein. Son #1 and I are slowly working our way through the Lord of the Rings series. He reads a chapter, tells me what's going on, then I read it to him outloud. It's fascinating to see how well he comprehends complex writing, even when he doesn't understand all the words. We've completed The Silmarrillion (the prequel) and The Hobbit.

4. Children of the Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkein. Another newly published prequel. Son #1 will receive this as a birthday gift for his birthday later in the month. Shhhhh....don't tell!

Sadly, I don't have a 5th book on my list. If I fly to Virginia to visit my mother in July, I'll buy a novel to read on the plain. I liketo read suspense thrillers, or fluff chick books when traveling.

Last 4 books you've read:

1. The Gift of ADHD by Lara Honos-Webb, ph.D - Dr. Honos-Webb attempts to re-frame Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in a more positive light ("How to Transform Your Child's Problems into Strengths"). It seems that her outlook is a little too rosy at times, but I love how she challenges the two Ds: "deficit" is rarely accurate, and she doesn't believe it should be considered a "disorder." Favorite quote: "If one were to apply the logic of seeing differences as disorders to gender, the medical profession might well label women wiht a "penis-deficit/hypermammary disorder."

2. A book loaned to me (and since returned) whose title I cannot recall. It's about the diaconate ministry in the Catholic Church. I think it was called Diaconate Spirituality, but I'm not sure.

3. The Hobbitt by J.R.R. Tolkein. See #3 on my "To Read" list above.

4. The Berenstain Bears Wishing Star. Okay, I'm grasping here. I read this to Son #3 last night.

I'm a multitasker when it comes to books (and most other things). I'm part way through 5 books, but I haven't technically completed them yet and since I'm in the process of reading them, it didn't seem right to list them on the "To Read" list.

Last 3 books you've borrowed (library or friend):

1 and 2 were books loaned to me by a friend about the Diaconate (ministry of ordained deacons in the Catholic Church). Number 3 was a book about Aspbergers Syndrome. Unfortunately, I don't recall the titles.

Last 2 non-fiction books you've read:

1. The Gift of ADHD (see above)

2. See the list of Last 3 Books Borrowed (above)

The 1 book you wish everyone would read:

1. The Bible, in conjunction with a really good Bible guide book. It's not a simple book to read, that's for sure. A good guide book will help you understand the historical and cultural context of the time. It's one think to read it. It's another thing entirely to understand it. That's where prayer helps. :-)

I'm not going to formally tag anyone, but I'd love to see John McElveen's, Shionge's, and Sue's lists. (hint hint).

5 Unusual Facts About Me

I've been tagged by Lala! (Click here to view her blog: Insight into Lala's World) Her meme is called "Five Weird Things About Me" but I don't know that I'm interesting enough to come up with anything truly weird. (I'm pretty "white bread", y' know?) But here we go:

1) I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. This is a problem for me because, let's face it, at my age, I'm probably more than halfway through my life expectancy. I better get a move on! Seriously, if I could have any job/career in the world right now - forget the fact that I lack the skills - I think I would like to be in construction. (This is an improvement from the days when I wanted to be an actress. I'm talking a hundred years ago.)

About the construction job. I don't necessarily want to the be the one on the roof baking in the hot sun pouring my blood, sweat and tears (wait - contruction folk don't cry, do they?) into building a beautiful home - that I can't afford - only to have some snooty rich people enjoy the fruits of my labor. But I would love to know how to do electrical wiring, plumbing, etc., buy a home, fix it up, sell it and move on to the next.

2) I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive. This is *not* an official diagnosis, mind you. But there are times when I'm working on something and I have such an overwhelming need for "closure" that I really can't focus on anything else. This is - in part - why I drive Dear Hubby nuts. He also secretly thinks it's one of my better traits. I tend to finish what I'm working on before he even has to get involved. It's disorienting to him at times. He's returned home from work on more than one occasion to find entire rooms a different color than when he left in the morning.

3) People think I'm "organized" and "efficient." Which I am. In part because of item #2 above. In part because of the ADHD (being organized is a management tool in coping with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). I know these folks mean it as a compliment, but please DON'T call me organized or efficient. I HATE it!!! Really, does anything sound more ... boring? For one day, I'd like to be the flighty, artistic type.

4) I have 3 sons. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not having a daughter. I've never wished for one. To those of you that have them (hi, Mom), that's great. I think I prefer boys because I was pretty much a girly-girl growing up, so this whole 'snips and snails and puppy dog tails' was - and sometimes still is - pretty foreign to me. They're an adventure.

5) I'm borrowing this one from Lala, because it's so completely me too. (Either we're both weird, girlfriend, or it's not as odd as we thought.) If I have multiple foods on my plate, I eat them one at a time. For example, I'll eat every single pea before I take a single bite of mashed potatoes (except I won't eat the peas that have touched the mashed potatoes and vice versa). I start from least favorite, saving the best for last. I really need to switch that. I'd probably eat less and maybe lose the weight that's annoying me. And if it's a food item that's supposed to be mixed - say a vegetable medley - I'll eat all of one type of veggie before moving on to the next. I've never thought about the reason why. I just gotta be me! :-)

I'm tagging the following fellow bloggers, in case they'd like to play along:
* Jules
* Insurance Mom

A Musical Meme from Jules...

I've been tagged by Jules. This meme has a musical theme.

