Meandering Mango

If you're looking to feed your intellect here...you just might starve. If you're here because you want to hear about my wacky life...well, you've come to the right place.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Meander on Over to Word Press

Okay...so I've finally decided, after much insisting by Troy over at Growing Sense, that the time has come for Meandering Mango to stop being bullied by Blogger and settle into a cozy new home at Word Press. First it was "Beta Blogger," then it was "New Blogger," but any way that you cut it, if I was going to be forced to switch...well, then I was really going to switch.

Don't fret! You can still keep up with my meanderings...just be sure to change your links and bookmarks to Meandering Mango's new abode at http://meanderingmango.wordpress.com.

Can't wait to see you there--and by the way, there's already a new little treat waiting for your arrival!

Au'revoir, Blogger...Bonjour, Word Press!

*I will keep this account, however, no new posts will be made to this site. Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Say What?

Okay...so it's been a LOOOONG time since I've posted, and I'm feeling like a big slacker. But, truth be told, I'm having a bit of writer's block. Enter this post--a collection of totally random happenings from my life lately that make up a giant hodge podge. Here goes, a collection of mini-posts to get me jump started...

(1) Alphabet Soup: Marc has become increasingly interested and involved in ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) during his MSW studies. Therefore, I (by default) have also had a great deal of exposure lately to this paradigm [that buzzword was for you, Troy]. Last week, Marc and I attended a conference in Schaumburg, Illinois at the invitation of a fellow church member. The focus was Communities of Shalom--a program through the United Methodist Church that focuses on uniting communities and congregations...at least that's what I gathered. We attended three break-out sessions--two of which were led by Luther Snow, an ABCD consultant. It was uplifting to realize through our contact with Luther's ideas and teaching that much of what we are doing at Broadway UMC [that which seems very intrinsic and second-nature to us] is actually quite progressive. Not only did we walk away with an appreciation for those things that Broadway is doing to truly celebrate its community, but we also brought home some pretty awesome furniture from IKEA!

(2) Goodbye #3: Many people who know me at all know that I am a complete dentophobe. I'm not sure if it was a bad experience as a child or the fact that I brush constantly and still have multiple cavities, but the dentist really freaks me out. So I ended up putting off (for years) having work done on tooth #3--your first molar on the upper right for those who don't know. Finally, after an abscess at the beginning of '06, there was no getting around it. Tooth #3 won the battle, and I was heading to the endodontist for a root canal. The only problem was that the tooth was still going to have its way and continued to give me problems. At the beginning of December, I finally broke down and called the oral surgeon. By 3:00pm on January 5th, Tooth #3 was merely a memory.

I was so nervous about getting my tooth yanked [or extracted, as the dental-type say], that I actually called Marc crying on my way home BEFORE the appointment. Thankfully, the procedure only took a couple of minutes--I think it took longer to get the shots to numb me up--and I was headed out the door, gauze in mouth, only a short time later. Marc's mom graciously escorted me to my appointment and let me crash at their house afterwards. Later that evening, Marc showed up with pudding and Jello...just what I needed to get me back on the road to recovery!

(3) Doin' the 'Do: Last Friday, I visited our friend Wayde at his and his partner David's hair salon, Common Tribe. My mom, dad and little sister all chipped in to get me gift certificates to the salon for my birthday in December, and I finally decided to make good on a new haircut. I've been growing my hair out for awhile and love how long it's getting, but it was definitely time for a little sprucing up. So I fought off all of the crazy northside traffic after work and made my way to the super cozy salon for my new 'do.

Wayde took great care to make sure that he knew exactly what kind of cut I wanted before he got started and then went on to work his magic. I jokingly told him afterwards that he should think about cutting hair for a living. Note to anyone looking for an extra-fabulous haircut...go see Wayde!

(4) Get out of my Fac(ial): If you remember back to my post in September, my mom, sisters and I play in a golf tournament every fall. This year, my mom and I both won gift certificates for manicures, pedicures, facials, and a shampoo/style at Kokomo's mecca of high fashion, Rudae's Beauty School. Knowing that the certificates expired soon, we made appointments for Saturday, and I headed to Kokomo for our Day of Beauty. We were well aware of the fact that we would be tended to by students, but who knew that our experience might bring to mind a certain song from the movie Grease? At the end of the afternoon, my facial left me feeling a bit icky, and my mom's manicurist actually asked her if she wanted to have her nails polished...this after not filing them or even trimming her cuticles. I know, I know...it would be wrong to think that we would walk away having experienced the high-quality pampering of a professional salon, but I also didn't think that I would feel the need to wash my face after the facial. I think my mom would agree that the best part of our "spa day" was the hour we spent at the ice cream shop afterwards laughing about our time at Rudae's.

(5) That's How I Roll: When Duane mentioned that his sister had a spot on Indy's newest sports team, The Naptown Rollergirls, Troy decided that he wanted to celebrate his birthday at the bout on January 13th. So we packed up the crew and headed to the Blue Ribbon Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the inaugural "Cherry Stomp"...crude, I know. Marc and I were amazed by how the athletics really did outweigh the theatrics, although there was plenty of that, too! I could elaborate on the night's events, but I'll just point you to the website and let you use your own imagination.

Well...there it is. A few little clips to catch you up on my whirlwind life of the last few weeks. More to come--I promise.