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I received the article below yesterday in an email from a good friend of mine who’s family makes their living in the cattle business. They are the salt of the earth, like most ag families are, and their commitment to promoting agriculture, especially to our youth, is to be commended.
I freely admit that growing up I did not understand the importance of agriculture and farming. I did not have a clue. We’d fly past dairy pastures and tons and tons of cornfields and I would never even bat an eye. Farming and agriculture were not interests of mine and honestly, they seemed like boring, small-minded pursuits. The County Fair was exciting for the ferris wheel and cotton candy… my, my… how silly that seems to me now.
I admit my ignorance and am so thankful that I have had the opportunity through my marriage, to see the bigger picture and to understand the fascinating world of agriculture more now than most. Agriculture is far from boring. It is fascinating and it is integral to our lives. I know that now, but do you?
I have talked before about why we need farmers, why our kids need to understand where their food comes from and we just won’t survive without farmers… read this article by Baxter Black who does a great job of opening our eyes to the Big Picture. I particularly like Black talking about the ’short list of essential professions’. Ag jobs are right at the top, did you realize that?
Thanks Julie, for passing this great article on to me. Happy to spread the word-
“Most people just don’t get it,” said Ron, bemoaning the urban politicians that continue to whittle away at funding for county fairs and the ag extension service. “It’s all about the kids learning real life.”
To their misfortune, urban children have much less opportunity to connect with real life. They look at some farm kid working on his show steer every day for months. It is beyond their comprehension. “Why”, they think, ‘Would anyone want to waste their time in such a mindless pursuit?’ and then they whip out their Game Boy and fall into a trance.
Thank goodness there are some politicians, corporations and influential associations that DO get it. As farmers and livestock raisers continue to decline in numbers, it is even more critical that parents, county agents, ag teachers, 4H leaders, scientists and teachers instill in the next generations the realities of life that farming depends on. Does America want to become a net importer of food in fifty years?
I appreciate Mrs. Obama’s garden, Whole Foods specialty markets, organic and natural producers. They have a niche market. But who is going to feed the other 99% of our burgeoning population, much less a hungry third world?
Those kids, our kids who are fitting steers, doing chores, picking apples, showing hogs, driving the grain truck, learning to weld, riding pens, irrigating strawberries, managing a pasture, hosing the milk room, stacking hay and learning to read the sky are assimilating the mountain of knowledge that it takes to make dirt and rain into food.
Farm kids start learning the land and the livestock when they are old enough to carry a bucket. When they help with the daily chores they are practicing. It’s like taking piano lessons or tennis lessons except what farm kids learn has a much more profound objective; feeding us all.
Our culture expends a great deal of effort on future NBA stars, astronauts, environmental lawyers, doctors, and political science majors. But for every 100 rock stars, Rhoads scholars and Heisman trophy winners our country produces, we better make sure we spend enough to train at least two future farmers, so the rest of them can eat. That is the essence of the county fair.
Beneath all the fun, auctions, and show ribbons, the serious business of learning how to make a living off the land continues like an underground river.
The list of ‘essential professions’ is a short one. That’s the reality of real life. Farm kids hold our future in their hands. They are in training to feed the world. And fair board members and county agents get it.
Baxter Black
Ever have one of those days when you have about 2 million independent thoughts are banging around in your head? I don’t know that any one of them is worthy of an entire post, but I thought I would run down this list today about everything going on. You know I love lists!
1. I have been battling this mysterious head/chest cold for 3 weeks. Yesterday was the first day that I actually felt human. Hoping that that illness is on its way out. It has been extremely frustrating, painful, and exhausting to be so run-down when I have so much to do!
2. There is a male cardinal following me around the museum. Another outside my bedroom window at home. Even last week while I was lunching at a cafe in Hempstead, TX- a male cardinal continued to throw himself against the glass door near my table. Is this coincidence or is this supposed to mean something? I really wish I knew-
3. I am selfishly ecstatic to have Brad Paisley tickets for tomorrow night, but extremely worried about keeping little D out so late on a school night, considering he has 3 tests the next day.
4. The peach trees and the pear tree outside my house are in full bloom and I am thrilled. I am hoping that this weekend I get a chance to till my garden and start ‘primping’ my yard. Loving the sudden springtime weather after having the 4th coldest winter in Texas history.
