Mi Vida Ocupada

I have such sadness in my heart today and I cannot really blog about it right now because I need to go to work in a few minutes and I am much too upset.  I will tell you the cause of my sadness later tonight (if you didn’t already catch my status on Facebook yesterday)

Today I would love to hear any happy & sweet memories you’d like to share about a favorite pet you have had (or currently have).

What kind of animal/breed was your favorite pet? What was the cutest/sweetest thing your pet would do? How long was your pet with you? Did you do anything special to preserve memories of that pet…… scrapbooks, etc?

I had an interesting conversation last night with some of the neighbor-girls about what we dream about.  Dreams are so fleeting….. they are to me anyway, with bits and pieces that sometimes flashback at random times.  Most of the time I do not remember my dreams at all, other times I can recall them vividly.  I have had some recurring dreams, even some that go all the way back to my childhood that I still remember.  For the past few years I have dreamt of a unknown city.  In this dream I drive all over the city, taking different routes.  I have had it so many times that I swear I could navigate through that city if I ever happened to be there in real life.  What do you think that is supposed to mean?  I think I am a suggestive dreamer in the regard that I often dream about things that are on my mind before going to bed.  Other times I have dreams that are so bizarre, I wonder where they came from?! I am not the type to analyze my dreams normally, but I sure have had some C.R.A.Z.Y. dreams! (I will have to write a post just about some of them just for the record!)

Just curious if you remember your dreams or not? Which dreams do you tend to remember the most? Scary? Happy? Bizarre? Do your dreams center around things in your real life or that you were thinking about before bed or are they totally random?? Do you ever dream about strangers that you don't recall ever meeting in real life?? 

Go ahead and share your thoughts of dreams with me! Or even share a dream you've had if you'd like ;)

PS On an unrelated note….. sweetsauer.com will be moving to a new server and platform this weekend so make sure you subscribe using this feed otherwise you will not continue to receive my blog updates!

I am going to assume for a minute that all the readers of this blog are adults, 21+.  After making that assumption, can I also assume that most of you readers have experienced at least one gray hair so far in your lifetime?? If you haven't, well then lucky you. 

I think I was around age 23-24 when I got my first gray hair.  Not too surprising since teaching special ed level 4 LD/EBD at the Jr. high level can do that to ya! Luckily I was able to move on from special ed to gifted ed early in my career and didn't notice any more gray hairs for years.  But then earlier this year I turned 32.  I don't know what has happened since this last birthday, but the grays started coming much faster and since it has been over a year since I have had my hair colored, it is much more noticeable now.  Grays are way more noticeable on dark hair than light.  I always thought I was too vain to let it go natural but I can't afford to go to the  salon and have it colored regularly and I am fearful of do-it-yourself-from-the-box dye. Something must be done soon, however, before the kids at school start calling me grandma! lol

I guess my questions for you today are:  What age were you when you spotted your first gray? How about your partner? Do you color your hair to cover the gray or do you embrace the gray in a natural way? Do you think there is a double standard for gray on men vs. women?

Other TFT's this week:

Ang on how much time you surf at work

Wow, I think its been nearly a year since I last posted a TFT! Had ya'll given up on me?!

My topic of the week is about rereading your old blog posts.  Its been 4+ years that I have been blogging now and quite a bit has changed with my blogging behaviors since then.  In the past I used to read and visit my own blog frequently (like at least once every day).  I have always had my blog set so that I have the 20 most recent posts showing on the main page, so it is very convenient to scroll down to the bottom and get caught up with what I have been up to for the past couple of months.  Despite that fact, It had been so long since I looked past whatever current post I had on top that I actually sneaked a peak last night at just the posts on this main page and was really surprised that I had as much stuff posted in the past few months as I did!! I rarely feel like posting without pictures and didn't think that I had actually blogged much in the past few months since I have been camera-less.  I guess borrowing my dad or brother's cameras has saved me from becoming a blog failure!

