I'm B-a-a-a-ck

The car, the computer, the Bear, and I are home again. I guess you wondered what happened to me those days I was gone. What? You didn't even notice I was gone? Sigh

Anyway, I'm home now where there is no Internet police (long story which may be told in the future, but with a brief synopsis in the following sentence :) ) therefore I am catching up on reading all your blogs. Even though I had a new laptop for the trip and free Internet in my room I was told by the Motel Internet Police that I was no longer able to visit your blogs. So much for staying in touch with the world - or my world as the case may be - while I was away. That means my life really was consumed by basketball this week and little else. Sigh again.

More later once I've unpacked, recharged, and thought of something more to say. This may take awhile as I am no longer "Too Tired in TN" but "Out of Oomph in OH."

Too Tired to Think in TN

Tuesday is usually the day that I post my thoughts about understanding and combating depression. Not this week.

I have had a marathon day of traveling to Tennessee for the basketball tournament. I really don't want to think about "depression" right now. My car was part of a 5 vehicle caravan that made an excruciatingly long journey today. Did you know that it is no fun to follow a bus? Trust me. I finally had enough while maneuvering through rush hour in Knoxville and struck out on my own. (I had a co-pilot, so I wasn't totally on my own.) We all ended up in the same place, just not at the same time.

Being here in Dayton, TN has brought back many memories. I know that I usually save my Walk Down Memory Lane posts for Wednesday, but I won't be posting one tomorrow. Y'all can click the button on my left sidebar and visit Lynette Kraft's blog, Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground anyway just to read the memories linked there by others. I'll be back with my own next week when today's trip will be just a memory, too.

Did y'all notice how easily I've slipped back into southern-speak? It came back to me like I'd never left it.

Many things came back to me today. I remember two previous visits to this very city many years ago. Pastor Dad would probably remember the ferry ride across the TN river and the way it seemed to aggravate a very nasty stomach bug that he had acquired. The ferry is now gone. It was replaced by a bridge. I was saddened by that realization.

I also passed the courthouse where we brought a group of kids after Vacation Bible School one year. We were visiting where the Scopes trial took place. Memories...

I saw the sign stating that Fall Creek Falls is just a few miles up the road. I remember how the Bear used to call the place "Hiking the heights" in reference to both the hilly hike we took to the falls and the VBS theme that year. I didn't tell any of his basketball buddies about that today. I didn't want to embarrass him. I noticed the only time the Bear sidled up to me today was when he needed money for food. Then he wasn't embarrassed to be seen with his own private ATM (Ask The Mom).

I'll keep you up-to-date on my travels if I'm not too tuckered each evening. I must do something to make it worthwhile to have a new laptop and access to free Internet.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

'Twas the day before her birthday

And folks gathered with glee

To honor their loved one

Known as little Sweet Pea.

It seemed that the compliments

Were always on hand

For food, punch, and snacks,

Especially "Cake Candyland."

Would she like all her presents?

That was never an issue

As long as dear Sweet Pea

Could tear through the tissue.

Happy Birthday little Sweet Pea;

Can't believe that you're two!

No matter how old you grow

I'll always love you.

Love, Gram

100 Things About Yours Truly

Hmph. The blog police have spoken. I didn't even know there were blog police when I started blogging. And I certainly didn't know that I knew them personally. But yet, somehow, I'm not surprised :))

So here is a list of 100 things about me to satisfy curiosity and to keep me out of trouble. Thanks to all of you for helping me celebrate my 100th post. (Where is the confetti? There ought to be confetti. And balloons.)

1. I'm the mother of the blog police sheriff.


2. I'm the pastor's wife to her deputy.


3. One of my favorite television shows is "Monk."


4. I don't have any known phobias.


5. Except for a fear of heights, which I just looked up, and mine is not the true definition in that mine doesn't go as far as acrophobia.


6. Airplanes and tall buildings are fine. Rooftops are not.


7. Which might mean I'm more afraid of falling than of heights.


8. Couldn't find the specific name for the definition of that one.


9. The phobia list shows fears of falling, meaning while walking. While that should apply to me (think back to when I fell down the steps and broke bones in both feet) it doesn't.