5. I wore absolutely NO MAKEUP to work today. It wouldn’t be so bad except that I have a few sun spots mixed in with my freckles and my eyelashes need some mascara. It felt great not to put on the warpaint this morning, just hope I don’t scare anyone!
6. I have been getting the ‘pull’ to design t-shirts again but feel like my style has totally changed.
7. In addition to t-shirts, I think I’m ready to dive back into handbags. Clutches, specifically. How I love clutch purses…
8. I met a very cool photographer last week. You should check out his work. What I would do to tag along on one of his photo shoots! Think he’ll let me?
9. If I could go on a shopping spree to replace my furniture, my whole house would suddenly be transformed into whitewashed and white slipcovered, easygoing pieces with eclectic accents. My house suddenly feels foreign to me, my style has suddenly changed 180 degrees.
10. I slept horribly last night. When I did finally fall asleep, I had a nightmare and woke everyone up in the house screaming. Glad I don’t remember details this morning.
11. A picnic sounds lovely.
12. Suddenly consumed by black and white photography.
13. Wondering whatever happened to my favorite Rice Volleyball sweatshirt? Gray with the half-zip? Man I loved that thing. I still wear my blue one from sophmore year, it is only…16 years old now. Just now starting to get worn-in. Makes for great pajamas…
14. The inside of my car is a disaster and needs to be cleaned. My car is usually pristine and that is quite a feat considering I have cream leather interior and a 6 year old boy! The interior of one’s car makes quite a personal statement, at least to me.
15. Time seems like it is speeding past me. I cannot get a handle on the things I need to do, want to do, should do. Feel like I am constantly racing and playing catch-up. Need more hours of productivity per day. Maybe buy a case of Red Bull and pull a few all-nighters?
16. We have all of these great hammocks from Venezuela. I love hammocks. This year I refuse to let the spring and summer go by without hanging some of them… instant vacation!
17. Really, what IS IT that smells so weird in Anthropologie stores? Is it just me? I love the store but cannot stand to be inside for more than 10 minutes.
18. For all of the hours everyone spends driving, why doesn’t someone come out with Car University? Seriously- listen to lectures in the car and take the tests online? I would do it!
19. Photoshop and Illustrator need to magically appear on my home computer.
20. Ceiling fans= Torture. Make me cold and sniffly. Besides, do you remember what I did to one while playing Wii Tennis?
This is just a small sampling of the independent thoughts I have dancing around in my head this morning. I know there isn’t a lot of depth to any of them and they are all over the place… typical me!
Have a great day!
I always sort of cringe when I wake up grumpy and don’t feel particularly well. Starting the day off on the ‘wrong foot’ cannot be good, can it?
Hopefully things improve.
I think my body is just going through a bunch of ’stuff’ right now. First of all, I am still battling this THING that almost everyone I know has in some stage. I would call it a regular head cold except that it lingers, and lingers, and lingers. It moves from your head to your chest and then back up again. It doesn’t hinder your daily grind, but feels like a constant thorn in your side, always there, always bothersome, but not quite enough to keep you out of commission…
But let me be clear: even though I am not ‘out of commission’, I am miserable.
On top of the illness that I have had for more than 2 weeks now, I am 6 days into my Herbalife plight. Six days really isn’t very long and like everything else in my life, I want instant gratification but am not getting much. A few pounds lost and a wee amount of inches, but considering my strict adherance to the ‘guidelines’, I was hoping for more changes. Since the changes aren’t appearing on the outside yet, I have to assume there is a lot of changing going on in the inside…
Which explains why I’m making zillions of bathroom breaks, my stomach is alittle queasy and my head is often just a tad sore…
You are probably thinking that I am doing something wrong or that this Herbalife stuff isn’t good for me, etc… But you’re wrong. This is exactly what happened to me last time, and what happens to most people who start taking the products. Problem is that most people start feeling these changes start happening and they panic, quit taking the products, and revert back to their old habits. Unfortunately, this is all part of the process. The vitamins and supplements are flushing toxins, which explains my stomach problems, and my need for water and caffeine explains my headache. It will pass soon, as it did last time, and as it does for everyone who actually gives this a chance, and I will feel much better.
