lucky seven

I've been tagged!  My fellow blogger Sunshine Blossoms invited me to play this game so I'm going for it.  (By the way, after you check out Sunshine Blossoms' blog, peek into her etsy shop--I've bought from her and was pleased as punch with what she made for me!)

Now for the game.  The rules are:
1. Write seven things about yourself.
2. Tag others to participate.
3. Let them know they've been tagged to keep the game going!

Here I go:
1. I am an oldest child.  If you believe The Birth Order Book, this explains almost everything about my personality.

2. I wish I were a morning person--I love the hush of the day before 7 am.  The only problem is my bedtime.  By the time I get home from work; fix, eat, and clean up from dinner; prepare for the next day; and carve out a little downtime, it's late.  So when 7 am rolls around, the last thing I want to do is rise and greet it.  Sigh.

3. Too much caffeine makes me shaky, so I can't drink coffee--but I just got this insulated cup at Old Navy!

I drink lots of tea, iced in the summer and hot--well, all year long, actually, but more so in the cool seasons, of which there are three.  Brrr....

4. Baking relaxes me.

This was an early experiment in preparation for a vegan co-worker's birthday.  The crust is oatmeal, nuts, and flour held together with canola oil & maple syrup.  (The filling is mousse, which is definitely not vegan!  I just needed something to fill the tartlets I was trying out.)  If you want to try the crust too, here's the link...when you get to the page, scroll down for the recipe.

On a less complicated note, here's a piece of cake--literally and figuratively.

I made cupcakes from a yellow cake mix, cut the dome tops off and put the cut side down on a plate puddled and swirled with caramel sauce.  It was just jarred ice cream topping, but I warmed it and whisked in some fresh cream to thin the sauce and keep it from going gummy as it cooled.  Then I heaped sweetened whipped cream (the real stuff!) on top and drizzled with more caramel sauce.  Yum!

5. All the books I'm reading right now are about philosophy or religion: Love Wins by Rob Bell, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen, This I Believe edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, and The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained from Dorling Kindersley.

6. While we're talking philosophy: I'm starting to understand what people mean when they insist that life is more about the journey than the destination.

7. I don't remember the first time I met my husband.  (He doesn't remember meeting me for the first time either.)  We just knew of each other through mutual friends, and then one day we started talking directly to one another.  The rest is history--still in the making!

That's it for me.  I'll pass the baton to these lovely ladies:
Anna at Expedition From a Suitcase
Sam at Nate and Sam's Blog
Nicole at The Lookbook

Unlike last Friday, this time there's no pressure; only play if you want to.  The rest of you can post random things about yourselves in the comments--or on your own blog if you have one, in which case you should include the link to your Lucky Seven post in the comments.  Pretty please?