Wednesday, May 31, 2017

YOU are my long, lost daughter...


Fifty questions in fifty different categories. Fifteen seconds per question. No opportunity to check your answers at the end of the quiz.

Tonight I took the online quiz to become a Jeopardy contestant. Trent and I have long annoyed friends and family members with our Jeopardy prowess, shouting out answers before they finish reading the question. Like my grandma, we don't answer the phone 7:30-8 on weeknights. I joke that if there were a Couples Tournament, we would trounce the competition as we each fill in the other's weak areas.

One of my library regulars shared with me that I reminded him of Alex Trebek. "There's something there", he replied when I told him that I wanted to be on the show. He presented me with a picture later that week with a smiling Alex Trebek and the words "You are my long lost daughter!!!"

A couple of years ago my brother turned to me and said seriously, "I want you to promise me something".

"Depends on what it is".

"You know I'd never ask you to do something against your interests, just promise me".

"Okay, if that's true, then yes, I promise. What is it?"

"Promise me you'll try out for Jeopardy".

So back in January 2016, I registered to take the test. Unfortunately, the night before the day in question, I went to see a movie with friends and didn't return home until far past my bedtime. My recall after 4-5 hours of sleep was abysmal and I left questions blank that I knew I would normally answer in a heartbeat ("Who is Robert Oppenheimer?").

This time would not be a repeat of that day. I went to bed early last night with earplugs and a night mask to keep from being awakened prematurely. I ate plenty of fruits and vegetables. And as I waited for the Jeopardy timer to count down, I hummed, then whistled the Jeopardy theme song.

I was pleased by the number of literature questions ("Robert Frost", "Anne Bronte", "hobbit") and was reminded that to be truly successful on the show, I'll need to study up on geography, sports and presidents. Will anything actually come of this? I don't know, but I do know that my odds are much better if I throw my hat in the ring.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Summer Fun - Summer Starts Now!



With temperatures hitting the mid-80s this weekend, it truly felt like summer (at least until today, where the high is only supposed to reach 59). So with the Joy the Baker Summer Bucket List as my model, I felt inspired to make my own summer fun list.

  1. Restart my blog - after the Recipe Challenge finished up, I no longer had a project to blog about regularly and haven't posted anything since October 2015. Hopefully, my summer fun list will inspire me.
  2. Ride a century - I've signed up to ride in the Flying Wheels bike ride on June 10th. With the record-breaking rainfall this year, I have not prepared as much as I would have liked, so we'll see if I ride the full 100 miles that day or do one of the shorter routes. I've also signed up to do RSVP (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver (BC) & Party).
  3. Send postcards to friends on our sailing adventure.
  4. Make sangria (the first of many food & drink related items on the list)
  5. Swim in Green Lake
  6. Daily doodles/sketches - last year and the summer of 2014, I took some time to sketch regularly. I've never been the artistic one in the family, but when I actually take time out of my day to draw, I enjoy it - whether or not anyone will actually purchase my artwork.
  7. Kayak in a new place
  8. Pack a picnic lunch
  9. Write a short story
  10. Go crabbing
  11. Donate blood (okay, maybe not "fun", but now that I've been away from a malaria zone long enough, I'd like to get into the habit of doing this regularly)
  12. Grill oysters
  13. Go camping, which leads in to...
  14. Summit Mt. St. Helens for the second time
  15. Grill corn
  16. Pick berries
  17. Make freezer jam with the berry bounty
  18. Make pickles
  19. Ride Seattle's Great Wheel
  20. Squeeze my own lemonade
  21. Make a summer playlist (and listen to it all summer long)
  22. Make margaritas
  23. Bake a pie
  24. Swim in Coleman Pool
  25. Make my own sushi rolls
  26. Make my own poke bowl
  27. See an outdoor movie
  28. Go to a concert
  29. Read Moby Dick
  30. Sew a tote bag
  31. Sew a dress
  32. Knit a baby blanket
  33. Go whale watching (cheating a little, since we did this on Saturday, before I compiled the list)
Numbering the list makes it feel overly ambitious, but even if I only do half of the items on the list, I'll feel like I've made the most of the season.