Crazy 8's and Daily Thanks.

I was tagged by SAHMmy from SAHMmy Says for Crazy 8's, so here goes:

8 things I'm passionate about...

1. Making my marriage a priority.
   
2. Raising our son to be a good person.
3. My faith.
4. Taking great photos and taking lots of them.
   
5. Taking time for myself and those I love.
   
6. Hosting a great party.
   
7. Celebrity gossip, er... I mean, current events... Okay, fine. Yes, celebrity gossip.
   
8. Blogging!
   

8 things I say often

1. "No"
   
2. Followed by, "Stop that"
3. "When are you coming home?"
4. "It's okay"/ "You're okay." (in a sing-song voice)
   
5. "If you're still hungry, we can order more. We are in a restaurant, after all"
   
6. "No worries!"
7. "Let's wash our hands!"
8. "I love you"
   

8 books I've read recently

1. The Holy Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality by Ronald Rolheiser
2. The Secret Life of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd (eh.)
3. Naked by David Sedaris (This is one that I read over and over)
4. Reading Lolita in Tehan: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
5. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (bah!)
6. The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
   
7. Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome by Jake Morrissey
   
8. I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood by Trisha Ashworth & Amy (This is another one that I go back to a lot)
   

8 things I want to do before I die...

1. Take my hubby to Paris, Rome, and Vienna, my very favorite cities.
   
2. Tell a great story about how I ran with the bulls in Spain and lived!
   
3. Dance a gig and make an embarrassing speech at my great-grandchildren's weddings
   
4. Learn something about wine other than how four friends can put away four bottles of it in one evening...
5. Go SCUBA diving
6. Go to culinary school just for fun
7. Have more children
8. Be able to honestly say that I lived a good life with no regrets.
   

8 songs I can listen to over and over again, and probably have...

1. "The Eensy Weensy Spider", because it calms my son down long enough to change a smelly diaper.
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band-- the whole album, by the Beatles, of course.
3. Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" album
4. "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter
5. "Sex Bomb" by Tom Jones and Mousse T. (What!? It was... like, our class song during my college semester in Rome. It brings back some awesome memories)
6. "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House as covered by Sixpence None The Richer
7. "Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC
8. "Glamorous" by Fergie
   

8 things that attract me to my friends

1. Rich sense of humor
   
2. Strong sense of morals...
3. ... but knows how to have a good time in spite of them (hehe)
4. Reliable
5. Trustworthy
6. Treats others with respect... most of the time ;-)
7. Teaches me something of value, whether it's how to live or a nifty shortcut to making tasty chicken enchiladas
   
8. Has something to say beyond talking smack about other people or complaining about everything
   

8 things I learned in the last year

1. Leaving my job wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
   
2. Parenthood, however, is.
3. I really can survive with less. In fact, I prefer it.
4. Act the way you want to feel. (Smile and be pleasant even when you don't want to)
5. Losing you temper really doesn't solve anything. In fact, it usually makes things worse.
   
6. It's okay to let go of certain friendships. Some people are only supposed to be for the meantime, not a lifetime.
7. Not everything is about me... Shocking, I know.
8. If you don't get to it, it probably wasn't that important anyway.
   

Now, for the 8 people that I've decided to inflict this on...

1. Heidi from Hydes Like Us
2. Pamela from PMKU
3. Corey~living and loving from Living and Loving Every Minute of It
4. Piper of Love from Bliss in Bloom
5. Sam from temporarily me
6. Bradley from The Egel's Nest
7. Secret Agent Mama
8. Mama Archer

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DAY FOUR: I'm grateful for a beautiful Saturday when I could sit on a patio and have a leisurely lunch and sip mojitos in the sunshine with my friends.

My wonderful husband was more than happy to spend the afternoon with our son while I took an opportunity to catch up with my best friend, who I hardly see since she travels so much for work, and an old friend, who I also hardly see because she's killing herself in PA school...

We talked about ailing parents, prodigal siblings, marriage, children, work, school, religion... When did life get so complicated?

We've all known one another since we were teenagers and have already gone through many of life's phases together, which includes moving further apart. The distance and busy schedules that rarely coincide have prevented us from makes lunches like this a regular thing, but somehow our friendship always just picks up right where we left off.

I supposed I'm grateful for two things today: great friends and a sunshiny day.

For more gratitude courtesy of NaBloPoMo, click here.