Dead.

The first piece of irony for the day came when I found myself driving to a store to do my CyberMonday shopping. I had looked at those dishes all day online, but really, I needed to see those colors in person.

So, I had to drive to the store to look at them so I could drive back home to order them. Apparently, I couldn't get the CyberMonday sale by purchasing them in the store. I couldn't get free shipping in the store either, but then again, who needs shipping when you drive two miles to the store and buy want you want.

The second bit of irony came when I got back home. I decided against those dishes, by the way. But I found some others that were the perfect colors. That's when my husband gave me the news.

"It's dead."

Dead?

"Yes, dead."

How could it be dead? How could our 5-year-old dishwasher have died?

Within minutes, my cyber shopping for dishes turned into cyber shopping for a dishwasher. Because, really? Doesn't a nice set of dishes sound so ridiculous if you have to carefully wash them by hand? And who can afford to spend more than $100 on dishes, when we now need several hundred for a dishwasher.

I still couldn't believe that it had died right in the middle of a wash cycle. It hadn't even bothered to empty the water out of the machine first.

Figures.

I didn't like that dishwasher from the very beginning. It has always been temperamental. But, for the last month or so, it had actually been on great behavior.

I blame its attitude on the fact that it's a "smart" appliance. It has a "sensing" wash cycle. Apparently, it can sense when it needs to do this or that. I prefer a good ol' fashioned dumb machine. I prefer one that listens to me. I prefer one that turns on when I press the start button.

Not this one! Oh, no. It is so smart and so sensitive that it knows better than I do when the dishes are clean and when they are dirty. I can't even tell you how many arguments we have gotten into. How many times I have stood counting to 10 as I firmly held the "normal wash" button. I want a normal wash. I don't want a light wash or a heavy wash. But it usually won.

And now, without a sputter or spill, without so much as a moan or groan, it had died. Just like that. Did I mention it was only FIVE years old?

I wanted to pout, and so I did.

I have been trying to figure out how to be a better house keeper, with all of my schedules and lists and rules and the dumb iCal. But unless I do about four loads of laundry a day and run the dishwasher three times a day, I'm hopeless.

There are six of us living in this house. We work from home. We home school. We host small group once a week IN OUR HOME. We are home for almost every meal. I cook. And all of this creates dishes. Lots and lots of dishes.

The idea of washing them by hand put me over the edge. I had to go to bed, leaving my husband with these instructions. "Add it to your cart." I didn't care which dishwasher. As long as it was black. And I would prefer one that wasn't smart.

I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered the sink full of dishes. I reminded myself that when I was growing up, we also had a family of six. And for many years we didn't have a dishwasher.

We enjoyed quality time after dinner washing dishes together. One person washed. Someone else rinsed. Another person dried. And one other person carried from the dining room and washed the table. In the midst of it all, we usually flicked wet towels at each other and laughed and laughed. Those were good times.

I realize all of this is very much a 1st World problem. Millions of people survive everyday without dishwashers. Or even running water and electricity.

But I still would like to enjoy a few minutes of whining, if you don't mind. I'm not ready to spend half of my day washing dishes by hand.

After lunch today, my son said, "How will we wash the dishes without a dishwasher?"

He did not realize there was another way. In fact, I don't even know where the plug is for the right side of the sink. The side we will need to fill with rinsing water.

I guess that's a good sign to me. Maybe we needed this learning experience. Maybe we all need to enjoy sticking our hands in a big sink full of soapy water. Maybe we will laugh and flick wet towels at each other.

Maybe.

(Sigh.)

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Those colors!

I really need some new everyday dishes. The ones we have are at least a million years old. But we have kept using them because it really doesn't matter when someone drops one on the floor and it shatters. And with four kids, you can be sure they will be dropped.

All of the bowls are now broken and we are down to the exact number of plates we need for the entire family to eat a meal. I've been browsing the Cyber Monday sales and I keep finding myself attracted to this:

Yes, the colors are bold. But... something seems familiar about those dishes.

WAIT!

Right before I started my new job, our church changed its logo. To this:

I can't even tell you how many things I have created in those colors. Handouts, postcards, banners, mugs, bags, hats, notepads, Power Point slides... I've started dreaming in those colors.

I knew it was bad this fall when I painted the inside of my house. The walls are now a nice twig basket (light brown), camel (yellow) and a greenish-blue. I woke up after all of the walls were done and realized I had just painted my house in the colors of the logo.

