Happy 300th Post, with Giveaways!

 I can.... now celebrate the 300th post I've written here. That's a lot of words! I also updated my blog look, as you can see, and changed my URL, so you might need to update it in your feed if you're a follower here. It's now http://playingthemusicoflife.blogspot.com/ instead of playguitar4him like it was before.

I want.... to finish my novel I began last year during NaNoWriMo, "The Naming of Fio Re". 50,000 words of a very rough draft are written, but the story was never finished. I have big plans for what to do during NaNoWriMo this year, though. You'll see a post here soon about it!

I should.... not keep eating the 1,197 Skittles in the jar next to my computer that I won at a family reunion. They are my favorite candy besides Butterfingers, but there is just soooooo much sugar!

I have.... a weird left hand thumb. It's been that way all my life. There's either a ligament too long or missing (or something) so it doesn't stretch out or bend well or do what I want it to do. It used to really frustrate me when I would play my guitar but over the years I've learned to work with it.

I would.... appreciate it if someone could discover/invent the 25th hour of the day. I vow that it would only be used for practicing music. Promise.

I like.... coffee-flavored drinks. In other words, drinks involving coffee, just not straight coffee.

I love.... autumn. It's my favorite season.

I have.... worn make-up only twice over the past year. My skin is not perfect, I often have shadows under my eyes from lack of sleep, and my cheeks are pale instead of pink, but I don't care enough about what other people think to wear make-up! I'll stick with what I've got, warts and all (or in my case, pimples, because my skin seems to think that I'm a teenager still). At least I always try to be clean, wear only clothes that I like, and make sure that I'm not a mess!

I need.... to learn how to bake better. All my cakes are near-disasters. So sad. I won't even attempt any pie except pumpkin, although I can make a decent cheesecake for some bizarre reason.

I get.... a thrill out of little traditions with friends, like going to the same mom-and-pop burger joint to drink home-brewed root beer, or visiting a favorite coffee shop together, or watching a beloved movie as an annual treat, or giving the same gift of a great new book every birthday, or going to a favorite park to sit on "our" bench.

I can't.... go outside at night without looking for the moon and stars. They're beautiful. I can lie outside for hours just watching the night sky.

I don't want.... people to freak out when they realize how much I actually notice. Sometimes I even pretend that I don't notice something, in case people would think I was weird, like instantly seeing the only familiar person I know out of a crowd of hundreds at a concert on the opposite side of the venue, or recognizing the grandmother of one of my students who stopped taking lessons two years ago. My memory is strange, unpredictable, and mostly remembers stories, faces, and music.

I don't like.... math. It's my biggest academic challenge.

I don't love.... parents who ignore their children who are being too wild or inconsiderate on the playground. Seriously, lady, this is the third time your kid has knocked someone down because he wasn't being careful when he barreled up the stairs to the slide!

I don't have to.... be anyone except myself. I'm far from perfect, but I am who I am, and as long as there's a new day, there's a new chance to love and learn. I'm blessed to be surrounded by friends and family who support me. And I'm so thankful for my favorite guy who is crazily himself right along with me : )  Throwback picture time to when we were still dating in college!

I don't need to.... tell you that I absolutely love to write! Besides writing on this blog, I also write about education for children on my other blog, Life is the Teacher, and I write privately in my journal, and send hand-written letters and postcards to awesome people all over the world. I also love reading what other people write; you can find a list of bloggers who I enjoy on the sidebar! And if you'd like to exchange a postcard, send me your address in the "contact me directly" box on the sidebar way down the page.

This list is taken from Steph over at Misplaced Brit!

As a mini-celebration of writing three hundred posts here, I'm doing two giveaways today. The first one is up: come check out these books I'm offering! The second giveaway: go here for amazing-smelling soap!

*I accidentally screwed up the comment form for about twenty-four hours, so I apologize. Everything should be fine now!