I’m certain of this because it has happened before. And it isn’t unbearable, it is just a tad of a nuisance. Maybe coupled with my bad head cold, it feels worse than it really is. I don’t know.
If you follow me on Facebook, you will see that one of my friends Kyley is also taking Herbalife. I didn’t know this, and was surprised to see her comment about my post yesterday that she has lost 52lbs and feels incredible! It is a fantastic product and once you are over the initial hump that I’m in right now, it is all blue skies!
Will keep you posted on my progress. Have a great day!
I have been holding out on you lately, not telling you that last week I started taking Herbalife. I am not going to ’sell you’ on what Herbalife is, or tell you that it is the product for you to look and feel better. I am just going to tell you that I am taking the products because in the past, it has made a huge impact on my life.
I might have told you that back in the 90s, my Dad lost over 100 lbs. He was taking Herbalife. Herbalife is all about making your body healthy at a cellular level (we’re made up of cells in case you didn’t realize) and the theory being is that if your cells are healthy, your body is capable of many things: losing weight, improving your overall health and wellbeing, and even muscle gain and/or weight gain.
Of course, I am just trying to lose a little weight. And feel better doing it, because I have felt like crap lately. Sorry, but I don’t mince words. ‘Crap’ isn’t even as bad as I have been feeling but I try hard not to use profanity on this site!
So I am taking a combination of vitamins and supplements to flush the toxins from my system, improve my health, boost my metabolism, and probably other stuff that I don’t even know. I am also replacing two meals a day with a protein-laden complete shake that is low in calories and high in everything I need (fiber, protein to name a couple).
After my Dad had such success taking Herbalife in the 90s, I started to do the same. I didn’t have much, if any, weight to lose then, but I was run-down from living a single-girl’s lifestyle of working too hard, partying too much, and not eating anything remotely healthy. My Mom convinced me to take Herbalife and after about a week, I started feeling and seeing a difference in my wellbeing. My body toned up, I dropped a size, my nails grew long and strong, my hair too! My blemishes cleared up, and my monthly cramps disappeared.
No, I’m not kidding.
Well, I fell off the Herbalife wagon long ago. After my wedding and move to Venezuela, I didn’t keep up with it. It has been 10 years, in fact. Now, I’m giving it another try and I started last Wednesday.
So far, I have been extremely diligent. The meal replacements do not bother me in the least since I never ate breakfast before anyway. Now I have a vanilla shake for breakfast and either have another one at lunch, or I drink it at dinner. I eat a complete meal for either lunch or dinner, depending on my day’s schedule. Drinking lots of water. Strangely enough, since starting on Wednesday, I have had very little appetite at all, do not feel deprived of anything, and when I have sat down to eat a meal, I cannot even finish it.
Consequently, I am already down a total of 2″ (.5″on hips and bust each, and 1″ on waist) and 4 lbs since I started.
I’ll let you know how it goes!
B-U-S-Y…
And that has not been sitting well with me over the past week because in addition to being insanely busy, I am also battling an awful (and I mean A-W-F-U-L) head cold. You know how you have a cold, and you wake up in the morning and your whole body hurts, your head feels as heavy as a bowling ball, and you just can’t muster enough ‘oomph’ to hoist yourself out of bed?
Yep. That has been my state of being for the last… oh, 6 days or so.
Except that I have HAD to hoist myself out of bed, there is just not time to be sick!!
Working backwards, let’s see…. this morning, we went to baseball practice. It was a good practice, though only about a half of the team showed up. Good little ballplayers and I’m having fun being out on the field with them. I am not officially coaching, but I happen to be a good hand to have around to hit balls at people and instruct. I was called ‘Coach Casey’ today by the other coaches, so I guess I’ve been allowed into the ‘loop’.
Got up at the crack of dawn to feed Ian the Pig. He is doing great and loves to be cuddled. I have really started to like his neat personality. Have never had a pig before, he’s really a cool little guy.
Got home late last night from Houston. We had two Brahman bulls competing in the Livestock Show and we spent all day at the rodeo. Our bulls did not fare so well, despite one being the Reserve National Champion. I don’t know. Like everything, the cattle business is largely political, so you have to understand that the best animal doesn’t always come out on top. Politics plays a HUGE factor- such is life. We were disappointed in the show itself, but enjoyed the midway and the shopping. Little D won so much loot at the games at the Midway that we could hardly walk to the truck to head home! Fun night!
