The DAISY Award

And the real Daisy award goes to my sister-in law...... Chari Alvarez Reynolds, who carried the baby for nine months and just delivered a sweet girl named Daisy Skye Reynolds!  September 17 to be exact.  Can't wait to meet her! 

Cousin Nate gave me the "Daisy Award," http://nfeaton.blogspot.com/
which is essentially an invitation to update my blog, thank you Nate.  Obviously, I'm six months behind!  And who knows how much time could pass if he hadn't poked me. 

The Daisy Award asks me to list seven unusual or weird things about myself. 

1.  I once went on a week-long vacation with five other Italians to southern France:  Cannes, Nice, etc.  These were friends from my mission, and we had a blast.  Favorite memory was parasailing in the French Riviera with Andrea (pronounced Ann-drey-uh; its a male name in Italy).  He started cursing in Italian because ropes had gotten tangled up in his business and the whole situation was so random and hilarious to me that I got the giggles.  We kept going up and up and it was exhilirating, and there was Andrea, in pain, cursing in Italian.  Awesome.

2.  I once ran into two co-workers in Venice.  These kinds of coincidences fascinate me!  There were only 70 working for the theatre, so not a big business, and we just happened to be on vacation the same time as them.  There I was, perusing some museum in Venice in St. Marks Square, and I saw Seth out of the corner of my eye.  Crazy!  He invited my sister and I into their swanky hotel room.  Fancy!  I sat on the bidet, we all took a picture and sent it to our friends at work.  Nobody believed us at first, even with the picture, they thought we weren't serious.

3.  Speaking of bidets, I happen to favor them.  Most Americans think they are unnecessary and weird, but they are the best hygeine invention ever!  And why do we not have them in the States!?  Its just a convenient little bath/ shower for your privates, which hello, we all need from time to time, so, just sayin... I may have one installed in my home someday and I hope that you won't think I'm weird.  More importantly, I hope that you too will embrace the bidet.

4.  I had the same BFF from kindergarten - 12th grade!  We were inseparable and so much alike.  She was the brunette version of me and I was the blonde version of her.  We both played violin in orchestra for 9 years, sang in choir, worked at Ned's Krazy Sub (her dad's sandwich shop), wore matching nerdy clothes, went to girls camp and everything Young Women together, studied French with Randy Payne at Mesa High School, and played church and city softball.   We truly had a soul connection and I sure loved her guts.  She was fun, she was cool and she was a good Mormon girl.  What a blessing in my life!

5.  I used to work in the Travel & Tourism Industry and got to travel to interesting international spots such as Guadalajara, Mexico; Vancouver & Victoria Island, British Columbia; and lots of domestic places such as Chicago.  Man, I still miss the perks of those jobs.  Especially the snazzy hotels they'd put me up in.

6.  I met my husband on a blind date.  My sister Teri lived in Omaha in 2000 and I visited her on a business trip.  She hardly even knew Peter, she just knew that he played the piano and that I liked pretty, musical guys.  Voila!

7.  I sometimes unwind, relax and otherwise work through my life by shaking a pen in my right hand - very quickly and purposefully.  Then I zone out, if you will, and go to some other dimension of concentration (slight exaggeration).  The best pens are the ones with a white or shiny tip so that they stand out against a dark background.  This is definitely the most unusual thing about me and oddly, I should be embarrassed but I am not.  The term is known as "stemming" which is any repetitive or soothing behavior.  People with autism do it all the time; they move a toy car in circles for long periods of time, for example.  Many people have some minor little habit of stemming, such as myself.  I started realizing how often I did it when my daughter at eight months began imitating me!!!  That was trippy and I have since cut back on the secret stemming.

8.  I do love kickball!!!  Its my favorite group game/ sport. 

Nate, I know thats eight things, but I couldn't leave out kickball or bidets!?  Pictures coming soon, I promise.  Check back in a week or so.  I especially hope to have a picture of my BFF and I in those purple koolot pants with the frilly purple shirts and the snazzy light blue tennis shoes.  Sixth grade people.  Big glasses.  Its pretty awesome.  Now to start digging...