5 Things...

Another Mama Kat prompt! This one seems to be a Blogger favorite over at the linky party, so I thought that I too shall bless you with 15 little niblets of awesomeness. Here goes!

5 Things You Don't Know About Yours Truly:

1. I can pop my toes and pick things up with them. It creeps my Mom out seeing as she can't consciously bend her own. I don't know who the freak of the family is, me or her. My Sister can clean an entire room using only her toes. Maybe we're both circus freaks.
2. I love the band No Doubt. I love Gwen Stefani. I LOVE HER LOVE STORY WITH GAVIN ROSSDALE AND OMG HER BAAAAABIESSSSSS. I am a sucker for them! I see pics of them holding hands online and my eyes get all teared up... THAT'S LOVE, PEOPLE! I remember reading an article in High School on how they fell in love during their first tour together (y'all, remember the blue hair and the bindi, right?) and how his band mates would sing "Everything Gwen" to the tune of "Everything Zen" and that just sealed the damn deal right there. When they broke up for a moment, I longed for them to get back together. When they got Married, I bought every magazine with their story and read them on my flights headed to visit my boyfriend at the time. I've drug my Husband to a No Doubt concert and when I was 8 months pregnant, went to a Gwen Stefani concert and almost got into a full fledged brawl. Hormones and Gwen Stefani lead to a near lethal combination, JUST SO YOU KNOW.
3. I'm a Feminist Princess. I live in the South so I fully expect men to open doors for me, even at the gas station... but I'm also totally a bra burner. DOWN WITH UNDER-WIRE!
4. I hate crying. You can go ahead and cry all you want, but I get physically embarrassed when myself or someone else is crying. It's all I can do not to crawl out of my own skin and exit the building. Men crying? FORGETABOUTIT. I just can't handle it. Before you think I'm being insensitive, I've always been this way. I also get uncomfortable when someone is singing or performing on a stage. I can't sit in my seat without wanting to boil myself alive. It has nothing to do with the performers themselves, it's just how I am. ((Unless of course we're talking about seeing a CONCERT concert. That's something else entirely.))
5. I love to cook almost as much as I love to craft. If my day involves combining different elements to make something thoroughly enjoyable to the masses, I am so there.

 Seriously... I heart her. Her and her family are sinfully dreamy.

5 Things I'm knowledgeable about:

1. Coffee. Espresso. Lattes. I worked at Starbucks long enough to know that there IS a serious difference between "Starbucks Cafe's" inside Publix/Targets/Barnes and Nobles (they are NOT real Starbucks. Neither are the majority of the Airport locations for that matter.) I know I like my coffee ground almost to espresso and velvety in "texture." I used to love it with cream (and then Jenny Craig happened.) Now, I'm ok drinking it black with a few Splenda. I love the coffee section at Grocery stores and will squeeze EVERY.LAST.BAG to find the perfect one.
2. Cleaning products. I'm very particular about them. I'm weaning us off of the cleaners we grew up with (the ones that could probably kill you with their fumes alone) and into the natural cleaners. So far I love me some Method and Seventh Generation. Yes they are mainstream "green" cleaners but they are freaking fabulous. FABULOUS. I can even hand my daughter their antibacterial wipes and not worry about her going blind or growing a 3rd arm.
3. Childhood rashes. I had scarlet fever as a child, my son has broken out into spontaneous unexplainable rashes since birth and my daughter has eczema. I'm used to spots now and what I have to do to soothe them.
4. Anxiety. Speaking of which... anybody got a paper bag? I have been fighting some serious panic for days.
5. Not letting my kids get boxed into "Kids Bop #1,382,501,243." I'm sorry. But life's too short for bad renditions of good music. Specifically when they take out the soul of the artist's TRUE vision for their artwork. Lillie loves music, who am I to tell her she's not old enough for Florence + the Machine or Adele? She loves them, she questions me if she gets confused and she moves on.

LILLIE'S MOST FAVE-WIT FLOW-WENCE SONG!

5 Things I believe in:

1. That Children should be nurtured and their interests supported. Whether they want to express themselves through interpretive dance, have no interest in physics, want to take cars apart, whatever... let them LEARN! Yes they still need the basics, but they need life skills and they need PASSION! The great inventors and thinkers of the world didn't get their names in books and etched into the skulls of every student because they weren't both driven and drunk with hearts full of knowledge that left them begging to learn more.
2. The power of knowing your mind and being in tune with your body. I can tell when I'm off and I know when it's time to go to the Doctor. I don't go just to get checked out. I know when my body can't handle sticking it out anymore. And while I know the mind is a great thing (see above) and that there are some great alternatives to medicine for anxiety/depression, I also know that without the help of medicine my kids might not have had a Mother today. Telling people to rely on a Higher Power to cure them as opposed to seeking immediate medical attention, TO ME, is like playing Russian Roulette. I have seen first hand how powerful prayer and faith are, but there are times when intervention is necessary. This may or may not be a touchy subject for me.
3. Attempting to see a situation from ALL sides before jumping to conclusions. I know that I have moments where being around certain people have shut that filter off and at the end of the day I feel ashamed of myself for judging and or gossiping about others for something they may or may not have said/done/etc. It's not who I am, and I would be embarrassed if my children acted that way. I am actively attempting to leave those friends behind who make it too easy to become this type of toxic person. It's easy to do when I think about how horrible they talk behind their own friends backs. If they talk that way TO me, what are they saying ABOUT me? It's not worth my time worrying about.
4. The power of CHOCOLATE. Should I dare elaborate? I think not.
5. The power of *good* music. Again, should I say more?

 Goosebumps from the second the crowd cheered.