Now dishes? Oh, my.

But what do you think about the square version?

And look what I could get to go with them:

I'm pretty sure I'm losing my mind. But it's good to know that those colors are in style.

What do you think? Really! I need some honest opinions here!

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I am in sync

Oh, man. I might have to change the name of my blog.

I started this blog a few years ago after I started publishing my own planner for moms. This year, with all the craziness of my new job, a new baby and home school, I haven't had time to create my planner for 2011. (For those of you who have asked me when it will be ready, this is my horrible way of finally facing the fact and informing you that I simply can't get it done. Can we still be friends?)

I really created the everydayMOM planner for myself, and I'm so happy that other people have found it as rewarding as I do to create lists everyday to make them feel on top of their life as mom. I've been trying to decide how I will function WITHOUT my planner in 2011.

Well, most of you know what a huge MacGeek I am. I loved the Mac when loving the Mac wasn't cool. I used an Apple when we saved data to those big "floppy" disks. You know the ones.

But for some reason, I have never fully integrated my iLife to include use of the iCal. I know why. It simply does not offer the satisfaction of drawing lines through chores completed, highlighting important items and adding already accomplished tasks to my list just so I can cross them off.

I could see using it to keep track of birthdays or soccer schedules. But I need a calendar that tells me what to do. I need it to tell me everything I need to do everyday.

Today, during a six-hour car ride, I decided I might be able to make the iCal work for me. I created calendars for home, work, my daily chores, homeschool and meal planning. I made lists and set them to recur daily, weekly or monthly, as necessary.

When I got home, I synced them to MobileMe. And then I synced all of my computers to my new calendars.

I have two iMacs, a Macbook, an iPhone and an iTouch. They are all in sync.

My iCals are one.

I'm going to try this form of list-making with all of its electronic simplicity, e-mail notifications and alerts. And if I hate it, I still have one more month to publish a new planner.

Instead of crossing things off, I will have to survive by checking the box on my electronic to-do lists. I know it won't be the same, but I'm going to give it a try.

Now if only I could get my me.com to complete all of those tasks on my list. Or maybe an iPad would help?

So, tell me. Do you use an electronic calendar to stay organized? Do you like crossing items off a paper list or does an electronic system work for you?

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Little cupcake

Since CapableDad's family was together today, we had an early birthday celebration for our almost 1-year-old. We were happy to see she isn't shy about eating cupcakes.


She stuck her finger in the chocolate frosting and licked her finger. Immediately, her face lit up with a big smile. She grabbed big handfuls and stuffed them in her mouth.



Mmmmmm...



With or without the chocolate frosting, our little cupcake couldn't be any sweeter.

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Thanksgiving day

I love Thanksgiving. It's the one holiday where there is no expectation to really do anything. Except eat. And taking a nap is totally acceptable. In between eating and napping, one can rest. And then, of course, there's always the option of sitting around and doing nothing.

I'm so thankful for the time spent with family during a highly unproductive day.

After a huge breakfast, the kids spent the morning with cousins. The boys had an air hockey tournament while the girls put on a fashion show.


We all spent lots of time being entertained by our almost 1-year-old. It's so hard to believe she wasn't even born this time last year! Little Miss Social loves all of the time surrounded by new people.



I've never been into shopping on Black Friday. I just can't think of anything I want that would be worth interrupting a night of sleep, going out in the cold and standing in line. But cyber shopping? I can do that! I spent a few hours browsing the virtual aisles and got some great deals.

Don't I look totally excited from the experience?


After a nap and more time sitting around, it was time for the Thanksgiving feast.



We burned off a few calories by playing Just Dance on Wii.

Even grandma got in on the action.

After all that hard work, we needed some pumpkin pie.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm so thankful for all of my family and friends, both real life and virtual! What was your favorite part of the day?

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You! (and you and you)

A few weeks ago, I took my kids to home school swim at our local aquatic center. I was sitting in the zero depth area trying to hide my very pale legs under the water while I played with the baby.

A woman came running over to me from across the pool. I wondered if she was bringing urgent news that she had an extra bottle of self-tanning cream in her bag.

"Aren't you the blog lady?!" she asked. (She really did sound excited when she asked, so I'm not exaggerating with the exclamation point.)