1. Choose a band/artist: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

2. Answer each question using the title of a song by that band/artist. OK

3. Are you male or female: American Girl

4. Describe yourself: A Woman in Love

5. How do some people feel about you? All Mixed Up

6. How do you feel about yourself? I Won't Back Down

7. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: @$%hole - Yes, that's the name of one of his songs.

8. Describe current boyfriend/girlfriend: You Got Lucky

9. Describe where you want to be: House in the Woods

10. Describe how you live: Baby Let's Play House

11. Describe how you love: Too Much Ain't Enough

12. What would you ask for if you had just one wish? Louisiana Rain - not a hurricane mind you, just enough to ease this drought.

13. Share a few words of Wisdom: Make it Better

14. Now say goodbye: I Don't Know What to Say to You

If you decide to play along, post a comment here so I can check yours out!

I've Been Tagged (Again)!

I've been tagged by ~d. She has assigned me a letter and I'm supposed to list 10 things that start with that letter and explain them. If you'd like to play along (although I realize that several of my readers also read ~d's blog), let me know by posting a comment and I will assign you a letter.

My letter is C

1. Chocolate. Anyone who knows me wouldn't be surprised. This is my all time favorite food group. I gave up chocolate for Lent and since then, my craving hasn't been as strong. But I still love it.

2. Coffee. I only like two varieties: Irish and Iced Cafe Mocha (see #1 above).

3. Cat. I have a soon-to-be 17 year old male mixed breed cat. His name is Sebastian and he's part tabby, part Siamese. I adopted him when he was born at the apartment we rented in Kenner, La. He's moved with us to Alexandria and Annandale (both in Virginia), back to La. (Metairie), and now to our present location. He was an indoor cat - terrified of outdoors - until 2 years ago when he decided he'd rather live in my garden. I think he's has the equivalent of kitty Alzheimer's. He no longer cares about his appearance so he's a kitty with dreadlocks. I managed to shave about half the matted hair off his body. The rest will have to wait until he's in a better mood. Me on the porch shaving a cat. What must the neighbors think?

4. Cuts and Scrapes. There's a lot of that going around my house. Since yesterday, Son #1 cut his finger (the worst papercut I've seen!), Son #2 fell outside and skinned both knees and an elbow, and Son #3 bumped his head on the footboard of my bed and has a nasty scalp wound. A lot of Crying, and I feel like I should just wrap them in Cotton, but I won't use two C's on those.

5. Clairol Natural Instincts. Time for a root touch-up which I'll do in a few minutes.

6. Coyote. As in Turquoise Coyote, a bead shop in Pontchatoula, La. They have, in my opinion, the best prices on beads and jewelry making supplies in the area. I need to plan another trip there. It's a bit of a a drive from where I live, and I need to bring reinforcements (i.e. another person) to keep Son #3 entertained. The old 'bull in the china shop' probably wouldn't compare to a 4-yr old in a bead shop!

7. Church. Dear Hubby and I volunteer with a couple of different things at our church and enjoy it. I converted to Catholicism - another C - six years ago. (That's another story for another day.) There's a lot of Catholic-bashing in the media these days. I won't say that some of it is without merit. But I've always found it hard to believe that ALL people who belong to a certain group are BAD (with the possible exception of a few radical groups that promote genocide, but that's just my opinion). I'll save the soap box for another day...

8. Crap Shoot. It's said that life is one.

9. Comic Relief. That's Son #2 right now. He's watching cartoons in the living room which is all of 15 feet from where I'm sitting in the kitchen so I can hear the TV. Someone on the tube will say something amusing and Son #2 will come in the kitchen and act out the scene for me, complete with funny voices. In most instances, he's even better than the TV program.

10. Cinnamon Rolls. Dear Hubby made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Son #3 doesn't like the white icing on his, so Son #1 and #2 argue over who gets the extra icing on their cinnamon rolls. Time was, not long ago, that I would've been jockeying for the extra icing myself. Maybe I'm maturing? Nah...

Okay, who's next?

I've Been Tagged!

~D tagged me in her blog, so here it goes:

A) Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Student worker, UNO University Police
2. Signmaker, JCPenny
3. Administrative Assistant for a trade association
4. Executive Secretary for McDonald's Corp.

B) Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Notting Hill
3. Never Been Kissed
4. Waking Ned Devine

C) Four places you have lived:
1. New Orleans, LA
2. Ida, Michigan
3. Annandale, Va
4. Mandeville, LA

D) Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Lost
3. Seinfeld
4. Friends

E) Four places you have been on vacation in the last five years:
1. Gulfport, MS
2. Alexandria, VA (7 times)
that's it....

F) Four websites I visit daily:
1. eBay
2. my blog
3. the Washington Post online
4. friends' blogs

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. sushi rolls (not raw)
2. boiled seafood
3. Thai
4. chocolate

H) Four places I would rather be right now: (Only four???)
1. Tuscany, Italy
2. Scotland
3. Ireland
4. London, England


I have no one left to tag (via blog)!

Seven Songs (I've been tagged!)

From ~D: "List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they are any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to."

Okay, I'll play along:

1) "Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin
2) "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, or Guns 'n Roses
3) "Stupid Girls" by Pink (the lyrics make me chuckle)
4) "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen (it's my workout song as I try to slim my own fat bottom)
5) "Something in the Air" by Tom Petty
6) "St. Augustine in Hell" by Sting
7) "She" by Elvis Costello (he SO gets me! ha ha)

Unfortunately, I don't know seven bloggers to tag, but I will pass it around via email. Fun one, ~d, thanks!