This is Mr. Santerland, the Reserve Grand Champion Red Brahman Bull
And this is the gray bull, but I don’t know his name! (awful, aren’t i?)
Didn’t this turn out beautifully? Unedited!
Yesterday morning I also woke up at the crack of dawn. When I say ‘early’, I’m talking EARLIER than my usual 5am alarm clock. I have been waking up lately between 4 and 4:30 for no apparent reason. It seems ridiculous to try and catch an extra 30 minutes of sleep, so I just get up and get a jump on my day. Consequently, I am more tired later in the day. Maybe my congestion being sick has something to do with my inability to sleep. Who knows.
Thursday I went on a trip that I had planned for the Museum where I work. We toured the Liendo and Bernardo Plantations in Hempstead, TX. Bernardo was probably the first plantation in Texas, and though it is long gone from the landscape, there is rich history still on the grounds. The state of Texas has state archaeologists excavating the site and they are finding all sorts of interesting information to help understand the history of early Texas.
Texas state archeologist Dr. Jim Bruseth talks about the Bernardo Plantation excavation
Jared Groce was the owner of Bernardo Plantation and his son Leonard eventually moved from Bernardo and built his own plantation, which is Liendo. Both are integral places to the history of Texas, and it was an interesting balance to tour an archaeological site where no plantation house or slave quarters exist anymore, but then in the afternoon, to tour the beautiful Liendo and walk through the majestic rooms of the beautiful home.
What a beautiful front yard! Though he fought for the North, General Custer was stationed here at Liendo during the Civil War and his wife, Libby, traveled everywhere with him. While here, she fell ill, and it is said that General Custer spared the beautiful plantation house and grounds because of the beauty of it and its owners, Mr. and Mrs. Groce, who came to the aid of his ill wife.
It was a very long day, the majority spent driving or standing outside and I thought that my head cold was going to overtake me. I was miserable on Thursday. Absolutely miserable. Nevertheless, it was an exciting day of history and new friends, and maybe even a few ghosts.
Looking ahead, tonight we are going to a friend’s charity event and tomorrow is the Jonas Brothers concert! I asked everyone I possibly could yesterday at the Rodeo, trying to find last minute tickets for the Jonas concert and they were completely sold out. I don’t know how, but Big D pulled some strings for me and was just given 4 tickets! I have one happy little boy SO EXCITED to see the Jonas Brothers live tomorrow afternoon!
I also want to mention that our peach trees and pear trees are IN BLOOM! The temps are in the 60s and the cold weather seems to have passed. I am happy and hopeful that the worst has passed us and there are blue skies ahead…
Happy Wednesday!
Yesterday I didn’t get a chance to upload my post so I trashed it altogether. I had a busy day, and it was really hard to get moving yesterday as I have caught my son’s awful head cold. Waking up at 5am is painful already, but to do so with a head that feels as heavy as a bowling ball, coughing and hacking and watery eyes make it extra special, let me tell you!
Nevertheless, I made it to work (which is more than I can say for myself this morning, though I’m going in this afternoon) and took part in all of the Sam Houston birthday festivities. If you have read much of my blog, you know that I can get teary eyed over just about anything. I guess it goes without say then that yesterday I got all misty and emotional as I sat at the grave of Sam Houston on his 217th birthday and listened to countless speakers speak about this great man. His family came from all over the country, as they do every year, to honor the great General.
More than his accomplishments on the battlefield or in the political realm, I am struck by what an exceptionally honorable man Sam Houston was. He was not perfect, certainly. That actually makes him all the more likeable and real to me. He overcame a lack of formal education to be a brilliant mind; he overcame alcoholism; he even overcame some doubts he had about God and found religion. Sam Houston’s mother placed a ring on her son’s finger when he left home as a young man, inscribed with the word ‘Honor’ that he wore for the rest of his life. He truly upheld her hope that her son would lead an honorable life. He certainly did.
