I was born a skinny white child....

Summer is here, and I'm just waiting for the teasing to begin. The ribbing and jokes about how WHITE I am! "Don't you ever get out in the sun?" "Girl, you need a TAN!" "I think they can see you from space you're so white!" You get the gist.

I really can not tan. Not easily, anyway. However, I can burn real good. I have had some BAD sunburns in my life - sunburns that caused me to have to call in sick to my job because I couldn't put on clothes. Sunburns that were so deep they looked almost blue. Sunburns that made me physically ill. I worry now about the effects of my adolescent vanity and stupidity in the sun-worshipping department. I really don't want skin cancer. Really. Don't. And frankly, I don't care if I'm tan anymore, either. White and healthy or bronzed and cancer-ridden? I'll take my Southern magnolia skin any day, thankyouverymuch. So if you don't like the way my pasty, toothpick-skinny legs look poking out of my shorts - well, then don't look. I probably haven't shaved them in a couple of days anyway.

My Ten Greatest Accomplishments in Life

This week's Ten on Tuesday list was tough for me......I don't really feel like I have made great "accomplishments" in my life - except for my kids. Those three kids are the greatest things that I have done in my life. I didn't graduate from college, I don't have a high-powered career, I haven't battled any major diseases (altho I watched my mother do it), I haven't changed the world in any big way. But I have raised a son to be a fine young man, and am raising a daughter and another son that amaze me every day with their wonderfulness. So if that is my only legacy - to be their mother and to have helped shape them into who they are - then that is the greatest legacy of all.

So here are some other things I have done that, to me, are pretty neat accomplishments:

1. Trained and danced with a professional ballet company
2. Found the courage to leave an abusive ex-husband
3. Overcame fear and rode all the roller coasters at Disney World
4. Won a bowling tournament
5. Went from renting a home to owning one
6. Survived the Hurricane Rita evacuation without going crazy and killing someone
7. Became a dance teacher so I can give children the gift of dance (see a small success story here)
8. Ended unhealthy relationships and cultivated new, healthy ones
9. Supported my husband thru difficult times
10. Swam with stingrays in Grand Cayman

Tag - I'm It!!!

Wow - I've never been tagged before! I feel so special! This tag is courtesy of Michael - Lover of Amy:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
May of 1997... Navy Son (who was not yet in the Navy, of course) was 11, Darling Daughter was 3, and Baby Son was 2 months old....so probably just adjusting to life with three children! We were also getting ready to buy our first house - they built it over the summer of 1997 and we moved into it in November.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Pretty much the same thing I am doing now - recovering from dance recital and looking forward to a relaxing summer! We were also in the process of selling our rental house, a process that took FOREVER but thank goodness we finally got it sold! Now if we could just sell the one we're in now we'd be in good shape.....

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Chocolate candy - pretty much any kind
2. Mrs. Baird's mini-donuts (first choice - powdered sugar; second choice - chocolate)
3. Homemade Muffins - favorite is blueberry, but tonight I had a banana nut one and it was pretty yummy
4. Jelly beans (Brach's only, and no black ones! Ick!)
5. Fritos and bean dip

Five songs that you know all the lyrics:
1. "I Want You To Want Me" by Cheap Trick
2. "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi
3. "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash
4. "Fishin' In The Dark" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
5. "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Pay off all of our debt
2. Set aside money for the kids' college
3. Buy my dream house
4. Take a really cool vacation
5. Buy Astros season tickets

Five bad habits:
1. PROCRASTINATING! If it weren't for the last minute I wouldn't get anything done!
2. Putting something in a "safe place" and then forgetting where I put it!
3. Eating candy
4. Not hanging up/putting away laundry (I think our underwear and socks perpetually live in the dryer!)
5. Letting my car get really really low on gas.

Five things you like doing:
1. Dancing
2. Travelling
3. Scrapbooking my travel photos
4. Taking a bubble bath
5. Fishing

Five things you would never wear again:
1. A white bathing suit!!
2. Leg warmers
3. Short-shorts (a la Daisy Duke)
4. For the same reason as #3, a mini-skirt
5. Braces

Five favorite toys:
1. my computer
2. my digital camera
3. my DVR (Who invented this? Brilliant!)
4. 20Q (that thing is SMART!)
5. I just can't think of anything else. I'm not that into "toys".

