Five Lists of Five Things

Inspired by fellow bloggers, Rara, Rutabega, Benzeknees, and Cats and Chocolate, I will be presenting five lists of five (yes, the title of the post is included in the first paragraph…isn’t that annoying?).  I love these other bloggers, love their writing, their wit, their use of fun pictures, so I am challenging myself to be on their level (but will probably not use pictures…I’m almost phobic.)  Without further adieu:

Five Things I am Passionate About:

1)  Reading.  On my Kindle.  I read nearly everything I come across in a book review, as a book a blogger I read has written, books mentioned at work, by my family members, because it had a pretty cover.  I do not discriminate.  The need to read runs deep within me.

2) Dogs.  My dogs are my best friends.  When I am happy, they jump around like crazy.  When I am sad, they jump around like crazy (and lick my face when I am crying).  When I have to be away from the pups, I get very sad, and coming home to them at the end of the day is what I imagine it is like for parents who love their children.  They are my kids, my life.

3) Grammar.  I find very few typos and grammatical errors in my writing, because, where there are not rules, I make up the rules.  I am known to overuse the comma.  Me and the comma are tight.

4) Family.  I work in my family business and see both parents most days, even if just for a little while.  If I am not working and haven’t called or come by in three or four days, I get emails and texts and calls about what is possibly wrong with me.  “We’re concerned.”  It may seem like too much for some people, but I love it and I live it and it works for me.

5) Taking care of myself mentally.  There are many things I must do to manage my bipolar disorder, and I do them without aplomb, knowing often that I have blown someone off or given someone the wrong idea or made it look like I am a slave to my routine.  It’s not like that.  I know what it takes to stay on an even keel, and I am willing and ready to do that, regardless of most consequences.

Five Things I Would Like to Do Before I Die:

1) Visit somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico with DSB and the dogs.  Load up on all the good fish and seafood we can, and then put as much as we can on dry ice and run back to Kansas before it all goes bad.

2) Get married.  I have DSB, so I have one of the requisite parts for this, but marriage is not likely in our future, for many reasons.  I am okay with that, but I’m going to keep dreaming that one day he’ll pop a black box with a ring into my hand.  A girl has to have dreams!

3) Get really good at taking photos, like with a camera.  I am hopeless at this but see so much inspiration around me, mostly Marilyn.  She is amazing, and if I can get half as good and collect half the number of camera gizmos she has, I might get somewhere.

4) Write something and get it published.  A lot of people have this dream, and I am not super hurried or rushed or obsessed.  I just think it would be nice to have something out there, that people can read or not read, that I wrote.  Lord knows I have plenty of subject matter in my brain.

5) Have a real, in-person best friend.  I have lots of online friends, but it would be really great if I had a go-to friend that lived even in the same region as me that I could see and visit with on a regular basis.  It would be nice to have someone to go do things with, like visit all the junk and antique shops scattered throughout the back-highways of Kansas and Missouri.  You know, girl stuff.

Five Things I Say A Lot:

1) Mother Fucker!

2) I forgot!

3) Let me tell you a little something…

4) Have a good one!

5) I love you

Five Books or Magazines I Have Read Lately:

1) Harbor Freight Catalog

2) Disappearing in Plain Sight by Frances Guennete

3) The Orange Buffalo by Grayson Queen

4) Most of the “Odd Thomas” series by Dean Koontz

5) Twelve Foot TeePee by Marilyn Armstrong

Five Favorite Movies:

1) Backdraft

2) Top Gun

3) The Hangover (all three!)

4) Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion

5) Forrest Gump

Ack, I’m so predictable in many ways, but this has been a fun list.  There’s still time for you to do one, and don’t forget to link up to everyone at the beginning!