I do declare

I hereby declare a moratorium on the following words and/or phrases:

"a splash of color"
"pop" as in, "the turquoise belt really makes her outfit pop"
anything "mama" like "blogging mama" or "crafty mama" or "wine mama". Enough with the self-involved mama worship.

Thank you for your attention. You may now resume your normal activities.

Bitter much?

A couple of days ago, I noticed something strange—every time I ate or drank something, I’d get a mildly nasty bitter aftertaste in my mouth. Not a big deal, but it’s persisted for a couple of days. So, last night I googled “bitter taste”, just in case it was something to be concerned about.

According to one website, there are over 60 diseases that might cause a bitter taste, ranging from dental caries to cadmium poisoning. Cadmium? I haven’t been licking any batteries lately, so that’s probably not it. And my dental hygiene is above par, believe me.

And besides, it’s not a constant bitter taste—it’s only after I eat or drink. So I change my search strategy to say “bitter AFTERtaste”. And there it is. My answer.

Pine nuts.

I made a pasta dish earlier this week and threw a few pine nuts in there. Apparently, in recent years, people have reported developing a bitter taste after eating pine nuts. No one’s really sure why it happens, but it’s not permanent.

Who knew?

I'm flattered, I think?

Wow, You're a Labrador Retriever!

Labrador Retriever
The Caretaker

Your family is what makes you tick, and you never "flea" from an opportunity to hang out with the whole gang. A family picnic complete with hot dogs, deviled eggs and a refreshing swim in the lake is hard for you to stray from. Your sparky temperament and dogged intelligence mean you are not only a blast to hang out with, but great to work with as well. Your close pals appreciate your patience and forgiveness, knowing you'd rather let sleeping dogs lie than dwell on the mishaps of the past. Your dashing good looks may one day lead to a modelling career, if only you can tame the unfortunate clumsiness that sometimes causes you to go flailing from the catwalk.

FAMOUS LABRADOR RETRIEVERS: Bill Cosby, Jackie Onassis, Dr. Phil, David Beckham

LIKELY PROFESSIONS: Doctor, Sales Executive, Teacher

You can take the quiz yourself here

What's wrong with me???

So I'm walking down the basement steps when, out of nowhere, the following pops in my head...

"Drink Dr. Pepper, the joy of every boy and girl!
It's the most original soft drink every in the whole wide world!
Dr. Pepper!"

Which prompts the following questions:

Why is this still in my head? Whatever happened to David Naughton? Seriously, what is up with my brain?

A cautionary tale

One sign that you might be overtired and preoccupied...

After showering, you mistakenly moisturize your face with your hair product.

*sigh*

There's a name for that

I’ve always known that I’m an introvert (INFJ for you MBTI fans). Runs in my family. I wouldn’t characterize myself as a worrier, but it might be fair to call me an overthinker. I often find myself, especially at work, running things through over and over in my mind. “What about…?” “What if…?” Running through every possible scenario, trying to get things worked out just right ahead of time. So while it may seem that I’m slow to change, the truth is not that I don’t like change, it’s that I want to do it right…the first time, preferably. Unfortunately, what happens sometimes is that I get so overwhelmed trying to figure everything out that I freeze up, feeling like I can’t do anything. That’s when I have to calm myself down, take a deep breath, and just work on what I can.

Now, thanks to the insightful people at O Magazine, I’’ve discovered I’m not an overthinker. No indeed, what I am is (are you ready?) a defensive pessimist.

According to this article, "Defensive pessimists…prepare for a situation by setting low expectations for themselves, then follow up with a very detailed assessment of everything that may go wrong." Once they've imagined the full range of bad outcomes, they start figuring out how they'll handle them, and that gives them a sense of control.”

The article goes on to say that defensive pessimists are often very successful because they use the planning as a tool to prepare for every outcome, including failure. And my favorite quote: "Research shows that if you pressure defensive pessimists into being optimistic, or try to manipulate their mood, their performance deteriorates.” So shove off, all you Pollyannas, I’m pessimizing here!

Actually, all things being equal, I really consider myself an optimist, but it’s nice to know that my overheated little brain might actually be doing me some good.

For further reading:

The Introvert Advantage
Learned Optimism
The Art of Possibility