As the speakers talked yesterday about his triumphs at the Battle of San Jacinto, or about his run for President of the Republic of Texas, I was choked up thinking about how he stood up for his convictions even when faced with complete ruin. He knew Texas couldn’t survive as a Republic and worked tirelessly to become annexed into the U.S. He befriended the Native American Indians. He disagreed with the Civil War. He saw people for who they were on the inside, not the color of their skin.
Even though he personally owned slaves, it is hard to call Sam Houston a slave owner. Joshua Houston was the only person besides his wife, that he trusted. Joshua Houston, his manservant, was considered a part of the family and Joshua felt that. When he was freed, he took the name ‘Houston’ to honor Sam. Eliza, Margaret’s ’slave’ was anything but. Called ‘Aunt Eliza’, this incredible woman did much more than keep house for Margaret Houston. She was her best friend. In fact, guess who is buried next to Margaret Houston in Independence, TX? Not her husband, but Eliza.
Sam Houston refused to sign a declaration to the Confederacy which is how he was removed from his post as the Governor of Texas during the Civil War. He could not and would not succumb to the belief that slavery should divide this great nation. Because he wouldn’t support the south, he was removed from office and shunned. He returned to Huntsville, TX and resided in the Steamboat House, where he fell ill and soon died of pneomonia, in relative obscurity.
I have posted before about how it is often the hardest option to do the right thing. It is often unpopular, it is often painful, and it can certainly be a lonely existence. Sam Houston certainly knew as much. But, he held fast to his honorable convictions and followed his heart about doing the right thing when it mattered most, not worrying about personal consequences.
Though being out in the cold and wind yesterday made me far sicker than I might be otherwise, I am so glad that I had a chance to take part in the graveside ceremony honoring General Houston. It gave me time to reflect on the great man and how much we owe him, not just as Texans, but as Americans. He was only one voice in opposition against the Civil War, and certainly one voice gets drowned out easily, but it doesn’t mean that it should go silent.
I didn’t know how or what to write this weekend. I was sort of paralyzed with fear, anxiety, and dread. My cat has taken a turn for the worse, and she announced that fact to me right when I arrived home on Friday afternoon, by getting sick right at my feet as I came through the door. She hasn’t moved much from her “deathbed” for the past three days. She is weak, she is tired, and she is hanging on- for the time being.
I am just not quite ready to make THE decision that I know is coming, we all know is coming. Selfish, maybe. I just don’t want to jump the gun. Lots of people seems to be trying to prod me to make THE decision, but I’m just not there yet. I don’t think she’s quite ready to go.
And although I certainly don’t want her to go yet, I don’t want you to think that I will allow her to suffer. I don’t really think she is, she is just losing steam- fast.
And I was paralyzed thinking about all of this for most of my weekend.
Which is why I didn’t post.
I hear a lot of feedback from the people that read my blog that tell me that I am very “real”, that I write honestly, and that I say things that resonate with others. I’m proud of that. I’m proud of the fact that I am an emotional basketcase right now. It is one of the traits about myself that I actually embrace: I feel.
Highest highs and lowest lows.
And everything in between.
Unfortunately, I sometimes wear them on my shirt sleeve and I have the type of personality that infects everyone in the room, so when I’m good everyone feels it, and when I’m bad? Take cover…
Of course it goes without saying that I am heartbroken over my sweet cat. I was making plans to take Lucy home with me before she was even born. Mikayla was her Mom’s name, a friend’s cat that was about to have a litter of kittens. It was late 1997 and she was due in Jan 1998. I brought a 6 week old little black fur ball home to my apartment in March of 1998, four months before I would meet Big D who would eventually become my husband.
See, she’s been with me through it all. Back in 1997, I decided I needed a companion to help mend my broken heart from a relationship that had ended badly. Lucy perked my spirits and brought lots of laughs as she got into all sorts of trouble as a curious little kitten. When Big D entered our lives, she had to share me and she didn’t like that much. To this day, she still holds a grudge against Big D!
She has taken our crazy lives in stride. Quite the avid traveler, she made several cross country trips with me back and forth from Texas to Michigan and after I married, she even went international when we moved to Venezuela! Trusting and patient, I have asked a lot from a little black cat who craves quiet and solitude. She has had to befriend other cats, big dogs, little dogs and kids, and endure airports and travel bags, and even disposable litter boxes in car floorboards and hotels.
