Numbers 9, 10 and 11

I have got to finish this darned list. It's fun and all, but it makes me feel like I can't blog anything else 'til it is finished, so I don't blog at all when I don't feel like list blogging. Yes, that is a new blogging term I just created. List blogging: A method of blogging where an individual (or group of individuals) post based upon specific assignments, lists of topics or questionnaires. List blogging. Oh, silly me. I must have thought I was doing a spelling bee for a minute (which is why I said "List blogging" again at the end). You've seen spelling bees haven't you? They'll answer like this: Abdicate. A-b-d-i-c-a-t-e. Abdicate. And now, of course, I am wanting to tell you all about the third grade humiliation of getting out on the simple word "tern" in my first and only spelling bee. Perhaps I would have asked for them to give me a definition had I known a bird called a "tern" existed. Alas, I did not know, so I, very hesitantly (hesitantly because I knew something could not be right -- them asking me such an easy word and all), spelled the good old U-turn kind of turn, "t-u-r-n," then I looked at them with nervously skeptical eyebrows knit and raised, and they sent me away.

BUT, I must press on! Spelling bee experiences are not on the list! Stick to the list, Nancy! Stick to it!

OK. Fine. See if I care. I think lists are fun anyway.

9. A Knicknack (or nick nack or knick knack or knick nack or nick knack . . . I'm not altogether sure):

When I saw that on the list, I thought it sounded so fun. I envisioned myself telling all about some clever and special little gadget. I didn't picture what that gadget was specifically, but I sort of had an overall impression of something opening and closing and seeming also slightly sentimental or, at least, charming.

However, when I went wandering about my house looking for this special little knicknack, I realized I have NO knicknacks. Even being slightly uncertain what traits classify an object as a knicknack, I was still able to see, clearly, that I had none.

I think I used to have a drawer full of things in my younger days that were knicknack-ish. But my new self (the self who is forever having a heart attack about all things clutter that inevitably exist in a household with children, etc.) must have become expert at non-knicknack-keeping. Too bad. Maybe there are some in a dusty box downstairs, but I don't want to search that hard all for the sake of this list.

So, these were the only things I kept seeing around that made me think, "knicknack," and they aren't even mine. Mike bought them for the kids one time. They have another little pal who is lying around here somewhere but couldn't be found for the photo shoot. You shake them a little and they clack away like they are happily jabbering.

10. Last Thing Purchased:

I'm not going to bother to take a picture of these. You can find them at your local grocers. It was some Luden's throat drops (cherry flavor). We've all had sore throats around here, and, to be honest, those Luden's drops don't seem to do a bit of good. But the Hall's (and other similar varieties) that actually seem to slightly medicate or tumble little vapors into your throat taste so awful that my kids won't take them for nothin'. I think the Luden's are so I can at least give them something at night for a little comforting placebo effect. They seem to think they need them.

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11. Favorite Room in Your House:

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That would easily be my little front room. I like the blue wall and the hardwood floors. Mostly I like that I have actually hung things in that room. I have a sad sad inability to ever ever hang a thing on my walls. I don't know what I am always waiting for. The perfect thing? The courage? I don't know, but truly my walls are as empty as any walls could ever possibly be -- save for this one room where some small burst of bravery or energy or whatever it is that makes people hang things must have once momentarily possessed me.P.S. Can I tell you all a little secret? I have been messing with a nice camera these days -- learning how to control my own settings and what not. One of the most exciting things I have recently began learning is to take a picture of something (you know, like a child) with bright light behind them with out them turning out all silhouettey and dark. While I have been learning to do it by exposing the subject correctly first and then keeping those settings for the broader picture, I was pleased to see what a little knowledge could do with even just a point and shoot camera in plain old full auto mode. I once took pictures to remember our first apartment by. Unfortunately it was the days before you could see what you'd done (pre-digital camera days). The fact that I'd taken them all in broad daylight with a sliding glass door in the background meant that all we have to remember our apartment by are a few detailless pics of very shadowy looking furniture and walls.

Anywho, I wasn't doing anything fancy today -- not even using my good camera. I had just grabbed our tiny point and shoot camera to get pictures for this post, but that same thing was happening with the above photo by the window. So, I simply focused my camera on a darker corner away from the window, then, keeping the button held halfway down moved back to the picture by the window. Wa-lah! My furniture didn't turn to silhouettes since I'd fooled my camera into thinking I was taking a picture not into direct light. There. You can all do that now even if you know nothing and have a cheep camera. Isn't that fun?