Tagged!

I feel so in demand...dear friend and over-achiever extraordinaire, Alex, has roped me in, and, really, I'm like Shrek: an onion, with lotsa layers, sans the talking donkey. Read on if you dare.

Joys:
1. The fam. Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture guy, may claim to have won the parent lottery, but, obviously, he's never met the Kulwickis. It wasn't Ozzie and Harriet, but I honestly woudn't trade my parents or my formative years with Rick and Diane in Aurora, Colorado, for any other life experience. In the life of my own choosing, I couldn't have done much better: Matt's the ultimate best/friend/husband/significant other; we're not particularly similar, yet so alike it's scary. And those gorgeous, healthy, hilarious kids...be jealous!

2. The Gospel (mentioned explicitly to make you all feel shallow in comparison). Really, though, what else does anything matter without it?

3. Literature. I've seen places I've never been, become intimate with people I've never met, kept company with the greatest minds and souls that ever lived...experienced, in varying degrees, the full range of life's joys, sorrows, regrets, consequences without ever leaving the house. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth. Think about that for awhile.

Fears
1. Some nut job stalking my family, breaking into my house, taking and/or abusing or torturing my kids. Maybe I need to take a break from the news.

2. Sending my kids to middle school and beyond...the more I hear from parents and youth, I just want to retreat to a corner and lie in a fetal position, after which, run and find a cave high in the Rockies, eating wild locusts and honey. It worked for John the Baptist's parents, didn't it? He got to live a decent life before his head got lopped off...

3. Water. I just can hardly stand it, other than to shower and occasionally consume. That awful noise it makes when you're completely submerged, I'd go literally insane if I had to do that just once more in my life.
Is there a list long enough? I get worse with each passing year, but I comfort myself thinking that I fear so much because I love so much. Either that or I just don't have any faith. The jury's still out.

Current Obsessions:
As if there were only three! How quaint!
1. As always, Bono and Eddie Vedder, and not just for the almost god-like qualities of their physical countenances...it's the environmental and humanitarian work! You know it is!

2. Always wanting more! Never satisfied! Malcontentedness (is that a Bush-ism, or an actual word?). Maybe more a problem than an obsession.

3. Failure. Just a lingering sickness from childhood, and though I have a strong testimony of the gospel (yup, I'm awesome!), the ugly underbelly of being a LDS woman is the soul-crushing guilt about not doing or being enough.

Surprising Facts:
1. Don't know how to ride a bike. But really, who's surprised by that?
2. Never kissed anyone until age 18. But really, who's surprised by that?
3. Have very strong feelings against romantic comedies, unless John Cusack's involved.

Who I've Tagged:
1. Alyson
2. Shelley
3. Karen and/or Tyler