We’ve had a wonderful twelve years together and I am devastated that they are coming to an end. So if I’m ‘out of sorts’ this week, now you know why.
My heart just isn’t in my writing. It’s with someone else…
Lucy.
I thought you would be interested in knowing that I have a new red friend following me around the Museum where I work. Yep, a male cardinal. He is beautifully shy, but curious. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time at all, you know that I have a special relationship with red cardinals…
I am comforted in seeing my friend drop by my office window. Happy to see him out on the grounds when I wander through the historic sites. He brings me great happiness and instant contentment.
I am trying to get a picture of him, but my goodness, he does not like cameras! I will keep trying-
In the meantime, I am confronting the weekend head on! We have baseball and birthday parties, and grocery shopping in our near future. I have every intention of sleeping a lot, seeing some movies, and drinking a few glasses of wine this weekend. I am hoping to see a lot of sunshine so that I can get outside and capture the changing landscape: I think spring is coming.
Happy to announce that two calves were successfully saved by Hubby last night in the wee hours. He had two birthing cows both in distress in two different pastures, in the middle of the night. Playing doctor in the wet and darkness and racing on the four wheeler between the two pastures could not have been much fun. But it was rewarding. He saved both calves, both mommas. He did have to do a little stitching of one cow out under the moonlight, but nothing more difficult.
I am always in awe of the dedication by which my husband operates the ranch and tends to his animals. I am very proud of him.
I, on the other hand, was sleeping like a rock yesterday at midnight. The last time I saw 12:00am flash on the clock was many months ago. Maybe this weekend, I’ll try to keep my eyes open long enough to catch a glimpse of the old 1-2…
Maybe.
I am really out of sorts today and don’t know what to post. I wrote a whole post about making the most out of each day after I read about Layla Grace’s failing. But then I got all upset and decided not to upset you, too, so I erased it.
Then I tried to write something light and funny and it just sounded stupid.
So I deleted that too.
I would tell you about the phantom pain in my left leg that is suddenly gone (thank goodness) but I know you don’t really care.
And you shouldn’t.
Or that the snow is gone and it is warming up again. I really don’t want to type about weather because let’s face it: I have had weather ON THE BRAIN for the past month or so. Seriously, let’s talk about something – anything- but weather!
I thought about typing to you about how I’m not doing very well on my whole ‘get fit’ plight, but that I’m going to attack it with full force starting immediately. But you know what: I am sick of hearing myself say those things, so my guess is that you don’t want to read them again either. This time, I’ll just keep my fitness plans to myself instead of bolding stating- and then failing- at them yet again.
Or I could tell you about the drama that has been unfolding in the Pinto League boy’s baseball. No, that one I think I’ll keep to myself. It hasn’t been pretty. That is all you need to know at this point. Put it this way: I’ve been a squeaky wheel. VERY SQUEAKY.
I’m just sort of ‘out of it’ today. I’m really quite happy that my mysterious leg pain is gone, but I am suffering from mood swings and cramps (is that TMI?) and I just want to curl into a ball with my jammies on and watch Sex and the City reruns.
It is just one of those days.
I’ll be back tomorrow….
1. I am not a night owl.
2. I actually like mornings.
3. I write, eat, golf, and think like a left-handed person. Everything else I do right handed. BUT, if the need presents itself, I can do anything with either hand. Guess in the end I am just confused.
4. Coke and never, ever Pepsi.
5. I feel more powerful, taller, stronger, and more svelte wearing black. Nothing else compares.
6. I am a Conservative. Deal with it.
7. I usually do the opposite of what others want me to do- on purpose.
8. I am flexible- physically speaking only.
9. I could do the splits until I was 8 months pregnant.
10. I don’t eat hard candy.
11. My eyes are green.
12. Secondhand smoke instantly makes me crazy.
13. I am terrible at first impressions.
14. I am like my mother in many ways and I find great comfort in that.
15. I am fiercely independent.
16. I am much nicer than you might think just looking at me.
17. I hate talking on the phone.
18. I like to remind the government periodically that they work for me. Not the other way around.
19. I worry way too much.
20. I don’t care what you think of me. Okay, that’s a lie I try to tell.
21. I am a horrible liar.
22. I am an only child and I have always enjoyed being one.
23. I hate doctors.
24. I daydream- a lot.
25. I have 10 independent thoughts going simultaneously through my head always. Makes formulating my thoughts into words difficult at times. Explains why I’m often tongue-tied.