10. Falling off rooftops does apply.


11. Because I'm a klutz and I don't like looking down.


12. I collect pictures of dead people.


13. They are of my ancestors.


14. They were alive when their pictures were taken.


15. I read the encyclopedia when I was a kid.


16. I'm alone a great deal of the time these days.


17. Even when I'm with the Bear.


18. Usually I'm cool with that. I get a lot done.


19. I used to want to be alone a bit more than I was.


20. I've never won a trophy. For. Anything.


21. My decorating style is kind of shabby. Not shabby chic. Just shabby. I blame the pets we've had through the years.


22. Excepting the first year we were married and living in an apartment I've always had either a dog or a cat.


23. Or both.


24. I was my school's spelling bee champ in 6th grade. No trophy was awarded.


25. I'm a visual/kinetic learner.


26. I read the Bible through at least once every year.


27. I'm preparing now for a "speaking gig" in March.


28. It's at a breakfast for pastors' wives.


29. I'll need to make sure I get up before breakfast on that day.


30. I'm concerned about speaking to a group of women who know more about my subject than I do. Talk about preaching to the choir!


31. I sing alto. I mean in the choir, not when I am guest speaking.


32. I earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education.


33. I earned a master's degree in religious education.


34. I still feel uneducated most of the time.


35. I had the chicken pox when I was almost 30 years old.


36. I had the German measles about 4 times when I was a child. (I liked 'em so much I kept going back for more. Ha!)


37. I've been vaccinated against German measles after each pregnancy except the first one. Immunity never seemed to take.


38. I'm extremely shy but not in a phobic way.


39. I have trouble making friends.


40. Always have.


41. Broccoli is my favorite vegetable.


42. I usually make Sunday dinner for about 10 people.


43. Dessert, too.


44. I make lists for everything because it is the only way I can stay on track.


45. I like to ride bikes.


46. I had a fit when I logged on yesterday and found my blog was missing except for the template. No telling how long it looked that way before I got it fixed.
47. Pastor Dad took me to see Michael Buble in concert last year for my birthday.


48. My taste in music is pretty eclectic.


49. I like Alison Krauss, too.


50. I'm the registrar for my chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.


51. I've helped 42 women join in the past few years.


52. I choose to keep my blog identity anonymous because my real one is plastered all over the Internet at genealogy websites.


53. I don't use my mother's maiden name as the answer to security questions just because my name and genealogy are plastered all over the Internet. (The rest of you might want to take the hint. Public records are just that. And many of them are available online.)


54. I wrote a book about my German ancestry. I hope to have it available this year. It won't be published using a pseudonym.


55. During the warm weather months I dress up in historical garb and volunteer as a tour guide at a local historical site.


56. I enjoy doing cross stitch, but only when I'm riding in a car or stuck in a hotel room. I don't sit down long enough at home to get anything accomplished.


57. And I have to keep the needles away from Pepper.


58. I get compliments when I wear the color red.


59. I wear red a lot. :)


60. Pastor Dad tells me I'm beautiful.


61. Pastor Dad is prejudiced and I allow him to be.


62. I like dressing up.


63. But I get self-conscious if I see anyone looking at me.


64. I don't understand the rules of basketball except the part about the ball going through the hoop.


65. I'm a baseball fan.


66. The Cincinnati Reds are my favorite team even when they do poorly, which is pretty much all the time.


67. The Indianapolis Colts are my favorite football team. Go Peyton!


68. I like to work Sudoku puzzles on paper and not any other way.


69. I make notations when I work Sudoku and that is hard to do unless the puzzle is on paper.


70. I like to work crossword puzzles, too, if they aren't too difficult.


71. I like to work jigsaw puzzles, although most of the ones I've done recently were online instead of out of a box. See here for one such site.


72. I like to read poetry.


73. I've written a few poems also.


74. I miss the big yard we had in TN.


75. I'd like to have that yard with this house.


76. I'd like to have the vegetable garden, too.


77. I like to travel.


78. We traveled all over the USA on our vacations when I was a child.


79. I always wanted to take piano lessons when I was younger.


80. I played clarinet instead.


81. Not well.


82. I'm a night owl married to an early bird.


83. I used to require about 9 hours of sleep in order to function.


84. Not anymore.


85. I took roller skating lessons when I was a child.


86. I've never been hospitalized for anything except childbirth.


87. I can remember my grandma's phone number. She died when I was 16.


88. After I gave birth to Lulu I weighed less than 100 lbs.


89. On doctors orders I drank milk shakes every day to increase my weight.


90. I wish I still had to drink a daily milk shake for my weight.


91. Slim-Fast doesn't count.


92. I like to lift weights.


93. I don't like to do floor exercises.


94. I like to take long walks.


95. With Pastor Dad, not Pepper.


96. I value sentimental things over valuable things.


97. I smile and laugh a lot.


98. I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter once a month when I was a teenager along with others in my youth group.


99. I'm donating $100 to it, City Gospel Mission, in honor of this 100th post.


100. I'll do a contest also once I find something appropriate to give away. (Heavily used basketball, anyone?)