OK, I've never tagged before - but I'll give it a try:

Katie Lady
cjh
Samantha Jo
Hootin' Anni
StaceyG

Friday's Feast #1

Another meme I think will be fun: Friday's Feast. Here is my first:

Appetizer

Name a sound you like to hear. the ocean

Soup

What is your favorite kind of cheese? queso dip

Salad

Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not? I sleep late whenever I can!!!

Main Course

When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take to remember it? I also forget stuff all the time - in fact, I can't even remember the last time I forgot something, but I'm sure it was today!

Dessert

Fill in the blank: I notice ___bad manners____ when __I'm eating out___. (Like men who do not remove their hats at the table!!!)

And the winner is......

Eric and Danielle - Winners of The Amazing Race 11

Earl Cole, winner of Survivor: Fiji

Apolo Anton Ohno and his partner, Julianne Hough, winners of Dancing With The Stars

and Jordin Sparks, winner of American Idol

All of my reality shows have come to an end for the season. And I am happy with all the winners, altho I really wanted Dustin and Kandice to win The Amazing Race and Yau-Man to win Survivor. And I kinda wanted Joey to win Dancing With The Stars. But I'm OK with the ones that did win. All were good. Congrats to them all!

So now that those shows are over, a whole new bevvy of reality shows is beginning for summer! Last night was the premiere of On the Lot, which I DVR-ed and have not yet watched. Tomorrow brings a new So You Think You Can Dance?, which I enjoyed watching last time around. Next week I plan to check out The Next Best Thing and Pirate Master. I don't know how any of these shows will measure up to my favorites, but they should provide reasonable entertainment for the summer. That and my Houston Astros. I don't think I'll have to give up my Prime Time Couch Potato title just yet!

Ten Favorite Pics I've Taken

At first I thought this Ten on Tuesday list was going to be hard, because most of my favorite pictures are of my family - and I don't really want to post personal pictures on my blog. Then I started looking thru my pictures and it began to be hard to narrow my favorite non-family photos down to only ten!! So after much hemming and hawing, here are the ones that made the final cut:

My favorite subject next to my kids - my dogs!

Naughty Little Boy Dog - but isn't he cute?!?

My favorite place in the world!

My favorite place in the world at night!

My other favorite place in the world - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Another one from Hilton Head - I took this from the boat and then petted this dolpin on his nose! His name is Blackbeard and he lives in the wild, NOT in captivity.

The Texas State Capitol at night...

The inside of the Capitol, looking up into the rotunda....

The Mississippi River from the deck of our riverboat cruise...

Graceland

And another one down....

Another successful dance recital has come and gone.....this year was a little easier on me than last year because I didn't dance in any dances at all. I only had to work in a teacher capacity and everything went pretty smoothly as far as that goes. My greatest achievement of the weekend came Saturday afternoon - my class of babies (3- and 4-year olds) was all ready for their first recital - they looked precious in their tutus and ballet slippers - but one, the youngest one, was completely overwhelmed by the backstage ruckus, and clung so tightly to her mother's legs that I thought she was trying to climb back into the womb. After convincing Mom to leave, I took Baby Ballerina into my arms and we removed ourselves from some of the din and found a quiet place to sit and chat. Mainly she just leaned up against my chest and hid her tear-streaked face from the world, but the more we talked the more she relaxed, and soon I had her waiting in the wings on her own two ballet-shoed feet, attached to me now only by her little hand. Would she go on stage? Would her mother get to see her Baby Ballerina's debut into show business? I gave her all the Teacher Love and Kindness I could muster up, and she did, indeed, go on. She danced, she smiled - SUCCESS! This is why I do what I do.....the smell of the grease paint, the roar of the crowd.....and the smiling faces of my dancing little girls when they come off that stage and hug me. I love it.

(Sniff!) One More

Add this one to the list of Songs That Make Me Sad:

Waxing Poetic

I have loved this poem since I studied it in high school, and its lines are in my mind as our journey thru life takes us once again into the many summer mornings.....

Ithaca

by Constantine P. Cavafy

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,

pray that the road is long,

full of adventure, full of knowledge.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,

the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:

You will never find such as these on your path,

if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine

emotion touches your spirit and your body.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,

the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,

if you do not carry them within your soul,

if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.

That the summer mornings are many, when,

with such pleasure, with such joy

you will enter ports seen for the first time;

stop at Phoenician markets,

and purchase fine merchandise,

mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

and sensual perfumes of all kinds,

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

visit many Egyptian cities,

to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.

