Ten things starting with 'D'

I found this over on Lee's blog and asked to play along. I've been allocated the letter:

"The rules of the game are simple. Once assigned a letter you are to post 10 things that you love which begin with that letter. (If you want to play, leave me a message saying you want to play in my comment area. I’ll assign a random letter and on and on it goes)."

Before I list my words and the reasons why I love them, I just want to say that this was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I suppose that is the purpose of these sorts of things but now my brain hurts!! I'll start with most obvious thing ...

1. Desserts: I have a very sweet tooth (as is evidenced by my weight issues but that's a whole other issue!) and love indulging in decadent desserts (two D's there .. lol!) My all time favourite would have to be pavlova with fresh cream and mandarin orange segments. (I also happen to think it is no coincidence that 'desserts' is 'stressed' spelled backwards!)

2. Details: As a logical-sequence thinker, details are my holy grail. I love learning about the nitty-gritty details of all sorts of things which I usually manage to retain and then produce at opportune moments. Admittedly, I sometimes get so focused on the minutiae of things that I tend to temporarily lose sight of the bigger picture, but ultimately everything comes back into focus.

3. Dawn: I love the idea of a new day. A chance to start again, learn from the mistakes of yesterday and to go forward with the intention of bettering yourself. A beautiful sunrise tends to remind me that the world is a beautiful place even if we have to alter our routine or perspective to see that beauty.

4. Diversity: I think that not only is diversity present in most of our lives, it is essential. I personally love the idea of differences as I believe that our differences are what make us who we are as the human race. If we all looked the same, had the same opinions, ate the same foods, and so on, we wouldn't strive to include, create, design or change for the mutual benefit of all. Obviously, diversity isn't always a good thing, especially if there is no tolerance or attempts at understanding the other viewpoints involved, but here in my own safe little corner of the world, I am glad for the enrichment I have received from being exposed to small amounts of many different cultures.

5. Dreams: As in goals and aspirations (which are very different from New Year's Resolutions!) I'm trying to refine my dreams list to something that doesn't include being caught up with the washing, having children who do what you want when you want and having the magic dinner fairy do dinner for the next 5 years. Overall though, I love the idea that anyone can have a dream and with determination and guts, at least some people can achieve them. Without dreams, where would we be today?

6. Design: I love the process of designing and creating something. On a personal level, it is predominantly scrapbook pages for our family albums and the occasional bit of sewing. The whole process from inception to completion is fascinating to me (probably because of my obsession with details!) and it never ceases to amaze me what people can create.

7. Denver, Domingo, Dolly & Def Leppard: Just some of the music I like to listen to. John Denver, Placido Domingo and Dolly Parton were standard fare on road trips taken as a child and as a result always take me back to those happy and carefree times. I was introduced to Def Leppard by my first love, who has since passed away, so that also bring back a lot of memories of different times.

8. Dad: Both mine and my childrens'. My Dad died way too young but he gave me so much to carry on with that I will be eternally grateful. He taught me things that have stood me in good stead in a lot of difficult times but also gave me an understanding of appreciating the good times. My childrens' father is a wonderful man who would do anything for me and our boys. Although we have had our own trying times, no doubt with more to come during the boys' teenage years, I can honestly say I love him more now than when I married him.

9. Depression: I know this seems like an odd one and to be totally truthful, I can't say I love it. I appreciate what it has done for me as a person. As much as I don't like the feeling of being depressed, I feel it has made me a bit more understanding and tolerant of others' personal issues. "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting their own battles." (Just to clarify though: this doesn't extend to blatant, repetitive stupidity!)

10. Descendants: I love my boys .. 'to the ends of the Universe and then some' (a common refrain when they younger). I loved them as little children and continue to love them as they grow into young men. Even though they break my heart at times and one day will be gone from my nest, I will continue to love them forever. (On a side note: do you know how hard I had to think to come up with this word for my children? Let me tell you .. the aftermath wasn't pretty!)

Whew, I did it!

It's amazing how many 'D' words have a negative connotation: defiance, disruption, disorder, deception, devious, dissent, detrimental, denial, discouraging, don't and so on. Luckily I have all of those positives up there to focus on.

Come and play too! Leave me a comment and I'll allocate you a letter.