At this point in time I have nearly 1400 posts (but at least 150 of those are photo posts that I imported from my Daily Photo Blog back in June) and it would take me hours to go back and reread them all in order.  I do go back and find old posts that I want to reference from time to time, but I think I have only read my entire blog all the way through only twice, and that was for the purpose of categorizing old posts and for creating a blog highlights post.  I think I need to make a better effort sometime soon to go back and reread what my life has been about the past 5 years!

So my question for today is, do you go back and reread your own blog? How far back do you usually look?

Its been such a long time since I posted a TFT, just too much going on most weeks! I have been meaning to post about "Leaving the Nest" for some time now and I am not even sure how to begin, but let's see…..

At some point all children must grow up and become independent and try the world on their own…. you know, leave the nest.  Is everyone ready to leave that nest at the same time or at the same age? Of course not.  There are a number of different reasons in which adult children might continue living with their parents. 

When I was 18, I moved away to college.  I lived in the dorms for a year and then shared an apartment with some amazing roommates for an additional two years.  During this time I still somewhat considered my parents' house "home" because it was the house I grew up in and I still had a room and a bed.  I moved to Arizona during the fall of my senior year of college and came back to MN in the spring to graduate.  Some of my friends were still living at home at this point, but many also lived in apartments.  I was 22 years old, a new college graduate and starting to get involved in a romantic relationship with a wonderful guy.  The last thing in a million years that I wanted to do was live at home with my parents.  I was finally an adult!! So I moved into an apartment that summer and never looked back.  My parents raised my brothers and I to be independent and I think they expected us to be on our own once we finished college.  In fact, the day after I moved out of my parents' house at age 22, my dad turned my old bedroom into his home office.  There was nowhere for me to go if I decided I wanted to come back home (which I never did).  I lived in two apartments before I bought my own home (new construction) when I was just 24.  Have I ever regretted leaving the nest when I did? Absolutely not! I know I would be practically rich if I hadn't had to pay my mortgage for the past 8 years (oh, and all the places I could've traveled), but I wouldn't trade my independence.

So I guess my questions for you are….. How old were you when you left the nest? Did you ever move back home after being on your own for a period of time?  When/why were you finally ready to move out?  What do you think is a reasonable age to expect adult children to leave the nest? How do you view adult children who still live at home?

Thanks for sharing your experiences with me :)

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Other TFT posts this week:

Steph on what you want to be when you grow up

Birthdays.  They come only once a year, so celebration is in order, right?? Once upon a time I would assume so, since birthdays were always a big deal in my family, but I have since encountered a few people here and there who don't give their own birthday and celebrating it much thought. So I guess I am just curious……
How big of a deal is your birthday to you? Is it a very special event that you celebrate as much as you possibly can? What kinds of things do you like to do to celebrate? Did your parents make a big deal about birthdays while you were growing up? Do you only celebrate milestones or is every birthday a big deal? Do you honor your birthday just once and then that's it? Is anyone willing to admit they try to avoid their birthday altogether or that they think birthdays aren't a big deal??

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Other TFT posts this week:

Denise in MN on celebrating Valentine's Day

Jenny C on tax preparation

Ang on HOW you use Facebook

Jenny P on how to spend extra $$

Dana Leigh on Vices

Did anybody watch any of the shows during Armageddon Week on the History Channel?  Crazy stuff, huh?? So many different ancient cultures all predicting major devastation to our planet and our species in December of the year 2012. Scary stuff!

Without meaning to sound pessimistic, I am curious what you think about Doomsday.  Does thinking about it scare the $%^&* out of you?  Do you believe it is possible that something will happen beginning in 2012 or do you refuse to buy into any of these prophecies?

There are many signs that are already starting to surface, I guess only time will tell??!!

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Other TFT posts this week:

Denise in Utah on reasons why you blog

Nicole B on which method of communication you prefer

Ang on Guilty pleasures