To arrive there is your ultimate goal.

But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better to let it last for many years;

and to anchor at the island when you are old,

rich with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.

Without her you would have never set out on the road.

She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.

Wise as you have become, with so much experience,

you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.

What's in a name?

Found a cool link on one of the blogs I linked to today - and here's what I found out:

My name is the #159 most common female name.
0.142% of females in the US share my name.
Around 181,050 US females have the same name as I do!

So of course I had to look up the info on the rest of the family:

Hubby has the #842 most common male name.
0.007% of men in the US share his name.
Around 8575 US men have the same name as he does!
So he's a little more unique than I am....

Navy Son has the #246 most common male name.
0.063% of men in the US share his name.
Around 77,175 US men are named the same thing he is!
Not as unique as Hubby, but moreso than me.

Darling Daughter has a very rare female name.
Very few females in the US share her name.
She should be proud of her unique name! (I am proud I gave it to her!)

Youngest son has the #739 most common male name.
0.009% of men in the US share his name.
Around 11,025 US men are named the same thing he is!
So he's still not as unique as Hubby, but unique nonetheless....

I find this all very fascinating.

Ten Songs That Make Me Sad

My Ten on Tuesday list for this week - Ten Songs That Make Me Sad:

1. Where've You Been? by Kathy Mattea
2. Walking Her Home by Mark Schultz
3. Because He Lives (because it was my grandmother's favorite hymn and hearing it makes me think of her)
4. To Make You Feel My Love by Garth Brooks
5. After All This Time by Rodney Crowell
6. Don't Take the Girl by Tim McGraw (the video is really the killer on this one)
7. I'm Already There by Lonestar (go ahead - watch the video and try to not cry)
8. Hurt by Johnny Cash
9. Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss
10. It's Your Song by Garth Brooks (sorry, can't find a good link to this one)

Hmmm......mostly country songs. Interesting.

Cole Survivor

So Earl Cole is the $1-million winner of Survivor: Fiji. I'm OK with that, but I really think Yau-Man should have won, and he would have if Dreamz hadn't gone back on his word and had given Yau-Man Immunity in the Final Four like he said he would. I think that is the lowest act since Johnny Fairplay told his dead grandmother story in Season 7. But oh well. Earl played the game well, so congratulations to him. Maybe he'll buy Yau-Man a new truck.

I'm not tellin'!

The Ten on Tuesday topic this week was "Ten Things Most People Don't Know About You" - cjh's list is great (especially #4 - it reminds me of something the Ya-Ya's would do!). I really wanted to do this this week, because I love to make lists anyway and putting lists on my blog is extra fun! But the more I thought about it the more I realized - the things that most people don't know about me are things I don't want most people to know about me! I'm not a very secretive person - those who know me know me well (in fact, Hubby thinks I blab too much sometimes). But there are some things - maybe not even ten - that I just don't want everyone to know. So, sorry! No Ten on Tuesday list for me this week. I'm already at work on next week's list, tho. It should be a good one!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

- Wonderful Son was baptized today and the church had a HUGE party for him (and the other people who were also baptized today). Our family and friends were all there and it was a fabulous, blessed event!

- Rookie Hunter Pence hit a grand slam in yesterday's Astros game!

The Bad

- The critter is still pitter-pattering around in our attic, eluding the trap.

- Despite a few hopeful showings lately, we still do not have a contract on our house.

- The Houston Rockets

The Ugly

- Roger Clements

Ten Movies That Make Me Cry

Inspired by cjh, who was inspired by geek and 10 on Tuesday, here is my list of Ten Movies That Make Me Cry (this was not a stretch for me because almost ALL movies make me cry!):

1. Titanic - bawled and bawled when I saw this one! Seriously. Bawled.
2. Fried Green Tomatoes - ditto, and it was first movie I saw with Hubby!
3. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (cried when I read the book, cried when I saw the movie)
4. Hope Floats
5. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (yes, I know this was a comedy, but the end was sad!)
6. Forrest Gump
7. Big Fish
8. Parenthood
9. The Prince of Tides (my daughter's name comes from this book/movie)
10. Passion of the Christ (how could anyone NOT cry at this one?)

There are other classic tearjerker movies that I refuse to watch for that exact reason, like Stepmom or My Girl or The Notebook. I mean, why put myself thru that?