Blog Challenge Day 19: My Worst Habits

My longest-lasting worst habit is biting my fingernails.  I'm pretty sure I started to do it when I stopped sucking my thumb, just replacing one oral habit with another....and, at 52 years of age, I still have trouble.  I know I do it more when I'm worried or stressed (which are synonymous), but I'll also nibble while I'm watching TV or reading.  As for any other bad habits I may have, you'd have to check with Michael....I'm sure he has his own list!  Ha!  So I'll never do nail polish ads for Avon, big whoop...hopefully that's the worst habit I'll ever have, because at least it doesn't hurt other people.

Blog Challenge Day 18: Thing(s) I'm Most Afraid Of

Heights, confined spaces (claustrophobic), and, when my kids were little, I would have irrational fears of them drowning. The first two fears have gotten worse as I've gotten older, and the last one has decreased now that my kids are grown.  I would never, EVER leave them unattended in the bathtub, I can tell you that! 

Blog Challenge Day 17: Favorite Childhood Book, or Of Mice and Fairy Tales

Whoo, boy.  This is a tough one.  The problem here is that I remember what the book looks like, and I remember the gist of the story, but I can't remember what it was titled!  I can picture the cover and the illustrations....oh, well, here's the synopsis.  Maybe somebody out there knows this book, too,  cuz I don't own it anymore, and I'm sure it's out of print.  It's the story of a little mouse whose hole was in the bedroom of a little girl and boy.  Every night the father would read the children a bedtime story from a large book, and the little mouse would sit, enraptured, out of sight and listen to Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, etc.  So one day, when the family is gone, he sneaks out and opens up the book.  He has a wonderful time looking at all the pictures that match the stories he's heard!  But then, he comes across a story in the book that he doesn't recognize!  He keeps hoping, night after night, that the dad will read it, but the little boy and girl keep requesting others.  Then, one night, the father finally begins to read a new tale, and the mouse is so excited!  But, oh, no, the cat comes into the room!  So the little mouse runs into his hole and doesn't get to hear the end of the story.  Days go by and the father doesn't tell that story, so the mouse sneaks out again, finds one of the little girl's hair ribbons, and uses it to mark the spot in the book.  That night the father asks who put the ribbon in the book, and the children don't have a clue.  The mouse holds his breath...will the father pick another story, or will he choose that one?  Are you on the edge of your seat yet? Yes!  The father decides to read the story marked by the ribbon, and finally, FINALLY, the little mouse will find out what happens to the characters he saw in that tale!  ..... The End 


 P.S.  I looked on Google images and Goodreads, in the hopes that I'd stumble across it, but no luck!  If I ever find it, trust me, you'll be among the first to know!

Blog Challenge Day 16: Dream a Little Dream of Me

My 'dream job' would be not to have one.  That's the bottom line.  I'd love to be home, pursuing projects that I enjoy, and having the flexibility to spend time with my parents, my children and my grandchildren as the situations present themselves.  That being said, however, I think I've got the next best thing in the job I have now.  I've been a classroom para (teacher's aide) since 1997, and due to district budget cuts, I was informed 18 months ago that my position would disappear at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.  But the librarian at another school in Montrose was retiring at Christmas break, and so I applied for that job.  I'm in heaven!  I get to spend my days with children and books, and it is a perfect match! I build my own lesson plans, get to read to kids, and I have my own little world to work in each day!  Add the fact that I get weekends and holidays off, and I've got it made in the shade!  So I may not be dreaming, but my reality is a pretty sweet deal!
...which leads beautifully into the next blog challenge, which is...

Blog Challenge Day 15: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Thought it might be helpful to go back and paste in the original topics for this blog challenge that my daughters and I have taken on....so here we are, on Day 15 already!  But before I begin the boring list of my day, I have a link that is a followup to my entry of Day 10...my first celebrity crush.  And, 'scuse me, he's still pretty crush-worthy!

http://www.aol.com/video/donny-osmond-to-be-a-grandfather-again/517396267/?ncid=webmail6

Yeah, the title gives it away, but so what?


Anyway, on to the timeline of my day, and since it's summer, it's pretty short!

*Sleep in til about 8:30
*Grab my water bottle, yogurt and most recent Harry Potter book, head outside to sun for about 1/2 an hour. (This also involves throwing the ball for Viva, and pulling large chunks of hair out of Lizzie, who is still molting.)
*Shower, get dressed, blah, blah, blah
*Do a chore or two around the house
*Eat lunch, take a nap, crochet most recent baby afghan
*Watch NCIS or Big Bang Theory
*Dinner
*Chat with husband
*Crochet some more
*Go to bed

There are slight variations on this theme every day, but those are the basics.  I plan to do some serious grandchild bonding this summer, too, as I will be taking care of Monroe for a week or so in July while her regular babysitter is on vacation, and then it will be time for the next babies to arrive!  Ah, summer...this is why I work for pennies for the public education system!

Blog Challenge: Day 14: My Mary Poppins Bag

What we women carry in our 'handbags' (a quaint old term!) is supposed to tell a lot about us.  A truly frightening thought.  My current purse contains the following:
Wallet
Cinnamon Altoids
Hand sanitizer
Bandaids
Tiny scissors
A small LDS hymnbook
A deck of cards
Sunglasses
2 small plastic clamps
3 pens, 1 of which is empty
Wicked Witch of the West sticky notes
Straw wrappers (Sonic Happy Hour residue)

So bring me your injured, your grimy, your morning breath, your threads hanging off clothing (Go Fish, anyone?)!  I gotcha covered!  Oh, and my keys are no longer kept in my bag, because no matter how large or small the purse is, I will dig for 10 minutes to try and find them every time!  It ain't called my "Mary Poppins bag" for nothing!

A Disturbance in the Force

Well, well, well, looky what we have here!  Cindy Mahan is attempting to conquer yet another modern technological field by starting a blog!  My daughters are my inspiration for this daunting endeavor, so I will have them to thank (or chastise!) as I try to navigate the blogger world!  No guarantees as to the quality, or quantity, of these posts.  I plan to use this as a forum for 1) finishing up the '31 Day Blog Challenge' that I have been participating in via email up to this point, and 2) posting reviews of books.  Books, and reading them, is my most favoritist form of entertainment and relaxation, after spending time with my husband, kids and grandkids, of course!  So hold on tight, family and friends...it could get a little crazy...but then, that's definitely a 'Mahan Thing'!