"Yes!" I answered. "I mean... maybe." Was it my imagination or did she just call me "the blog lady?" My mind was racing to try to answer.

"I don't know...," I stammered. "I do have a blog."

"I read your blog all the time," she said. (Well, she did say something to that effect. Perhaps she said, "I used to read your blog all the time" or "I read your blog a few times.")

She went on to tell me that I had even convinced her to watch Lost. After reading my Lost posts, she told her husband they had to get in on the series before the show ended, and they actually watched all six seasons in less than a year.

"WHAT?" I was thinking. (No, actually, I think I said, "WHAT?!" very loudly, but you know how noisy it can be at an indoor pool, so I can't be sure if I said it out loud or just thought it very loudly in my mind.) Anyway, I couldn't believe that not only did I have a reader I barely knew, but I had influenced her life in some weird, time-consuming, meaningless way.

I had met this woman more than a year ago at a park. It was the day I met my real life imaginary friend, Holly. We were discussing how we got to know each other through our blogs. This woman seemed interested, but I had no idea she had actually gone to the trouble to track down my blog address and had been reading.

She also couldn't have known how she had made my day.

Blogging can be a tricky hobby. Anyone who blogs will understand what I mean. I write because I need to write. It makes me feel better. I don't write so people will read. And yet, I want people to read. And when they don't, or when I think they don't, then I convince myself that my writing is ridiculous. "Why do I do this?" I ask myself. "Why do I feel I need to write in such a vulnerable, public way, when no one reads but me?"

And at just the moment I have convinced myself that not a single solitary soul on the planet reads my blog and I should delete the whole darned thing off the face of the blogosphere, some woman I barely know runs up to me at the pool and asks me if I am "the blog lady" as if I'm actually a real, bonafide blogger who has real, bonafide readers.

OK. So I know I have a handful of people who read my blog on a semi-irregular, halfway inconsistent basis. And I've even influenced a few others to waste a perfectly good year of their lives watching six seasons of Lost all at once.

But it's so easy to get caught up in comparing myself to the woman who boasts she grew to 1,000 readers in one year or the blah blah blah blogger who gets 562 comments every day. Comparing myself in any area of life always leads me to trouble. I'm trying to stop. Really! I am!

So today I just wanted to say "Thank you" to The Pool Lady. And to the people who now strike up conversations with me about Ugg boots. And the friend who texted me a covert photo of someone wearing Uggs with shorts at the grocery store. And the people who have e-mailed me with the grammatical errors that annoy them most. Those things really mean a lot to me.

So, today, I have a question. I would love to learn more about anyone who might be reading today.

Would you leave me a comment with your name, your blog address (if you have one) and the answer to this question: "Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?"

I don't have any reason for asking this question other than the fact that I love to know these things about people. Do you find that you are energized by being around people or by being alone? (Just for fun, you also can tell me if you find yourself comparing yourself to others in any ridiculous, unhealthy ways. =] )

If you haven't left a comment before, just look for the little radio button that says "Name/URL." You can fill in your first name and leave your comment. You don't need to have a Blogger account or web site. Thanks!

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Grammar rules! Yes, it does.

I know the minute I write a post about grammar, I am destined to look like an idiot. I'm sure I will overlook grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. I might even make someone mad for being such a snob.

But I have to do it. Each morning when I go on Facebook or Twitter, I can't help but feel sorry for those without a voice. When I get a text message on my cell phone, I want to speak up for the words that have been condensed into single letters. I have to say something in their defense.

I will shout it from the rooftops!

Can we give the poor apostrophe a break? It is tired, overworked and overused. Why do people believe they need to insert an apostrophe each time they want to make a word plural? A simple s will do! If the word ends in s, x or z, and an es! Believe me, it can be done without adding an apostrophe!

An apostrophe doesn't make a capital letter more important! Just write CDs or IOUs or PJs. Let the poor apostrophe stay home and make dinner so it will have plenty of energy to do what it is supposed to do.

The apostrophe wants to help with possessives. If, for example, "The boy's dog ran away," use it! "The boys' hats are lost?" Of course, the apostrophe will help! That is the time to put it into action!

It's also more than happy to jump in and help with a contraction. But please, please, let it do its job. Let it replace the missing letter! "We don't need any bananas," you say? Great! But please don't tell me, "We do'nt have any oranges."

And that leads me to the homonym. The poor, troubled homonym is about to have a mental breakdown.

