Just a thought....

Do I dare ask what the challenge involves? I'm not actually sure I want to know, but I can't NOT ask at this point... :-ss

I think I may have seen a picture of this online, and my guess is that you have to dump the ice over your head.

Sounds like Mr. kmk is a good egg.

Yes, if you are on Instagram or Facebook it is everywhere. (Gov. Christie just did it as well.)

It involves dumping a large bucket of ice water over your head and nominating others to do the same and spread the word for ALS Reasearch.

http://pix11.com/2014/08/13/gov-chris-christie-takes-on-ice-bucket-challenge/

Just a thought....
Everyone should be able to keep just one little "vice" and NOT feel guilty about it.

I have been to a series of doctor's lately and all of the finger-wagging gets old!

I think that each one of us should embrace (nay celebrate!) one aspect of our imperfect selves.
We would then experience a lot less stress and maybe even be healthier overall as a result grin

So go ahead, admit you do not floss, you occasionally sneak a cigarette, you like an extra glass of wine, that ice cream gives you comfort or you simply do not like fish etc.! I am all for reality!

laundry is the "crack" of domestic chores, nothing feels as good as when all the laundry is done, an intense high, but it doesnt last, you are feeling euphoric and then you get in your jamies, and boom, dirty laundry!

I have long thought that wildly adventurous individuals have more rituals and fixed routines than the average adult. They may travel to foreign lands but still take tea at 4:00PM etc. The process of creating something new, alien and unfamiliar seems to require the comfort of a routine. The known world -warts and all - is a place to relax at the end of the day.

I am now reading a fascinating book, "Daily Rituals: How Artists Work" and find that I was pretty much correct!

Ask anyone who travels extensively for business (though not "wildly adventurous", but the similarity is there) how they get through the constant back and forth... for me when I was away about half of every month it's staying in the same hotels whenever I can, dinner in one or two regular faves in whatever city I'm in, etc. Same goes for vacations to unfamiliar places... always make time for a breather, and get a full, leisurely breakfast.

@ctrzaska, my husband adheres to the same travel strategy. When away from home he has his favorite spots in every city. When I travel to say, San Francisco, with him and i suggest we get coffee at a cute corner shop he is adament that we go to "his" spot instead.

When you work all day trying ti decipher maps etc. in a place where everything is new to you, having the "known entity" spots in town are a welcome because they require little effort.

Observation #5

More thoughts on "Adventurous Types" of people. I have noticed that many adventurous types are very happy. Some are happy despite some horrible things in their life and despite some less than luxurious surroundings or circumstances

I am just now realizing that their happiness is the result of constantly trying new things and often failing but then trying again fueled by their own continued curiosity. They have freed themselves from negative criticism and as a result they are much more likely to persist until they simply "get things done." Their nimble problem-solving skills often result in strikingly new solutions. There is joy in getting things done, accomplishing something.

The other quality that I just noticed is folks who are willing to put themselves into unknown situations, travel to distant lands, change-up their circumstances or surroundings (and figure a way back home) have sort of inoculated themselves against other devastating blows in life. They have developed a bit of immunity to disappointment if things in life don't go "as planned". They are much more likely to pick up the pieces, change tacks and seek out other solutions. Where one individual might be traumatized by job loss, dissolution of a marriage, or a move to an unknown area, an adventurous soul would know from experience that they will survive and they just would roll with it devising new solutions along the way.

I now realize that these two qualities are very important elements of happiness. I will strive to remain adventurous in mind and body and hope my kids are watching and that they follow in my foot steps.

It's an interesting way to think at it. I don't consider myself adventurous at all, but I'm always reimagining something...so maybe I am adventurous but right now it's in my mind???

I don't know, I'm definitely introverted and a homebody, but I consider myself very happy, even if it's in my own world.

Observation #6

It is my opinion that sofas, or entire seating areas for that matter, do NOT belong in kitchens. Not only because upholsered surfaces will pick up the smells of cooking, but because a kitchen is no where to relax!

Architectural Digest just posted a photograph of a kitchen with a sofa. It is quite lovely and even inviting.
http://tinyurl.com/nkjjvzk

This is not real life though! It is a stage-set thought up by some designer who convinced (or was convinced by) the homeowner that it would be "Fun". Think about it... you spend the whole day in the kitchen and it is never quite clean enough or tidy enough. Do you think the cook who works there wants to relax 2 feet away and look at the kitchen even more?

Do you think children will sit there quietly and watch you cook? Um, no.

The opposite scenario is when folks over for dinner. I love to cook and I enjoy entertaining. I also love cooking with my friends. That does not mean that I want my guests to park their butt on the sofa and watch me work alone!

Rant over. I get kind of opinionated about a few things grin

And how many times would you catch your tender chef's ankle on that bar rail before you reached for a screwdriver and yanked it out?


j_r said:

And how many times would you catch your tender chef's ankle on that bar rail before you reached for a screwdriver and yanked it out?


Oh, god, yes. I wouldn't have allowed them to install that. And the seating area is cute, but it strikes me as totally absurd. Are you going to be cooking a meal while a book club meets over there, or what?

I don't understand the whole Open Concept notion. Why would you want your kitchen to be part of your living area?

We have a fully open concept in our current house, and I have to say I'm not a fan. It's very pretty and incredibly spacious, but I actually preferred our house in West Orange, where the kitchen had DOORS you could SHUT. Thank goodness our next house has a partially open plan, with some areas that are closed and others that are nice and open. Best of both worlds, I think.

I LOVE doors (with little windows in them to the dining room grin )

Our house had a swinging (heavy) door between the kitchen and dining room. It was a nuisance to deal with every time you went through the door, especially carrying platters or lots of dirty dishes. We took that off when we remodeled and left the doorway open. But the walls are still in place, so it's a "modified" open plan. But it does make carrying the Thanksgiving turkey into the dining room a lot easier!

I use the "butt bump" technique ☺

We had a swinging door from the kitchen to the dining room, but it was easy to lodge in the "open" position, which is how it was most of the time. We also had a normal raised panel door between the kitchen and the living room on the other side, which was also open all the time.

In the new house, there is a French door between the kitchen's eat-in area and the formal living room, and a six-panel door between the kitchen's work area and the formal dining room. I really like it that I will be able to keep doors between one part of the house and another, given our crotchety cat situation. I'm sure Tigger will appreciate being left to a peaceful existence with a closed door between her and her "friends." And I will be happy not to have the smells of fish or fried chicken in the bathroom towels and bedroom linens.

My thought of the day is that small houses are easy to keep clean because even small amounts of clutter require action. Large houses allow the inhabitants to move crap into other rooms and forget about it!

I am just home from spending time in a small beach house. Now that I am back in my "big" house the amount of clutter is overwhelming. (Yes, this happens to me every year. Keep an eye out in the near future for multiple posts on swap and freecycle!!)


If you ever need a small amount of money from the atm right away (for something like a parking pay station , train ticketsor a haircut) the person ahead of you at the atm will be re-financing their mortgage.


I love when the person at the ATM ahead of me is depositing multiple checks into the machine instead of going into the bank and depositing them.


mlj said:
I love when the person at the ATM ahead of me is depositing multiple checks into the machine instead of going into the bank and depositing them.

You can now put a pile of checks into the ATM at once, so that shouldn't be as big an issue. I for one HATE to go into the bank to do anything, so I do my deposits at the ATM (or even at home via my phone in many cases.)


I woke up worried about our daughter's scheduled wisdom teeth extraction (on Friday the 13th) and I am going to sleep grateful for the safety for our immediate family in the 10th and 11th Arrondissements of Paris tonight. 

What a day.


glad your family is ok @kmk


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