My oldest and most close internet friend carefully avoided including me in a “tagged” blog meme, so I am replying to the request anyway. I have no idea what I am going to come up with as I begin typing, but we’ll see.
The goal of the meme is to write down 10 random things about yourself - goals, peeves, etc.
- I want to run the local 5 mile running this race this year - and I finally have a good motivation beyond “to stop me getting fat” - I want to show our daughters that some goals are very difficult, and you have to work hard to achieve them. 2. I get annoyed with old people in the street. It’s not that they are old - or that they are slower - it’s the general level of rudeness they display to everybody around them - and they will be the first to claim that the younger generation have no manners. 3. I get annoyed with people (usually old ladies) who do not prepare their money in a shop until the shop assistant tells them how much they need to pay. This involves fishing around in their sherman tank sized handbag, pulling out a football sized purse, and then paying in small change… followed by the same process in reverse before ambling out of your way… causing an immediate apology to you from the assistant when you finally get served. 4. I get annoyed with people who push their religion on others. I wonder just how open minded those that do it are, and think it’s a shame that so many people (85% of the world, if statistics are correct) are so happy to believe what they are told by the biggest, oldest, most corrupt organisation in the history of the world. 5. I feel guilty that sometimes I realise what we are losing in adopting the children. Yes, we are providing them with a wonderful chance for their own lives, but it’s coming at the cost of that which we might have done had they not been here. Of course we are now doing a hundred things together that would not have happened otherwise - and sharing our experiences and skills with them. 6. This is going to sound like a really, really weird goal. I wish I could find time to study mathematics in my free time. I was a late bloomer at college - and only really caught the maths bug towards the end of my time in education. It has stayed with me. This year - inbetween normal life and raising children - I hope to find time to re-teach myself integration, differentiation and so on with the end goal of maybe an Open University degree in a few years time. 7. I would like to be better at playing chess than I am at present. In many way Chess is one of the cerebral pursuits where I have “found my limit”. Following the theme of finding things to do in the quiet moments at the end of the day, Chess may well make a huge return this coming year - if only to teach our oldest child the game. 8. I am continually annoyed by hypochondriacs. While I can understand where they are coming from (I had one virus or another for about 3 months at the end of last year), I got on with my life. Maybe it’s a part of not wanting to be seen badly by others. Who knows. 9. I would like to learn how to play Go. It’s an ancient board game, and I have a Go board that my parents bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I can play the moves, but have no idea how to score at the end of a game. 10. I would like to survive the coming year in one piece - learn how to be a Dad, and deal with the slings and arrows as best I can - hopefully without too many stumbles or falls along the way.