My Name is Mindy, and I'm an Addict

Behold, the bounty of fair ribbons (and sugar!) that I won this year.

I have become quite fond of fair ribbons over the last four years.

Maybe a little too fond of them.

The more I get...

...the more I want.

And it's not like there are a whole lot of uses for fair ribbons.

I thought about using them to decorate my classroom...

...but then I thought their awesomeness might be too distracting to the educational process.

Ribbons are decorative by nature, so I thought about using one to replace the faded green flowers that usually hang from my rear view mirror. But one ribbon just didn't seem like enough...

... and more than one posed a bit of a safety problem.

Using them as hair accessories was a less dangerous option.

And that is when I realized I that I have a problem.

I am addicted to fair ribbons.

To be honest (because isn't honesty one of the twelve steps?), fair ribbons aren't my only addiction.

I have a very addictive personality, which means that I am frequently obsessed with various and sundry things. A wide variety of TV shows (Doctor Who, Sherlock), books (Harry Potter, The Thief Series), songs (It's All About That Bass, Hooked on a Feeling), and foods (cucumber snow cones... more on that later...) have captured my attention for days, weeks, months, and sometimes years on end.

For example, Christmas vacation before last, my niblets introduced me to a My Little Pony app. I downloaded it to give them something to play on my Kindle.

And when Christmas vacation ended, I kept visiting Ponyville, earning bits and gems so I could collect ponies. At first I told myself that I was just doing it because I was such a good aunt, building up virtual pony towns for the love of my nieces (and one or two of my nephews).

But when summer vacation rolled around, I found myself spending more and more time in pursuit of the elusive gems.  Like, a lot of time.

I mean, with the number of times I uttered the words, "I have to check the ponies...", I might as well have been one of those cigar-smoking, fedora wearing, race track junkies waving racing forms in the air.

I quit the ponies cold turkey last fall, just to relapse over spring break. But I am happy to say that I have been pony-free since June.

But being pony-free doesn't mean I am living clean.

Over the 4th of July, my sister-in-law New Jenny introduced me to Hungry Shark Evolution. She touted it as a great stress reliever because you get to cruise around as a shark and eat things.

Including people. Who scream and then disappear in red clouds of virtual blood.

My Little Pony it ain't.

I have been playing for a little over three months now, and have almost achieved Great White status.

And when I found myself sitting in my car in the stake center parking lot trying to earn my daily playing bonus before going to a training with members of the General Relief Society board, I knew I officially had a shark-evolving problem.

There is a good chance that my shark game addiction could take over my life. Luckily, I have a second addiction to balance it out: Cucumber Juice.

A few summers ago, my sister Jenny (the Original Jenny) introduced me to cucumber snow cones. At first it was an innocent infatuation, but eventually I began dreaming about cucumber snow cones, and even driving down to Utah under the pretense of "visiting my niblets" several times during the summer just so I could eat one... or two or six.

This summer, high gas prices combined with a busy schedule prevented me from getting a cucumber fix ever few weeks. So I had to take matters into my own hands and start manufacturing my own version, cucumber juice, to feed my addiction.

Once a week, I stock up on cucumbers, limes, and mint leaves and whip up enough to get me through the next seven days. I honestly don't know what I am going to do now that our nights are dropping below freezing and my friends won't be able to hook me up with their home-grown cucs anymore. I guess I will have to find a supplier south of the boarder.

So.... this post was originally just going to be about my August fair ribbon haul, but somehow turned into a pictorial self-intervention. Yes, I have a problem. Several of them, in fact. I was sipping cucumber juice while watching Doctor Who while I typed this blog, for goodness sake!

I think I am ready to get help.

Do you think the Church addiction recovery book has chapters on shark games, cucumber juice, and British TV shows?

I'll check right after I take my level ten tiger shark out for a spin.