Please think of the homonym when delivering bad news. "Their cat ran over there and got hit by a car. They're going to be sad!"

Think about how the homonym feels when making a difficult decision. "I want to go to the Toby Mac concert with two of my friends, but my brother wants to come, too." But, please, don't add an extra o just because you have left a to dangling at the end of a sentence or because, "My mama wants me to-o-o-o-o-o."

I know this one is tricky. I know it's hard to remember that it's time to put the chicken in the crock pot so its juices will run clear in time for dinner. How can this be? "It's breaking the rules," you say? Just remember that in this case, the possessive form is willing to go without its apostrophe so its sister, the contraction, can use it instead. It is true. Yes, "it's true." How nice.

I hope you have enjoyed this grammar lesson. I know some might say, "U R welcome." But not me. No! Never! I can't do it! I will type the full words, and let them live! I will add a comma in a compound sentence! I will type, "You are!" I will do my best to use proper grammar even when it is no longer socially acceptable!

What about you? Will you join my cause?

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How did that happen?

On Tuesday, our firstborn son turned 10.

I looked at the weather report on Sunday and realized his birthday was supposed to be an unseasonably warm and sunny day. So we split up Tuesday's assignments between the remaining days and planned to go to an awesome state park that is about an hour away.

When we got there, we were hiking in the bottom of a canyon that was covered with fallen leaves and branches. In the spring and summer, the canyon can resemble anything between a creek and a river. We had never visited it in November when the earth was dry and we could scale the roots and rocks to climb up the tall canyon walls.

"Aren't you allergic to some of the stuff out here?" my middle son asked my oldest.

I smiled, but didn't reveal the answer. According to the allergy test, he is allergic to everything outdoors. Grass. Trees. Pollen. Ragweed. Dustmites. Mold. Cats and dogs. And yet, he hasn't taken any allergy medicine for about four years. He sneezes more than most people. And he has a few really bad days each year. But we can hike around the bottom of a damp, leaf-covered canyon all day, and he feels fine. No Benadryl required.

How did that happen?

"Yeah," I added. "And weren't you born in November when it is supposed to be cold?"

And yet every year that I can remember, he has enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous warm birthday. The week before is usually cold and the week after is usually cold. But we have come to expect that Nov. 9 will be a warm, sunny day.

"I think God has an awesome plan for your life," I told him.

I choked back tears as we hiked along and I thought of how many obstacles he has overcome.

To say his birth was traumatic is not an exaggeration. I don't know a lot about what happpened that night, but I do know he was barely breathing when we was born. He spent his first few days in the neonatal unit in an oxygen tent, fed by a tube in his nose.

During his toddler years, we would call him "highly sensitive." He couldn't stand the sound of crinkling paper. He hated noises. He would melt down if he got too warm.

We would go to playgroups and he would stay plastered to the side of my leg. He wouldn't venture away from me to play with toys or interact with other kids. When he got to preschool, he spent the first few months standing in the corner crying. By March, he had finally warmed up enough to speak in class, much to the amazement of his teachers who didn't seem to believe me when I insisted that he could talk. They had suggested a psychiatrist might be able to help with his anxiety.

So when I see him walk into a room these days and start organizing kids to play a game, I don't take it for granted. I still find myself in awe many times when I see other kids look to him as a leader.

For many years, he was afraid to go on swings or slides. He didn't learn to ride his bike until the summer before second grade. The OT said it was a "vestibular issue" and a problem with "movement through space."

So when he started riding his bike on some challenging trails this summer, again, I choked back tears. When I see him climbing the side of a canyon wall and hanging from the side of a tree, I don't take it for granted.

School wasn't easy either. The teachers asked me to meet with them every month to assess his progress. He was struggling. They suggested therapists and tutoring and solutions moms don't want to hear.

So this year when he says things like, "I'm starting to like math!" or "I think grammar is fun!" you can't imagine what those words mean to me. We don't have the long sessions where the two of us are crying because we are both so stressed out about school.

In so many ways, it seems life has been a harder struggle for him than for our other kids. And yet, my 10-year-old is such a light to our family. Where other kids blend in, he stands out.

We have all learned so much from him. He is such an example of kindness and caring for others. He truly wants to do the right things. He wants to understand big spiritual questions that we sometimes can't answer.

