19 May 2008

six random things

Christianne tagged me, so I can't very well refuse! Most of you have seen this meme going around and if you haven't the title of the post pretty well explains it all. So without further ado, here are six random things about Kirsten ...

# 1: I once ate a robin’s egg. Confusing it for Easter candy was easy as a 5-6 year old. I found a nest in the backyard with that pretty blue egg just begging to be consumed (or so I thought). Sadly, it was not chocolate filled and that crunch outside was not very sweet. I came to Mom with yolk running down my face and remnants of blue eggshell in my hand. Poor mama bird: some kid ate her baby.

# 2: I generally enjoy cleaning. Getting the bathroom to sparkle doesn’t bother me. Hand-washing dishes tends to mellow me out. And the queen mother of all household chores in my book is laundry. Laundry rules!! I love folding towels & washcloths and putting clean sheets on my bed (oh, clean sheet day is sweet!!). But in heaven’s name, do NOT under any circumstances ask me to dust. Ick. Just … DON’T DO IT, and we’ll all be better off, okay?

# 3: I check my 401K balance obsessively. As in almost every day. This is a long-term investment people. But I get very, very happy when I see the little green arrows going up and very, very cranky when I see the little red arrows going down. Needless to say, the past 6 months have been rough on me.

# 4: I played the piano & the viola growing up. I started piano lessons when I was 7 and on the viola when I was 10. I played viola through high school & even sat first chair for a few years until a whiplash injury dethroned me. Whenever I was playing viola, there was one habit of concentration that I never could control, try as I might: I curled my upper lip like Elvis whenever I played. I imagine there are still orchestra concert videos displaying the evidence (along with the rather attractive green bow-tie/cummerbund ensemble we were required to wear for performances).

# 5: I’m addicted to green beans. I’ve eaten them with/for dinner several times a week for many years now & I never get bored with them. Nope, not once. I easily go through 5-6 pounds a week. I also eat two apples a day, without fail.

# 6: You could be reading Heidi’s blog right now. Yep, my parents nearly named me “Heidi”. It was about to be official until an aunt said it sounded like a stripper name when paired with my last name. After that, my parents could not (in good conscience) name me Heidi, so here you have Kirsten.


Tag, you're it!!:
23 Degrees
Danny
Caleb
Kaari
Carl

17 comments:

  1. You looking for extra housework? Cuz I'd let you do mine. I'd sacrifice for you. That's just the sort of girl I am.
    I never like housework, although I love clean sheet night. And when I'm frustrated with my writing, I clean. Which means, generally, the shininess state of my house acts as a barometer.

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  2. I'm on it. Secretly I was wanting to be tagged... I got somethin good!

    Blessings to you my friend, I have been thinking of you and praying for you a lot!

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  3. i just have one question: what do you check more often, your blog or your 401k? loved the stories kirsten. and i'm SO glad you're kirsten. not as much as the rationale for why they dumped heidi though. too funny!

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  4. hooray! this is so fun.

    that story about the robin's egg cracked me up but also left me going, 'ewww . . . awwww . . . bummer.' for both parties: you and the mama.

    i'm with you on handwashing dishes and doing laundry, and ALSO on dusting. i also can't stand vacuuming.

    that was a funny story about your 401k that i didn't know about you. :) and i'm with terri: kirsten is INFINITELY better!

    ps: i just finished eating my first try at making thai red curry with chicken. let's just say it wasn't AWFUL, but it also was not anywhere close to royal thai's rendition. (that's the name of the fabulous place we took you when you were here.) it was a little too watery and a little too bland. but not terrible. it was edible. i just have to figure out how to thicken it up and flavor it up a bit more. :)

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  5. Pobre pajarito! Aww...

    These are fabulous. I like them all...especially the one about the 401k--I don't check mine that way, but don't ask about AdSense ;)

    Love you

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  6. Hahah!! I think your aunt was right! I said your almost-name a few times and it has that certain ring to it. . . the kind of ring you don't really want for a respectable young lady like yourself. I think Kirsten is a better fit. =)

    P.S. I'm impressed that you eat two apples a day. Supposedly one a day is enough to keep the doctor away. Two a day must be enough to keep the dentist away, too.

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  7. Allright my friend it is done. I was going to put the towel folding thing but you beat me to it. You didn't really tell people just how particular you really are about your towels. Maybe Kaari or your mother could expand on this. Have a great day Heidi...oops, Kirsten.

    Christianna- I had red curry tonight as well! I'm not talented enough to dare make it myself.

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  8. awwww poor momma robin bird...well..i could just imagine you as a child confused and disgusted..lol...and girl..i have a cleaning problem as well..FABULOSO and BLEACH are my friends...!..although i do hate doing laundry though..takes too much of my day up..lol..but!...i loved the stories girl..lol..God bless

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  9. Dear Heidi: Those were some funny random things. My mother always loved the name Heidi (prolly cause she loved the movie). A robin’s egg? Yuck. Ok, who am I kidding? I thought about eating one myself when I was small . . . just wasn’t brave enough.

