Summing it up......

Clearly I haven't been very successful at blogging on a daily or even weekly basis and the funny thing is that it's not that I don't have anything to say. Instead, I have found myself feeling bound to the task that I originally started, which was the 30 day list of blog topics. So, to free myself from this (and the admittedly obsessive-compulsive nature of it) I am going to finish this list once and for all.

Day 22 – Something that upsets you: Unkindness
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better: Fencing
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry: A really good song.
Day 25 – Your sleeping habits: I sleep every night.....does that make it a habit?
Day 26 – Your fears: I'm not a fearful person.
Day 27 – Your favorite place: Collioure, France
Day 28 – Something that you miss: My friends that live so far away
Day 29 – Your favorite foods/drinks: A favorite food is tough to come up with.....I think I'll just have to lump it all into one category as I have loved every french dish I've ever eaten or cooked myself. As for drinks....The three you'll find me with more often than not are Gin and Tonic, Red Wine and Pernod. However, I do enjoy a good whiskey....always neat....and the other night I had a Chili/Mango Martini that was fantastic. I'd put it right up there with the Tamarind Martini I had in Mexico last summer that was to die for.
Day 30 – Your aspirations: To always be true to myself.

So, there you have it. Finished. Tomorrow.....onto new things.

Whew!

Day 21: My Job

This is where I work.


I have worked here for nearly 20 years.
To be exact, I have had this job for 7098 days.
I spend more time here than anywhere else.

However,

Sometimes I get to travel to cool places.
Like here

Taylor Guitars

and here

Martin Guitars

I get to go to the NAMM show...

I can always handle some California sun in January.

me and Gwar

Me, Jorma Kaukonen and my boss

Sometimes I even get to design guitars.

Before......

After....

I have met some amazing people along the way.
Some have become lifelong friends.

Me and Peppino D'agostino

Yeah.....
When it comes to jobs....
it could be worse.
Way worse.

Day 20: My Morning Routine

I can't imagine that anyone really gives a hoot about my morning routine, but since I began this path of 30 days of blogs, I guess I have to do this.....

So, I get up in the morning....at this time.....

Actually, this is not quite true. I don't get up at this time.....I hit the snooze button for the first time at this time.....and then I hit it again.....and again

I realize this might not seem early to you, but I hit the hay between 1:00 and 2:00 am
every....single....
night.....

I also get up at 5:00 am to give an early am feeding to my two old and ailing kitties.....

So....by the time the alarm goes off....I'm just hitting my sleep groove....

I hate getting up in the morning....

Once I've placed my feet firmly on the ground, I go downstairs and turn the heat on (or open the windows if it's summertime) put the cat's food dishes in the sink to soak and then I wash my face. I waste a stupid amount of water doing this. But, Shhhh......
don't tell......

Next.....I gain sight. Without these, my world is an impressionistic painting.

Once I can see, I get naked and step on the scale.......and before you think I'm obsessive, I know that I am not a fat person, but what you don't know is that I am not fat because I work very hard at staying fit. I like looking the best that I can. It makes me feel... confident. I honestly don't care what weight I am as long as I feel good. I know the weight range that I feel my best....so that's where I try to stay.

Next, I step in the shower and begin my second water wasting phase of my day. I get lost in the pleasure of it.....I swear to myself that I am going to keep moving but then I find myself in a daze with the hot, yummy water pouring over my skin.....Damn, it feels good!

Once I get out of the shower, I slather myself with lotion and then I dry my hair.

Next comes my 5 minute face.....seriously....it only takes me five minutes. I'm not so fancy when it comes to make-up.

Then I look at the clock and in a panic as to where the time has gone, I feed my cats (which in itself is a complicated task due to their ailments and age. Suffice it to say it requires much more than pouring some kibble in a bowl.), clean their 3 litter boxes,

pack my lunch, toast half a bagel, run upstairs to get dressed, run back down, pour coffee, slap some peanut butter on my bagel, turn of the excess lights and heat and fly out the door to my super car and head to work where I save people from a world without music.

...If only I had a super cape.

Day 19: Something I regret

I am not a person who lives with regret. I'm a" learn from, move on" kinda gal. That said (and here I'm sounding a little bit like a "Curb your Enthusiasm" episode) if I regret one thing it's that I have never been much of a risk taker. I think that I could have gone much further in life if I had just been willing to take a risk. Like I said before, though, I have the chance to move on from not being a risk taker. So......I guess we'll see what I do with that in the next few years!

Day 18: My Favorite Birthday

I know this might sound really pathetic, but I can't remember ever having a birthday that really stands out. Perhaps it's because I always shared my birthday with my mother. Her birthday is the day before mine, so we always had a joint birthday celebration on her birthday. Also, growing up, my birthday happened to always fall during the week of Parent/Teacher conferences, which meant that I was always off school on my birthday, too. Now most of you would probably be thrilled to have had your birthday off every year, but school was my escape (I know.....now this post REALLY sounds pathetic) and I had to be practically dying to miss school. So, not being there to have cupcakes in class or to hear my friends in the halls wishing me a Happy Day was a little bit of a let down. None of this to say that I didn't like my birthdays.....I just don't recall any that were especially memorable.

I'm just gonna have to say that my next birthday is my favorite.....you never know what might happen!

Day 17: My Favorite Memory

Ok, seriously.....who came up with this list of 30 days of blogs?
How am I supposed to decide what my favorite memory is?
That's like having to decide what my favorite pair of shoes is.....
or my favorite purse.....

A pair of my boots and my red purse

I truly think that this one is just impossible for me to decide upon, so.....I'm not going to.
Instead,
I'm going to tell you about a memory that always makes me smile...

I have a cat named Jake who I've had since he was just a wee, little, tiny thing.

Jake next to a teacup saucer in the bathtub.

He weighed all of 6 oz. when I got him.
He had no teeth.....
his eyes were barely open....
the vet that I first took him to told me not to expect him to live.
He was just too tiny.

My little man.

Well, survive he did.
Not only did he survive, he thrived.

He practically bounced off the walls he had so much energy.

Jake bouncing on the bed.

One day, after a long day at work, I came home and went to the bathroom that he was kept in (why he was kept in the bathroom is another story for another day)
and opened the door to find toilet paper strewn everywhere.....
and when I say everywhere,
I mean EV-ER-Y-WHERE.
The floor....the tub.....the towels on the towel racks.....the sink.....the vanity.....
and there.....
in the middle of the room....
stood my very proud, tiny, little kitten.
The look on his face was priceless.

It still makes me smile.


Remind me, sometime, to tell you about the time he landed in the toilet.......

Day 16: My first kiss

My first kiss looked like this.....


Sorry, I couldn't resist.
I realize, though, that this isn't what you want to hear.
You want.....the down and dirty, nitty gritty.

So.....you shall have it.

My first kiss was on the stairwell at my high school by our gymnasium.
I was a freshman.
I had braces.
He chewed tobacco.
Are you getting my drift?

I still laugh when I think back on it. My lips were hungry for his until I tasted that damn tobacco, not to mention the effect he had on me when he tried to slip me the tongue. I was mortified! I clenched my teeth so tightly together it would have taken a pair of pliers to pull them apart. I was thoroughly disgusted by the whole....shall I say "ordeal"?
Needless to say, I didn't date that boy for very long, although in my teenage brain,
6 weeks was like forever.

You may be relieved to find out that my opposition to the tongue quickly dissipated with the next boy or you may really not care one bit. Either way, I was on to much better kissing experiences. They were more like this.


But, those are kisses that will remain untold, because they were not my first and that's what today is about.