He looks out for kids who are different or in need of friends. He has an awesome sense of humor. The kids at his co-op call him "funny man." And his creative mind drives him to make up stories, draw pictures, and recruit other kids as actors in his plays.

He is an awesome brother. He is a dependable helper with his baby sister and a peacemaker between his other siblings.

When other kids talk about him, the first thing they usually mention is that he is fast. He can run. He loves to run. And when he runs, he is so light on his feet that it's like he's gliding on air. I would say that he doesn't have a problem with his "movement through space."

So, yeah... "Aren't you allergic to some of the stuff out here?"

That was such a funny question to me. I could have asked so many more questions that would make it seem impossible we could be climbing the side of a canyon wall on my son's 10th birthday.

How did that happen?

And I only have one answer.

"God is definitely smiling down on you."

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Can I get a nice warm drink with that?

After opening that can of worms about the Ugg boots vs. the Keurig, I decided I should write an entire blog post about my love for warm beverages. I know, I know... two deep thought-provoking posts in two days is a bit much, but I'm going out on a limb.

But first, I have to say that after writing that post, I was compelled to do a bit more research on the Ugg. As I said before, my friend who wants the Uggs does have incredibly good taste in clothing, and after receiving a few comments from staunch supporters over on Facebook, I knew I didn't fully understand the positive qualities of the Ugg.

I have to admit, this would be a cute way to approach the winter snow.

And this even looks a bit like a cowboy boot. The brown suede would look sweet with my Chief Illiniwek outfit.

It's that whole knitted sweater on the foot look that gets to me.

And of course the $200 price tag. I'm sorry, but even at 50 percent off, that is an expensive pair of boots.

OK... so enough about boots. What about that Keurig?

I don't like cold weather, which is not a good quality to possess when you live in the midwest. Sweaters and cute boots aren't enough to keep me going, so I also have to stay motivated with soup and lots and lots of warm drinks.

I have my Keurig programmed to turn on at 6:20 and I'm ready to start my day with a nice warm drink brewed to perfection.

I love my selection of K-cups.

But this is actually my drink of choice. Hot tea.

Last week, the weather took a turn for the colder after some amazing fall days in October. I decided I better buy some hot chocolate because our small group was coming over that night.

The boxes of hot chocolate were on sale for $.81. That's right. EIGHTY-ONE CENTS.

This was a great excuse to grab a few of the regular milk chocolate, plus the ones with mini marshmallows. And then the dark chocolate sensation. Oh, and the caramel chocolate. And a box of the mint chocolate.

And what is hot chocolate without a big squirt of whipped cream on top?

My husband was skeptical about how many people would go for the cocoa. We heard many comments of, "Well, I don't usually drink hot chocolate, but I see you have whipped cream." Everyone grabbed a packet and we all enjoyed our comfort drink on a 30-degree evening. Mmmmm. That makes a cold evening worth it. Well, it helps anyway.

Oh, and do you want to guess which was most popular?

• milk chocolate?
• milk chocolate with mini marshmallows?
• dark chocolate sensation?
• caramel chocolate?
• or mint chocolate?

Go ahead... Leave me your guess!

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I need to know... I really do!

This question is for the both of you... as in ALL of my blog readers. I really need to know what you think.

A friend the other day said she was debating between asking her husband for one of these two Christmas gifts:

1. a Keurig coffee maker or

2. a pair of Ugg boots.

This was a tough one. Well, it was tough for her, but quite obvious to me.

Despite my love for all things boot, I just don't get the Ugg. I think it's the name. I'm sure that Ugg means "beautiful foot" in Scandinavian or Swedish or whatever far off land where the boot is manufactured. But in English, I feel that Ugg is a good description of the boot or house shoe or whatever the heck that thing is.

However, my friend has amazingly good taste in clothing so I know I must be totally clueless about this foot fashion with the horrible name that is worth more than $100. Worth the price of the wonderful, life-changing Keurig hot-beverage brewing machine. The machine that turns itself on and begins heating your hot water and is ready at a moment's notice to serve any hot beverage you would like at the perfect temperature. Absolutely perfect temperature. Not one degree too hot or cold.

So, I would love it if all of you would enlighten me on the Ugg. I have several friends who are saving all the pennies in their piggy bank to get a pair of these, so I know it has to be ME who is out of touch.

I do have two other very important questions.

