The Sweet Taste of Lime

What's that you say? Lime isn't sweet, it's sour? Not the Lime I'm referring to. I'm talking about Lime as in Michelle from House of Lime. Whilst heading south for a trip to the beach, Michelle stopped by the ol' treehouse for a visit and I can attest to the fact she's anything but sour. No, she's bright, sweet, tangy and a real pleasure to be with. I'd say she's a bit of a tart but that's just me trying to be funny.

Anyhow, it's an interesting thing when bloggers meet. I had the opportunity to meet 'Lime' face-to-face last summer. We had a lovely lunch at a nearby eatery where it would be safe for either of us to make a hasty exit should they find themselves face to face with crazy. Fortunately, Lime wasn't just normal, she was lovely, fun to be around, good natured and best of all, neglected to detect the crazy in me... Which is odd, because by my account, I didn't do a very good job of hiding it. So imagine my surprise when she contacted me last week to let me know she'd be passing through town again.

So Wednesday night, two bloggers came together once again but this time Lime got to meet the whole family for dinner at the actual 'Treehouse'. Since my husband wasn't sure what to expect, unbeknownst to me, he logged on to my computer, found my blog roll and spent some time familiarizing himself with 'The House of Lime.' Which added quite an element of surprise to our dinner conversation.

Fun huh? Bloggers getting together for an actual face to face. Or as Lime's daughter like's to refer to us 'Freaks in a Box' makin' it real... Even more fun is when blogger friends bear gifts.

Look! She gifted each family member with a pair of tie-dyed tube socks... Now THAT'S a really special splash of Lime!

From the Humor Dept.

As it pertains to blogging, I'm always in love with a NEW idea and this one just tickles my funny bone:

http://crabbyoldfart.wordpress.com/

And since my son is closing in on 6' 2" and much to my dismay, can comfortably rest his chin on the top of my head, I dedicate the following post to him.


http://crabbyoldfart.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/god-damned-giant-teenagers-get-my-goat/

In honor of my NEXT 500 blog posts...

I can hardly believe it but THIS is my 501st post!!! (my thanks to my boy for noticing... I'm not much on catching on to the intricacies of all this here bloggin' stuff!)

Anyway, in honor of all the amazing and informative text I've shared with you over the past 500 posts... Everything from 'When the men buy the pants' to my sons possible need to 'Go Commando'.... I'm proud to announce myself as the recipient of not just one but TWO awards.

Behold my awesomeness...

This award bestowed upon me by that nature lovin', marathon runnin', attitude dishin' Stacie. She's my gal to the nearby south, who I'd like to confirm, I'd absolutely love to meet face-to-face and do a lunch/craft store thing (or even better a photo safari in D.C.) before she's up, up and away with her husband to their next tour of duty. Thanks so much Stace and here's a little extra scribble for you ~~~~

But wait, here's my second 'Fabulous' award:


This one from that Belle from the south She loves decorating AND she's a sometimes scrapbooker which means she plays with paper, so I just gotta love her! Thanks Belle and in the interest of following through with the rules of a Fabulous Blogger, here is a list of 5 of my addictions:

1. Oatmeal with Cinnamon & Splenda brown sugar. I eat it every day except Sunday's, that's when my husband makes pancakes. Should I be referring to oatmeal as an addiction? Yes, because nothing else leaves me satisfied as a breakfast meal and sometimes dinner too!
   
2. Ribbon... I LOVE ribbon, be it wired, grossgrain, satin or florist... It's my ultimate wish to own every style, every pattern and every color... Ribbon just makes me happy and it makes me a complete and total dork, I know.
   
3. Since the title of this blog IS 'The Paper Treehouse' I guess it's a given that I LOVE paper... I have stacks and stacks of it in my studio... Addiction? well, I can't mainline it, but it's pretty much a staple in my creative life.
4. Okay, I'm embarressed to admit this but *hanging head to avoid the dis-satisfied glares, fingers pointing at me, and all the tsk-tsking*... I'm addicted to solitaire. My son has tried to get me to play other games, minesweep, spider, scrabble, you name it. Anything to get me to stop that annoying mouse clicking. I always play draw one, vegas style. I've won thousands and lost millions. Why do I indulge in this monumentous time waster? It's what I do when I'm avoiding something I don't really want to do ie. housework, homework, you name it.
5. Photography blogs... If I spent as much time taking pictures as I did looking at pictures people take? Well, for one I'd be begging for a better camera and two, the probability is I'd just be taking a truck load of crappy pictures... I really should however, work harder at trying to understand exactly how a camera works. Maybe that's when I'll achieve photography blog worthy photos.

So yeah, I'm sure you were expecting something a little more Addiction worthy, but it doesn't take 500 blog posts to come to the conclusion, I'm NO Courtney Love and I'm certainly NO Amy Winehouse. I'm just your plain ol' run of the mill, oatmeal chuggin' goody-goody. Hope I didn't disappoint anyone.