    I used to be OCD about cleaning. A couple of roommates eroded that over the years, so I’m not quite as obsessive. But I love clean sheet day too! And as much as I love clean laundry, I get a little tired of it because a load is done AT LEAST every day in this house. That is because of Random Thing #7: I never use the same bath towel more than once. If I dry off with it, it goes straight to the hamper.

    Slap your money into an index fund – Vanguard being the best – and forget about it! Now’s the time to do it. The market is having problems and it will make you rich by the time you retire (shelter it in an IRA of course). This is the safest investment with the most growth, and it’s VERY LOW MAINTENANCE.

    I love string and woodwind instruments especially. And you know how I feel about music in general. I’m picturing you curling the upper lip. Apparently, you were very focused.

    I had heard about the green beans thing. But 5 – 6 pounds per week? Whoa! That is an addiction.

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  10. heather - as tempting as your offer is, i think the commute might kill me. there be a lot of miles between b-town & dallas. and i get what you mean about cleaning being a barometer - if my house sparkles, writing frustrations are usually behind it!

    carl - hooray, i can't wait to read yours!! i have to tell you, it was hard to stop at six. one random thing led to another, and all that!

    terri - i definitely check my blog more, mainly because it's prettier & slightly more fun than watching the balance on my 401K go up.

    yeah, just think if my name were heidi, i might have acquired a whole different set of talents in life!!

    christianne - when i got tagged, the robin's egg story came to mind quickly. silly girl, poor mama bird!!

    and i knew you'd get the housework thing!! something so meditative about the dishes & i do enjoy folding laundry. i should add the caveat (for all those who might see & invite me to fold their laundry piles) that it really only applies to my own. i do not delight in folding another's underdrawers. that's just weird!!

    i'm sorry to hear the curry didn't turn out as well for you. some recipes i found called for adding corn starch to the coconut milk before hand to thicken it & it didn't really work for me. maybe try googling the recipe to see where there might be differences. i don't even pretend to think that my version held a candle to royal thai's, but it was enough to evoke that sweet memory ... ;o)

    sarah - an adsense addict, huh? maybe it's better i don't get turned on to that ... ;o)

    rebecca - i'm glad you agree! i think kirsten is a better fit, too!! and two apples a day is just one part of my regiment for keeping the gastroenterologist away. it seems to be working so far!!

    caleb - hooray, i can't wait to read it!! and yeah, mom used to make a big deal out of me folding my towels. she said once that watching me fold was the highlight of her week (we lead very small lives around here!!). ;o)

    perception - thanks for stopping by!! i agree, it's sad to think of that mama robin. :o(

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  11. ah, nathan you snuck in there!!

    see, you can't fool me: you are a renaissance man!! the guy i can ask about Co-enzyme Q10, retirement accounts, music, and just about everything else.

    yeah, green beans. mmm. i told you it was an addiction!! ;o)

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  12. oh! i should be quick to point out that i didn't base my curry on your recipe . . . i kinda did it from memory after reading 10 or 11 different recipes for it all over the place. so that may be the reason it failed, actually -- too many combinations that just didn't gel right. :)

    i'm not sure what this folding towel rumor is all about . . . you might have to out yourself on that one. but mmmm . . . towels are one of my favorite items to fold, especially when they're all warm and soft from the dryer and smell so CLEAN!

    nate, as for your towel behavior . . . that is a little extreme. i think it's safe to say that kirsten's green bean addiction is your towel addiction. :)

    tammy and i were talking on my blog about maybe making this a regular thing, perhaps every month or quarter. it's just so fun to learn these things about everyone, and also to think up new ones for yourself!

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  13. ah, i see. still, i am sad to hear that it didn't turn out so well. my recipe was not nearly the same as the royal thai version either; i can imagine it would be hard to match.

    and i think nate & i should call it even: he can keep his towel routine if i can keep my green bean routine!! ;o)

    i love the idea of doing these "random" memes periodically. it's such a fun way to learn about our community!!

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  14. Oh gosh, this was really hilarious. Poor little Robin!

    (Off topic, maybe you realized this and maybe not... Chasing Vermeer is a Young Adult title. I got it for my kids to listen to on the way to D.C. Then I accidentally got hooked by the conversation on Art! :)

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  15. I shouldn't have been eating when I read about the robin egg. That's so gross. I love doing laundry in the winter when it's cold and the clothes are so warm. Plus it smells good!

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  16. Well Kirsten this is a cute blog. A green bean addiction? hmmm now there is a new one. That egg, yuck it made me gag. Ha, there are a couple of things you said here that made me chuckle cuz it reminded me of myself. That 401K, i am obsessively balancing my checkbook, hoping more money is somehow going to just poof, and appear there i guess.

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  17. I remember those lovely orchestra outfits! And the elvis lip - i don't want to see those orchestra videos, because i bet i had some crazy facial expressions as well.

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