26. I’ve only just begun.
27. I feel my best when I’m near big bodies of water.
28. I have a paper fetish. Blank, beautiful paper holds such potential…
29. I like the journey, could care less about the destination.
30. I get my best ideas in the shower.
31. I hate people touching my feet.
32. I won’t eat any dessert made with fruit.
33. Bananas should be eaten as a fruit and stay far away from bread.
34. I swear in spanish a lot.
35. Love songs sound better in spanish than in english. The words are more romantic.
36. I don’t know where I’m going but I will never ask for directions.
37. I will never stop learning.
38. I studied piano for about 15 years.
39. Despite my facial expression, I’m generally pretty happy.
40. Sunshine makes me eternally happy.
41. I love the smell of the barn.
42. I get choked up with emotion watching my husband interact with animals. Feel in the presence of someone performing miracles.
43. When I was a kid, I broke my arm wrestling. With my grandpa!
44. I once traveled from Houston to Kalamazoo in my little Mazda Miata convertible with my then-fiance, my cat, her litter box, and my purse!
45. I hate listening to spanish news.
46. I am absolutely in love with my mattress.
47. I am shocked by how many adults do not know how to properly use a fork and knife.
48. I never order chicken at a restaurant.
49. I cry for every single Olympic medal ceremony.
50. Hellman’s always- Miracle Whip, never.
51. Tell me I can’t do something and then watch me do it just to piss you off.
52. When I’m nervous, I yawn excessively.
53. I got lost in a market in Tunis, Tunisia and thought I might never be found.
54. My favorite artist is Picasso as a young man.
55. I love kids who have nice manners.
56. Written directions usually confuse me even more.
57. I love bees.
58. My first crush was Ponch from Chips, followed by Cha-Chi from Happy Days.
59. Someday I hope to publish something more than a blog post.
60. I have so much to say, but so much I have to censor.
61. I never touched a horse until I met my husband.
62. I am neither an optimist or a pessimist.
63. I am very honest. Too honest. Painfully honest.
64. I wear my heart on my sleeve.
65. I have a lace hanky collection.
66. I am amazed at how many people in my life are Libra’s.
67. I believe in angels.
68. I pray a lot.
69. Television is a wonderful distraction.
70. I have a fetish for clutch purses.
71. My hair has been so many colors I am not sure what the real one is anymore.
72. My best friends are scattered across the world. Thank God for Facebook.
73. It doesn’t get much better than chips and salsa and a pitcher of margaritas with my girlfriends.
74. I wistfully watch runners and want to become one of them.
75. I am instantly at ease in any school gymnasium.
76. I once solicited President Reagan to buy girl scout cookies from me.
77. Nothing good happens after midnight.
78. Most of the lullaby’s I remember as a child were in French.
79. I stopped biting my nails at 33.
80. I have stopped trying so hard to be heard and have started listening more. I like it much better.
81. The worst part of grocery shopping is loading the items onto the conveyor belt.
82. I cannot sleep in long sleeves, or sleeveless anything. Short-sleeves or bust!
83. Being cold is akin to torture.
84. I never liked flowers at all until I started photographing them. Now I am obsessed.
85. Same with birds and butterflies.
86. Wearing necklaces gives me a headache.
87. I love dangly earrings but think they look ridiculous on me.
88. Same with ruffles.
89. Scary movies make no sense to me. Pay money to be scared to death? No thank you.
90. I have a double-jointed hip, jaw, and 8 fingers.
91. My tattoo is a Chinese character that means “truth”.
92. My reason for being here was not clear until the day I became a Mother.
93. I have to be careful what I wish for because I usually get it. And it is nothing like I had anticipated.
94. Favorite sandwich will forever be a grilled cheese.
95. Dream in color. Always.
96. First thing I notice in others is their hands. Then, their smile.
97. Symmetry rules.
98. Squares first, then circles. Never rectangles. Circles first only when choosing dining tables.
99. My hands are so steady I could have been a great surgeon.
100. I love lists. Can’t you tell?
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