all the things!

This week, Mama Kat includes the prompt:

6. Answer all of the writing prompts in one post.

Okay, let's do it!

1.  Tell us about something you did or participated in that a new friend might find hard to believe.

I always have trouble with these tell-us-something-surprising-about-you questions.  That I grew up in the sex change capital of the world is old.

2. Write a blog post inspired by the word:  peace.

Okay, meditation.  Have you tried it?  Do it on a regular basis?  I've been making concerted efforts to make it a regular practice lately.  It's thankfully helping me deal with Malcolm's tragic, unexpected death.  Yesterday, I decided to try a guided meditation from some dude on YouTube.  This particular guidance didn't help me.

See, as I was there getting all centered and eyes closed in the moment and listening, the meditation guide gently prompted, "imagine being in a field of flowers..." , and it was over for me.

I, for one, don't find fields or flowers particularly calming and peaceful.  In my mind, I saw something like this:

This makes me feel itchy and sneezy and hot... and a little paranoid that a bee will come and end me as I have no Epi pen.    

Please, no fields.  No flowers.  No fields with flowers.  I've had other guided meditations that tell me to picture myself at the beach.  Now, I don't have a lot of beach references having mostly lived and played around mountains.  Try as I might to picture a serene beach setting, I usually end up here:

Yup, the ending scene of Planet of the Apes.  

Conclusion:  meditation = good.  Guided meditation = not so much.

3.  What six words would your spouse use to describe you?

I asked Magnum while we were at the coffee shop this morning, and here's what he sez:

• Smart
• Organized
• Funny
• Fit
• Artistic
• Sincere

Okay, I guess we can stay married.

4. 90's fashion is making a trendy comeback.  What were you wearing in the 90's?

My 90's were a lot of this →→

Won't be making a comeback in this house.

I'm on board with the returned popularity of mom jeans, however.  Just please, no shoulder pads, K?  

5.  Write about something you think you would have been good at if only you had explored that talent more.

Welp, I was a pretty fast runner in high school, from very little effort on my part, I admit.  I've heard that, while distance runners are made, sprinters are, for the most part, born that way.  I'm no physiologist, but I think it has to do with muscle fiber types, much of which are genetic. Such was the case with me.  I could run fast without really training.  

I mean, I was on the track team and did the "workouts", but our girl's team was very small.  We didn't
have enough participants to rack up a competitive amount of team points, so we just did our thing in pretty laid back fashion.  In fact, we didn't even have a girls team my senior year.  

I think if I would have been more focused, I might have been a state qualifier and/or maybe a scholarship contender. I had a decent ribbon collection that is long gone now. 

To be clear, I have no regrets that I was a lazy ass when it came to "training" and track team participation.  Mainly, we just had a lot of fun together and got an early start on our tans. I don't have a strong competitive streak, and I don't think a college scholarship would've suited me or been a good investment.