But I Feel Like I Know You...

This past Thursday I had the unique opportunity to meet one of my favorite blogger friends face to face. It was fun, she was sweet and gracious and I am grateful she would even consider taking time away from her vacation to spend listening to me babble on... Which is exactly what I did.

As always, when I'm unsure of myself, I revisit the event and agonize over my ineptitude... Which is what I've been doing for the past 2 1/2 days. You see, when I'm nervous I have this really annoying habit of exposing too much... Not physically (though that might be nearly as uncomfortable to witness) but in a personal way. For example, on our first date I told my husband my entire life story, sordid details of my dysfunctional upbringing, insane family members and all. Amazingly and gratefully enough, he continued to ask me out and eventually married me, despite my lack of restraint and my crazy family. My lunch with Lime, followed pretty much the same script. I guess I kind of lay it all out there as a bi-product of a take me or leave me attitude. Also, over time, I've left some rather cryptic comments on her blog regarding my past and assumed it was important to fill in the blanks. But here's the WORST part. Because I didn't want to come off as an 'It's All About Me' person, I asked her questions regarding some of her more personal blog posts... Because hey, after a couple years of reading her blog, well, I feel like I know her... Oh please, just shoot me now! I probably coerced her into sharing more of her private self with me than she dared, yet she was reciprocal and interesting the whole time.

You know NORMALLY, face to face, I think I can be pretty humorous, albeit in a rather sarcastic way. So I ask myself, why didn't I stick with laughable topics like boob jobs, bowling girls & why I'm afraid of the drive-thru car wash? Instead I got all dark and heavy with my topics of conversation. Then to make matters worse, I bragged about how wonderful my kids are... Ya, that's the kiss of death. Nothing bores another mother to tears more, than having to listen to someone yammer on about their precious darlings. Not that I ever refer to my son and daughter as 'precious' or 'darling' but I might've spent a bit too much time listing their merits. However, once again my dear blogger friend smiled and engaged me in the conversation and though she may not know it, I really DID enjoy getting the opportunity to learn more about her and her family.

So, there it is folks! What it's like to meet me face to face. Line forms to the right.... What, no takers?... Yep, I don't blame you.

More Weirdness on the Web...

*Image from my t-shirt, I put it on in order to take a picture of me in it but when I looked in the bathroom mirror it appeared backwards (duh!) and seemed to read as an odd spelling of 'Boobs', so I decided to go this route.

First let me state that I am a HUGE fan of the blog Dooce and it's author Heather B. Armstrong. I've been reading this particular blog even before I knew what blogging was. How so, you ask? I was studying interior design and searching on the web as to how one might install recessed lighting in a plaster and lathe ceiling and BAM!... There, in all its glory were the painstaking details of the kitchen that Heather and her husband gutted and refurbished in their craftsman style home. The thing was, it wasn't written in a sterile manner, nor a 'Handyman's' guide on 'How To'... It was written with great humor and angst. I myself had lived through a kitchen remodel whilst pregnant and I could completely relate!

I fell hard for Heather, I want to hang-out with Heather, I want to be able to write and photograph like Heather.... and I've got the 'Dooce' t-shirt to prove it (though I wish it was made in a slightly bigger size) ... In fact, Dooce is the first blog I read every day (she unfortunately takes weekends off.) I'm sure many of the 100's of thousands who read her blog relate to Heather in different ways. I myself being a 'recovering Mormon' see great humor and truth in much of what she 'calls out' on this particular subject. I too have the 10 yr. old mentality in which God is going to cast me out for no longer closing my eyes when I'm surrounded with people in prayer.

"And one time during a prayer I let my eyes slip open and was immediately struck with a panic that THE LORD WOULD KNOW. And he was right now sending my sleeping bag from the Celestial level of heaven all the way down to the Telestial level where I and all the rapists and murderers and women who wore revealing tank tops would spend the rest of our eternity."

From today's post Wed. May 7th 2008 - We're back in the will!

Which leads me to 'Today'... The morning talk show, to be exact. This morning the show did a piece on 'Mommy Bloggers' and Heather Armstrong was featured in an interview. Here's where the weirdness comes in... I was so excited to see this interview because it felt as though my own sister was taking part. I felt nervous for her, I critiqued what she was wearing, I wanted to give Kathy Lee a swift kick when 'she who knows nothing about blogging' began saying it made her uncomfortable. I also felt the interview was over far too quickly.

How strange it is, this thing, that is blogging. I know more intimate details of the lives of the people I read about than I do most of my family members, ie. Parents, Brother, Sisters. I relate and sympathize with the joys and the pains of these individuals. We know little truth of the celebrities who are featured within the pages of People and Us type magazines. Most items are sensationalized by a money hungry media. Frankly, I have little use for the gossip those publications condone. But a person who manages the daily up's and down's of life and writes honestly and well of the humor found therein? Well, that's someone I can relate to.