Toss it mean and catch it clean.
Drop that jaw, tilt that head, and let’s get down to business:
• Level 1: Pop Practice. It’s important to start small with popcorn. There are no penalties for misses here, since the corn is light and doesn’t collect much dust if it hits the ground. This is a baby step and it will take time to master, but it’s an important rite of passage before hitting the next levels. (Note: In some circles, this level also covers marshmallows, Cheerios, and Corn Pops.) 5 points.
• Level 2: The Grape Beyond. Yup, next step is big ol’ grapes. Usually someone on the other end of the movie couch is munching on the vine in their own little bowl. If you’re feeling a bit hungry, simply drop your mouth and tap the couch cushion while saying ‘Uhn! Uhnnnnn!’ to get their attention. Soon a cold, hard grape should be flying fast at you. If the toss is good you should catch it perfectly. Other fruits like raspberries and strawberries fit here as well. 10 points.
• Level 3: Dog On A Bone. This extremely advanced move involves catching something larger than your actual mouth. An apple, peeled orange, or corn on a cob are good targets. You need to time the molar chomp perfectly and be prepared for embarrassing T-shirt stains and a black eye. 25 points.
Yes, when you catch food in your mouth you’re suddenly sitting high on top of the snack-eating universe. You’ve just combined equal parts laziness and athletic ability in a daring couch potato feat the likes of which this family room has never seen before. So when you nail it smoothly you know what to do.
Chomp it loud.
Chew it proud.
AWESOME!
Making a paper chain countdown.
Count up the days ’til Christmas/your birthday/vacation, cut some construction paper strips (word to #916!), and start taping together a chain! Watching your chain get smaller and smaller with each day’s satisfying tear of the chain is truly … awesome!
Winning a contest you never in a million years thought you would win. You know the ones….the ones with really huge odds. It could be something as big as the lottery. It could be something as simple as a school fair cake walk. Or it could be this other random contest…the one where you win an autographed copy of your most favorite laugh-out-loud book. It can’t happen to everyone, and it may not happen to you, but you’re going to enter and you’re going to hope. And you just might win, despite all those odds.
Awesome!
OH I forgot this one:
Taking a shower after a long camping trip (or any kind of long trip with no showering facilities available).
There is nothing more satisfying to me than showering off a week’s worth of sunscreen, bug repellent, sweat, and general grime. I love the moment where I can soggily step from the shower doors and proudly declare that I am human again (and smell like it too).
YES! Every now and again it’s good to get real dirty, just so you can appreciate being clean again!
You guys’ images are the exact color-reverse of one another! At first glance, I thought Kiersten commented on her OWN post!
P.S. This is a good one. Quite similar to http://1000awesomethings.com/2008/09/04/946-the-first-shower-you-take-after-not-showering-for-a-really-long-time/
They are each other’s evil twins! Oh, now I’m totally going to be looking for MY evil twin!
Good catch!
Oh good eye! I completely forgot about that one. It’s an awesome moment, regardless.
And thank you for helping me find my long lost twin! ;)
Knowing that someone else is going through or has gone through the same thing you are. Times get tough sometimes and just having someone there that knows exactly what you mean and they know the right things to say.
Yes. Not feeling alone is one of the greatest feelings you can have. Even if your situation sucks, finding comfort in knowing you’re not the only one who’s ever felt that way somehow makes it bearable.
Saying something that happens to rhyme
You are having a casual conversation with a friend. Talking about your day, the weather, your crazy dream. And suddenly, your sentence rhymes. Its a total surprise, and you can rarely plan it, but its pretty awesome to shout “Hey, that rhymed!”
Hopping into a bed freshly made with clean sheets!
Finally getting your call through on the request line… Awesome!
When you wake up and some of your limbs stay asleep
Maybe at first, it doesn’t seem that great. Your alarm is blaring in your ear, and you have no control over your arms. The only thing you can do is flail around and hope that some part of you manages to whack the snooze button. But looking back, you realize that Whack-a-Snooze was actually a pretty fun game!
