On Cooking.
Well...I never learned a lot about it. I got made fun of in high school because I couldn't boil water...and I tried to fry chocolate chip cookie dough when I realized that the oven was on the fritz (then I sat down to watch TV and they made an awful mess). One time I took the time to make a fabulous cheesecake from scratch. It was perfect. And when I went to turn around and put it in the fridge, Kassy opened the fridge door on me and it flew through the air, landing face down. That was the last cheesecake I ever tried to make. I can stir fry, and grill, and make salads. I make great salads. Everyone says so. Lauren says, "Those who can't cook make great salads". Then she always looks at me after she says it. I can take a hint. I burnt a grilled cheese sandwich yesterday and I never even left the kitchen. Once I made some banana bread that never actually cooked in the middle - just around the edges. I never tried that again either come to think of it. I have ruined cakes, mutilated a recipe for stroganoff (my family laughed and choked for 30 minutes during that lovely meal), made soggy cookies, blew up a glass pitcher while making southern sweet tea, upset my grandmother by cooking tortellini without water, and, I'm sure there are things I've just blocked from my mind. I do make great salads, veggie pizza, and spaghetti. Cooking is simply not my gift.

On Being an Athletes Wife.
No one prepared me for this one either. I truly believe athletes are driven by some inner voice. I have never heard that voice...well maybe a few times, but I just tell it to shut up. I am proud of my husband, proud to say that I love a man who is wholly committed to his sport, to his health and he is quite the hottie I must say. But I still don't understand his drive. His no-matter-what-I-will-train-like-a-freak-with-blinders-on kind of drive. He is somewhat robotic in his quest for more. I worry. I get frustrated at the cost. I get annoyed at the amount of time spent. I hate standing in the cold rain for hours waiting to see him swim, bike or run by for 15 seconds. But I'm still proud. It's very twisted in my heart and mind actually. I make jokes about life insurance, but that would totally suck if I ever had to use it because of his sport. I would be mighty pissed off. I know this is really all my problem, and I am working on trusting him, and God. Trust is not an easy thing for me.

On Friends.
There are Facebook friends, casual friends, work friends, instant friends, and true blue, down to the nitty gritty know everything about me and still love me in spite of it friends (those are my favorites). I can count the last group on one hand. That is a wonderful thing. I appreciate the rest of my friends daily. They encourage me, I encourage them, we laugh, we talk, we might go to lunch here and there and those are good times. I have had fun reconnecting with old high school friends. It has been a little strange at times, since we have changed so much (some not so much...) over the years, but it has been a blessing too. It is fun getting to know people better again. Dang...those people got junk on me! I got some on them too...water under the bridge. Now the true blues? I covet the true blues. They are like my lifeline sometimes and I know I am theirs sometimes too! We GET each other. We laugh hysterically at the same things - even without saying much. An onlooker just wouldn't get it. We get it. GREAT times - visiting face to face, on Facebook, or on the phone. I even had a hysterical coded conversation on text messaging the other day...we both laughed like hyenas at our jobs 2500 miles away from each other! Nothing like it. My family always knows when I'm talking on the phone or on Facebook to a true blue. They say I talk too loud and laugh like a freak. Well...I agree. And I don't care. True blues are cherished. You know who you are!

On Family.
Ohhh family. Love them people. The husband and the kid - my favorites most of the time! Oddly, I don't know a lot of them very well. I've found some of them (or they've found me) on Facebook - huh. Facebook family has been a great way for me to keep informed about what everyone is up to. Which is very important for someone like me who absolutely loves pretty paper and stationary, yet never writes a letter. Or buys cards, fills them out for birthdays, holidays, whatever...and never mails them. I've been told this is hereditary. We are all pretty good at sending stuff 'later'. Well, who cares, really? At least we know we're thought of! Now my mom and sisters? Well, they are techno-nots. But there is the phone - we text and talk the old fashioned way. Well, at least some of us do! We have our issues. Not sure we will all ever resolve them together, but we work on them individually I think. The older I get, the more things that were so 'important' at one time, just don't matter a whole lot in the big scheme of things. Well, to be honest, some things still matter and my once favorite word comes to mind, "Whatever!" So it goes...

On Mid Life and Menopause.
I swear men have Menopause too. Hence the stinkin name. They just try to blame it on us! HA! Well. That's all I have to say about that. Except, what happened to the skin on my neck? And why won't my eyeshadow go on smoothly? And why is it so hard to get the liquid eyeliner into those damn creases? Why do my elbows and my hips hurt? How come it's a pain to get up from the chair if I have been in it too long (5 minutes)? Why do I have to take meds for high blood pressure (thanks family...) they say that just like the letter writing thing, this too is hereditary. And who is the jerk that signed me up for an e-newsletter called "Senior Voice"? I'll get you my pretty...

On God.
He is real (believe it or not). He made it all. He calls us all. Some listen. Some don't. I'm so glad I listened. I am still listening. I used to be a runner. I gave up the chase. Best decision I ever made. I still try to run sometimes, but I always turn back, having learned another lesson or two (or ten) to take onward. This life is important, but not final. Live looking toward the final and life in the now becomes much clearer and easier in spite of frustration and hardship. Joys are brighter too. People become precious. Because they are. Even when they are annoying and uncaring and not so much fun. They are still precious and worthy of hope for change. I am living proof of that change. Still a bit tangled and somewhat messy, but with flowers in my hair nonetheless. I know to whom I belong and where I am going.

On Music.
I like to rock. Not heavy metal. Just goooooood old fashioned rock. All music has its own charm. But given the choice? Lets rock. What can I say?