If you were going somewhere and wearing open-toed shoes and you were running late, but you had not eaten breakfast yet and you realized that your toe nails were NOT painted, would you:

a. paint your toe nails and skip breakfast?

b. eat breakfast and go out with naked toe nails?

And finally, if you were choosing a football team to support throughout your life and your support of this team required you to attend games, dress in team sweatshirts and possibly even paint your face, would you:

1. choose the team based on the college you attended, team standings or your love for a certain state?

2. choose the team based on the team colors that best match your complexion and would fit in best with the majority of sweaters in your wardrobe?

I'm sure you have no idea what my answers to these questions would be. However, I thought this would be a really nice bonding experience if the three of us could share on this topic.

Oh, and does anyone know of a football team with jerseys in a nice olive green and brown? Something that would go with tall brown boots?

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This app just changed my life... or at least my meal plan

I have been sitting at my computer for the past hour blurting out phrases like, "I don't believe this." "No way." "I love this." "You have to be kidding."

What's all the fuss? Well, if you know me then you can probably guess it has to do with my unnatural obsession with meal planning.

I don't know WHY with all of the blog posts I have written about meal planning I didn't think of this sooner: "There MUST be an app for that!"

So, I went online this morning and found the meal-planning app that has become my Saturday morning obsession. I hope it turns out to be as fabulous as I think it is so far.

It's called MacGourmet and let me tell you a few things that it does. Like many of the popular recipe web sites, you can store all of your favorite recipes and create shopping lists from them. But this also features an optional plug-in that allows you to drag and drop the recipes you plan to use each week into a meal planner.

You can easily import recipes from web sites like allrecipes.com with just a couple of clicks. Then you drag them into your calendar to plan your meals. You can print out a list of that week's meals, print a shopping list, sync with your iPhone and even upload to your iCal.

I decided last week that I wanted to create a meal plan with 30 days of crock pot recipes. I'm so tired of scrambling to make dinner every afternoon. So, I just spent the last hour choosing crock pot recipes and soup recipes from allrecipes.com and importing them into MacGourmet.

All you have to do is highlight the URL and use an option in your menu bar to import the full recipe, including instructions, photos and notes. It works with about five of the major recipe web sites.

Say it with me: "I can't believe it!" "This is awesome!"

The bad news is that it costs $30, and the meal planner plug-in is an extra $10. But considering I had just asked my husband to buy me a crock pot cookbook for Christmas, I am thinking this would be a much better gift. The application has a trial period that allows you to test it for free for about a month. (Dear MacGourmet, if you would like to give me a free copy of your software I would be happy to be your spokesperson.)

I have tried other apps like Dinner Spinner (from allrecipes) and the recipe and shopping list app from Epicurious. But this is the first one I found that allows me to create meal plans and send them to my iCal to remind me what I am planning for that day.

So what do you think? Does anyone else already have an app they use for meal planning? Is anyone else even one-eighth as excited about this as I am? How about one-sixteenth? One-thirty-second?? Anyone?

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On a deserted island

Last night at my small group, we had to answer an ice breaker question: "If you were stranded on a deserted island, what is the one thing you would take with you?" The answer couldn't be a Bible or another person.

I thought the question was kind of silly at first. My brain was really NOT wanting to expend too much energy coming up with an answer.

But I was amazed at how the answers gave a little insight into each person in the group.

First, we had the "comfort" people. One woman said she would bring a warm blanket. Another said she wanted a really large supply of toilet paper.

Most of the men fell into the "practical" camp. A Leatherman. Matches.

Then, a few of the women were what I would call "relational". A photo of the family. Her two dogs.

Wow! Those were some good answers!

Of course, we had those trying to sneak in an iPod, a laptop and a cellphone. Let's face it. The island does NOT have WiFi or a power generator. So, after about two hours, they will have a really nice electrical coaster for their coconuts drinks. Should I call them the "idealists"?

I didn't have a chance to answer the question last night before we moved on. But I had decided I wanted to bring a really large pad of paper and some pens. If I'm stranded on a desert island, I would definitely have some stories to tell. I would need to jot down lots of thoughts and ideas. And I can't function without my lists: 1. Get up. 2. Walk to stream. 3. Find coconut. 4. Go fishing.

I also could use the paper and pen to doodle. I love to doodle. I might starve to death with no fire. Or freeze to death without my blanket. But at least I could doodle.

So how about you? What would you want on a deserted island?

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