David, you’re right — it doesn’t seem that great. Hahaha. There have been times I’ve woken up and been seriously concerned, thoughts of nerve damage and questions of amputation flying through my half-asleep brain. But your variation on the Whack-a-Mole sounds pretty funny to watch.
when you knock something over by accident but catch it really fast and then feel like a ninja. AWESOME :D
Hidden swords!! My really old grandpa had one in his cane and I have an eiffel tower figure with one it it too. They kind of make you feel midieval or like Sherlock Holmes.
Playing with the glue from hot glue guns and not getting burnt. Awesome.
when the teacher thinks you aren’t paying attention and asks you a question, not expecting an answer and you answer it perfectly!
Boooyah! Take that, teach.
The cracking sound that billiard balls make when you hit them really hard.
Making yourself delay reading the last chapter of a really good book so it won’t be over.
I tried this with Harry Potter. No dice.
But it is nice every now and then.
when everyone loves your idea :D
I LOVE this idea!
Well played, Laura!
That point where you don’t have to look at a recipe anymore because you’ve made it so often that you know it by heart.
Mine are: banana muffins and pancakes. (From scratch, people, no mixes. That’s cheating.)
I’m all for some from-scratch nanner muffins … but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t use from-the-box pancake mix!! :)
I thought making pancakes from scratch was crazy, until my sister gave me my grandmother’s recipe, and now I will never go back to mix.
Seeing where you live on T.V.
It’s like you’re famous on your own. Even hearing your town’s name sparks that fuzzy “people know about me” feeling in your stomach.
Yes and no. MTV came to my hometown when I was in 8th grade to do a special about meth in one part of town. Wow, the claim to fame that no one actually wants to claim. Hahaha.
But I do agree. Last year, my current town was experiencing some really bad weather, and as I was watching the Weather Channel, they kicked in with a big tangent on our current weather. Lame, maybe, but I was like Ohhh yes! That’s us!
agree with ya there Laura…yes and no. Its great sometimes. I live in a state that gets poked at a lot. There’s actually a show that’s on right now that takes place about 20 miles from where I live. Right now its a little degrading, but from what I have heard its going to get better. We’ll see.
Oh! Is it Jamie Kennedy’s Food Revolution?
LOL….yep. I can’t stop watching it cuz it really makes me think…
Hahahah I was gonna guess Jersey Shore…
LOL…..
Ah! I can’t believe I guessed it right! I haven’t watched the show yet, but people keep telling me to.
Its decent. The first episode kinda made me mad, but the next one wasn’t so bad. I totally support what he’s doing, I just think that it shows us in a not so flattering light.
Chivalry. It’s not dead, and when you see it, it’s AWESOME!
YESSSSSSSS!
I always get teased that I’m more chivalrous than a lot of guys I know. I’m all about holding a door open, using good manners, and if you’re lucky, snatching the bill away before we can go splitsies with it. Too awesome.
That’s awesome! I try to hold doors for people as often as I can. I think it gives people a little more faith in humanity. I know it does for me when someone holds a door for me.
Me too, Melissa. :)
Awesome thing: when someone tells you that you’re sweet
Yes, that’s always really nice as well!
Seeing an old man with a pipe.
On my way home from work, I saw a really old fella just cruising along slowly in his big, honkin’ Buick, just going to town a legitimate, old-school pipe. You do your thing, old dude! Awesome.
John Mayor and his guitar solos. Totally Awesome. :D
The first day of the year its OK to wear shorts. That day where you aren’t pushing your luck trading in those long jeans for some shorts, leaving the sweater at home, and hitting the street in flip flops. No matter what else that day brings your shorts will keep you smiling.
YES! YESSS! Free those legs, let the glow sticks out into the sun! Mmmmmmmmm, shorts. This was last week for me. Loving it!
Rearranging furniture.
It’s like a whole new room. You might get a back strain or an ankle sprain in the process, but it’s all in the name of Feng Shui. Awesome!
Hearing a song on your way to work/school that totally pumps you up.
I dunno about you guys, but I find it hard to have a bad start to the day when “Eye of the Tiger” is pumping through those car speakers. Awesome!
