Friday afternoon catch-up

As many people know, I’ve been guilty of more than one occasion of having things pile up in my inbox, flagged and then forgotten. It is the curse of a thinly spread working mom.

About two months back, Rebecca at The Green Baby Guide tagged my blog. And I thought, OK that would be fun. I'll do that. And then a funny thing happened on the way to my computer.

Life (you know, those things that happen when you’re not online) got in the way.

We had holidays. And family crisises. And work crisises. And personal crisises. And work crisises. And a crisis of faith. And more work crisises. And somewhere in there, I needed to sleep, feed and diaper the kiddos and pay the bills with the miracle money that’s not in my checkbook. It gets a little overwhelming at times.

So, after a week of not blogging and getting my head back on straight, I’m back. And we’ll start with something fun: the past-due tag.

Here 7 fun facts about myself, and they have nothing to do with being green today:

1. I was dangerously close to a brown belt in tae kwon do in college. (One bad flying roundhouse kick, and it was over.)
2. I asked God for my husband to go back to the Methodist church, where his family celebrates, and for him to get a job. I am getting instead an unemployed Catholic. Which proves God has a sense of humor! (We do have a plan though, and things are falling into place somewhat.)
3. I am starting to train for my fourth half-marathon this spring after putting off taking care of myself for the last year. Needless to say, I will not be up with the Kenyans!
4. My dream was to be a bestselling novelist with the white-picket fence and a house overlooking the ocean and two kids by the age of 25. By the age of 25, I was an ex-reporter, going through a career change, no kids, no house and was reading lots of bestselling novels. Though someone did tell me the other day I should write a book...Who knows?
5. I am addicted to Harry Potter and John Cusak movies. I can’t enjoy either because 1) Who has time to read with kids? And 2) John Cusak movies aren’t always family fare.
6. I have kayaked in both oceans and puked in only one. (Gosh, by reading this list, you’d think I was athletic or something…ha!)
7. My dream is to visit Ireland, Italy, Alaska, Australia and New Zealand. I would settle for breaking those up into separate trips.

Here are seven non-friend, non-work-related blogs I enjoy reading, which I will share in case you are killing time on a Friday afternoon:

1. May Dreams Gardens, a local gardening blog. Personally, I’m also glad to know IT people have creativity and a sense of humor!
2. In My Kitchen Garden, which is always inspirational – even in the dead of winter.
3. Biblical Womanhood, which helps push me with some inspiration on many subjects when I seem to need it
4. Feed Me, Drink Me, an Indianapolis blog that focuses on local food. There’s a passion there, and I always appreciate passionate writing.
5. 5 Minutes for Going Green. An interesting mix of greenness geared toward parents and people who love old-fashioned note writing and notecards.
6. The Green Parent, who has recently taken on “Waste-Free Wednesdays” as examples to others.
7. Money Saving Mom. While not a “green” blog, it focuses on extending your tight budgets and making the most of what you have.

And, because it's tradition or something, here are the alleged rules for this tag game, which may or may not be broken:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you and share the rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself
3. Tag seven people and list their links in your post
4. Tell those 7 people by commenting on their blog

This all being said, I plan to enjoy our unseasonal 50-degree weather this afternoon while it lasts.

Have a happy weekend!