Things I Don't Do Part 1

Shauna Niequist. Bill Hybels's daughter. Creative writer. Entertainer. Traveler.

I am very impressed with her writing and have been reading her two books, Bittersweet and Cold Tangerines. Both are laced with intimate and vulnerable details of her life. She connects with readers in such a way where you read and think, "That's exactly how I felt yet I couldn't describe it!" Thanks Shauna. I am making more sense of my feelings now.

Shauna has a chapter in Bittersweet titled "Things I Don't Do."

Things Ashley doesn't do:

1) Pick up after myself. This drives Caleb nuts and I don't do it on purpose by any means. I simply feel I'm in a hurry to the point where the extra 30 seconds it would take to put that particular thing away, will somehow make me 10 minutes late!

2) Get my hair trimmed every 6 weeks. I just got my hair cut last week. The last time it was cut was August. Hello 1 inch split ends!

3) Draw, sketch, paint masterpieces. I certainly was not blessed with this gift. Aimee, on the other hand!

4) Run. I dislike running. It hurts. I do not find it enjoyable. I am sure it is good for my heart. But Cheerios says that eating a bowl a day is good for my heart too and I enjoy Cheerios much more.

5) Send birthday cards. This is due to 2 facts. 1) I'm afraid I'll forget someone and hurt their feelings. 2) It takes a lot of extra planning to send a birthday card. It must be picked out and mailed in time to make it to that person FOR their actual birthday. And I'm just not that organized. So I use #1 to justify #2. Honest truth.

6) Water my plant regularly. I don't have a set day to water my plant. Therefore, sometimes he gets watered every 2 days and other times he goes a week without H2O.

7) Participate in Black Friday. Never have. Never will. You cannot make me.

8) Celebrate Valentine's Day. I'll do something special for my husband in the name of our marriage. I refuse to do it in the name of St. Valentine or because the Target commercial told me to.

9) Forget to take library or movie rentals back on time. Never had a late fee. This is because I'm a rule follower or if you prefer the phrase Caleb coined, "Rule Nazi."

10) Change easily. For example: We have a gym membership at LA Fitness. We drive 30 minutes to the gym in Hanover Park. They just recently opened another LA Fitness in Highland Park, which is still 30 minutes away in the opposite direction. Caleb wanted to try it out. I practically had anxiety over switching to Highland Park because I felt we were cheating on Hanover Park.

As this entry is already long, I will continue the second half and get to my actual point in the next blog. If you're wanting to make sense of this exercise, stay tuned.