A new pair of socks!!
Having your significant other or spouse order for you before you can spit it out because they know exactly what you want. It happens when you know someone oh-so-well that they can take the words right out of your mouth. And they do. And you’re totally 100% OK with it. Because what they just asked for is what you would have asked for too.
AWESOME!
Having JUST enough milk for your cereal bowl!!
Doodling on your class or meeting notes.
Inevitably, your mind wanders. You zone out. Gotta stay awake! Best way to at least kind of look like you’re paying attention? Doodle on your notes. Maybe not your best bet if you’re sitting by the boss or in the front row of a lecture hall, but from afar, this act can easily be mistaken for fervent note-taking. Awesome!
Balloons on the mailbox to show you where the birthday party is! I drove by a house along a country road the other day and the big bunch of bright pink balloons brought me back to the excitement of slowly driving down the road with your parents trying to find the right house…. and then BAM! You see the balloons and your parents struggle to keep you from jumping out of the car before it stops. The cake, games and loot bags are a-calling! Bonus if it’s a sleep over party!
Awesome! :)
Being able to sleep with the bedroom window open!!
That sound and feel of the cool night breeze is more awesome than any lullaby I know.
Those last few seconds on the treadmill after which it says “Awesome workout”
And you’re still standing, sweating, smiling.
Awesome!
Finishing a book!!
It’s awesome when you find the perfume, that fits to you perfectly!
You know, when you put it on it begins to smell really different on your skin and it’s just so great! The best thing about it is, that you know that even when a lot of people have that perfume, it smells like that only in combination with your skins and it’s just an awesome and unique combination.
It’s so weird how it does that, too. I remember my friend and I both tried on the exact same perfume, and an hour later it smelled completely different on each of us.
That first day of spring when you walk out into your yard to find all the trees blooming!
Awesome!
(yes, this DID happen!)
Thinking you failed a test, and getting it back realizing you not only passed but you ACED that sucker!!
That moment on a perfect day sitting on the beach and the wind lifts your hair up just enough to caress your neck. Bliss.
That sounds so glorious. I live in practically the dead center of the US, so the beach is a distant memory of summer vacations gone by for me (unless we’re talking lake beaches, here, in which case that’s not-so-distant).
Even when the wind just ever so gently blows your hair, if the temperature’s good, it’s alllllllll good, no matter where you are. :)
Moon Shoes!!
These came out when I was a kid. The idea of being able to jump higher and feel like you are on the moon…what kid wouldn’t find that awesome.
They were even better on a trampoline!
Holy crap. My friend had a pair of Moon Shoes and she was the envy of all the kids in our class. SO AWESOME!
Procrastinating.
You may not think it’s awesome, but it definitely is.
My thesis advisor put it this way: “You’re not putting things off … you’re prioritizing. Whatever you’re doing instead of what you’re ‘supposed’ to be doing is obviously more important to you at that time. So, given that you actually do get your stuff done, what does it matter the order in which you go?”
From the mouth of a PhD. holder, y’all.
So let it be known, reading and writing about awesome things is more important to me at this moment than writing my Master’s thesis. So what if chapter three is due in its entirety by Thursday? I’ve got my priorities in order!
AWESOME!
LOVE this! I’m such a procrastinator, but I’ve always struggled in finding the right words to describe why it was ok. Just scribbled those words down and stuck it on my bulletin board…especially appropriate since I’m at work with a pile of papers sitting at my elbow, and yet I’m spending the hour reading and commenting on everyone’s brilliant AWESOMEthings.
How the trees seem to get leaves / blossoms overnight.
Just a few days ago, I was feeling the warmer weather, but looking at the trees and thinking that they still looked like winter-trees. The next day, I looked outside and thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Little green sprouts on the end of every branch? Could it be? Yes, of course, it’s a phenomenon that happens every year. Yet, every year, I get just as excited to see those first sprouts and blooms. Over this past weekend, the green on the trees doubled! Amazing! Allergies be damned, I’m excited for the flowers, leaves and beautiful green grass. Awesome!
It did seem that way over the weekend. I looked outside and it was like I woke up Saturday morning and everything had bloomed. The trees up the hill, the neighbors flowers, it was beautiful and awesome!
Jumping into a pile of clothes straight from the dryer. It’s like a giant warm hug from all your favorite things!
ESPECIALLY if it’s underwear!
http://1000awesomethings.com/2008/07/17/981-wearing-underwear-just-out-of-the-dryer/
The first time I cut the grass in the spring … it means that spring/summer is finally here. Plus, it’s very enjoyable, all the more so because I know how much I won’t enjoy the same exact chore come, say … July.
Seeing your name (first or last) as a street name.
Even though it kinda inspires the naughty-you to steal the sign, you shouldn’t. Just admire it from afar, maybe take a picture of it, and know that someone, somewhere, writes your name as their address. Awesome!
There was a house for sell when me and hubby first got married and it was on Rebekah street. I wanted that house soooooooo bad!!!! Didn’t get it, but it was cool to move to a town that had me as a street.
My grandmother had a sign in her garage that said “[My Last Name] Rd.” on it. When she sold her house, my father took possession of it, and only then did we realize – there’s WRITING on the back! Sadly, we’ll never know who Sharpie-d a message to the likewise unknown recipient, but it was awesome to find new things in something that had been taken for granted.
Finding new and unknown plants in your yard.
Which have beautiful flowers.
A few years ago, our next door neighbor, in an attempt to be nice and neighborly, weed-whacked the side of our house that faced his so that my dad, when he next mowed, wouldn’t have to bust out the weedeater to get around the gutter. Well, what this poor neighbor didn’t realize was that he plowed down some of my mom’s tulips. Sad, but quickly recovering, my mom got over the incident.
Then … the next year … what should come up but one lone tulip. It finally opened up and … it’s … a crazy, mutant tulip!! It’s an orangeish redish weird hybrid tulip, that we seriously think resulted in the row of red and yellow tulips being chopped down. So funny. :)
That’s a sad, yet funny story :)
The reason I put this one up is…
we have had this house for about 5 years, and this year, we had a whole row of beautiful purple hyacinths where there was nothing before! Its amazingly awesome!
The first time you can change your earrings after you get your ears pierced.
You wait the agonizing 4-6 weeks, tending carefully to your new holes everyday. You dream of what pair you’ll change to. Will it hurt? Will the holes grow back together immediately? The day FINALLY comes, you have the new pair at the ready, and you make the big switcharoo. It’s a bit awkward, finagling that earring back onto the post, but you get it! And the hole didn’t reseal itself, and you didn’t experience any pain. Woohoo! Ahh, the life of a little kid :) Awesome!
Getting the “thank-you wave” from the motorist in front of you. It’s awesome in two ways: allowing you to feel like a good Samaritan and ally to drivers everywhere out there on the road; and it’s always nice to be acknowledged for a random, small kindness, like giving a dude an extra couple car lengths to go ahead and change lanes.
When you are really thirsty and have that first gulp of water. H2O has never tasted so good.
The perfect slice
When you order a slice of pizza and you get and the guy behind the counter gives you the biggest one there is…AWESOME!
Yes! The best.
Nothing much to add on the Pizza topic. I just wanted to join you guys so we could commisserate together about our ugly brown squares.
Brown Squares Unite!
Having a clean bathroom!!
That moment when the toilet unclogs and begins to flush again – most likely no one else is around to see it but your hard work has paid off!
I am so gonna buy several books of awesome no matter what =)
When I finally had Book 5 of Harry Potter in my hands, it was a surprise, and it was magical :)
AWESOME!
Harry Potter = AWESOME!!!
I know it ;)
Your favorite T-shirt!!
There are days when you just don’t know what to wear. You’ve gone through all your clothes. Your bed and floor are sprawled with all you own…then you look to the back of your closet and there on the last hanger you favorite T-shirt. You put it on and realize now that nothing can ruin this day.
So go out and rock that favorite T…I actually have mine on now…AWESOME!!
Also known as the lucky t-shirt, you’re so right =)