Childhood Activities

What activities did I enjoy as a Child that I enjoy now as an adult?

Well, this one is hard. Most of my favorite activities now were not childhood things. For example - I love to cross stitch. When I am really in the mood to do it, I can cross stitch for hours and hours without stopping. Seriously. Ask my best friend - she can vouch for this! (She does it too... Shhhhhh, don't tell!) So, I love Cross-stitching. But I really learned how to do it when I was about 13 years old... So, not really a child. But, it should count, right? I am twice what I was when I was 13!!I also love to scrapbook. One of my favorite past-times. I mean, really. I will collect anything and everything just for the sake of cutting it up and gluing it back into a book. But, I didn't do this as a child either. I did do a lot of collecting as a child - that should count! I still collect things. part of my incredible packrat capabilities!
I also am a big fan of cooking. Have been since my early teen years (maybe earlier than that). So, at a young age I was quite the gal when it came to Macaroni and Cheese. I could also make a MEAN PBnJ. Brownies were a specialty as were cookies (though I will have to tell about my evil cookie experience some other time). Anyway, Back to me being a kid - Well, I was big on pretending. My dad and mom would both be able to tell you that I was the kid that didn't care if I played with someone or if I played alone. I was actually pretty good at playing alone. I had quite the active imagination and I did better by myself (I think). I didn't like it when other people would mess up my game play. Now that I am all growed up and got little-uns of my own, well, there is still a great deal of pretend play. They don't always catch on to my wild schemes and ideas, but it's still a lot of fun. Sometimes they get into it, sometimes they don't - but I don't think that's a part of me that will ever go away. Keeps life interesting!
As a young lass, I also swam. I love swimming still - I am a total water baby. I was competitive as a child and I am just as competitive today when it comes to the water sports that I do. I might be having trouble with my weight - and I might LOVE to eat, but I love the water just as much and will challenge anyone that thinks that they can beat me. they might be able to, but I will re-challenge them when I am doing a little bit better. Rest Assured, it won't be too long before they LOSE! BWAHAHAHAA!As a child and as an adult, I love to be outside - I love to go camping and just be out. OUT is good. I like to go to national parks and see the different settings that our dear father has created for us. Trees as tall as you can look! Rock formations shaped by the winds. Gysers, mountains, trails, flowers, trees... I love the outside... have since I was a kid - and will forever.
Which brings me to gardening. I love to have a garden. I like to work in the yard and work with plants and flowers and things like that. It's something that was passed on by my Grandpa Ross, and maybe even my Grandpa Singleton. Somewhere in the history is a garden... and somewhere I found that I love it. The smell of the soil, the pulling of weeds. It's hard work, but it's so lovely when it's done. I loved working in the yard as a youth, when we lived in Texas. I would trim the hedges and weed and mow... and one day I will have a yard again and I will be back at it again. I love dirt.

More about what's been going on...

I know that there is this wonderful Journal Jar topic, just waiting to be delved into. I mean, everyone really is just DYING to read about activities that I still enjoy from my childhood - but that's just not what I want to type about presently.

I feel great today. Lively, wonderful, splendid, and all of the other fantastic adjectives. I really just feel like expressing myself. It's Friday. And though my lovely sister does a day in pictures, I still do not have a camera so I am not able to follow in her footsteps here. But, this week has been fantastic for me just the same. There have been a few ups and downs... I will list some below:

UP - Danny Gokey made it through on American Idol (as he should)
Down - I weigh 186 and am NOT happy about it...
UP - I started a great Body for Life program and I feel phenomenal today! (After all, I've made it for 5 days now)
Down - I have these headaches in the morning now... not cool.
UP - I discovered a new delicious recipe for breakfast or snacks!
Down - My tummy is very hungry because it loves food as much as I do and it wants me to eat more.
UP - Temple night - I did two Willie names... felt great.
Down - the aching in my knees and elbows from the lifting of the weights
UP - Rick is home for the week - and doing great in the study that he has been participating in.
Down - While home, there is more cleaning and laundry to do - Why can't the house just stay clean?!!?

Anyway, I feel very accomplished this week. I feel like I am getting something done with myself, and I feel great about it. Right now - I just feel fantastic - and I am grateful for the pushing of the eldest sister to get me into the Body for Life program. I look forward to my butterfly transformation over the next 12 weeks... I'm gonna ROCK the Casbah!

Aside from my Journaling

I changed my "counting my blessings" blog to the "Blubber Blog". This is the blog that will show off my incredible flabbyness whilst I try to shed the unsightly pounds that I have gained over the last ten years.That's right people - that's what it's called... FLAB - And I have it. And part of this is because I love to eat food... yeah - food is good. I do enjoy it. But, I do not enjoy batwings... So, Go there - read on and be a support as I do my best to not become the next statistic. Now - back to our regularly scheduled program...

Tell about a fishing or Hunting Experience

Oh my - this one is so tough, because there are so many. There really are. I will tell you all about the first time my dad took me to go squirrel hunting. (* Yes, I hunted them... and I would STILL if there were any good ones around here*)
ALAS! The American Gray Squirrel! Elusive - evil - and Extraordinarily Cute! Did I mention that they are also very delicious!?! (And they are - cooked up in a nice gumbo... MMMMMM - yummy) So, when I was growing up - my dad decided that I needed to learn how to hunt. If I remember correctly, he may have taken each of us out for a hunting trip.

Now, prior to the hunting trips, he prepared us all - told us stories about squirrels, how they could SENSE when something was out of place in their home territory. How they were smart little buggers, and if they spotted you then you might not see ONE the whole trip out. He told us how they sat up in their little tree houses looking down on us, LAUGHING because they knew that they would never be caught. I often envisioned them as the types of tree rats that, if given technology, would sit up there taking pictures of the hunters below. It would never surprise me if they did.So, I got myself up at 5:00 in the morning, on a bitterly cold but brisk autumn day in Mississippi. My dad helped me tuck my hair up under my hat and gave me a special hand warmer because he knew that I would freeze my hiney off. We grabbed up our guns, me in my over sized jacket and vest, and headed out into the woods. There was MUCH walking that morning, and I found that I loved the way that the leaves sound as your boots tromped through them. ((Though my dad told me that I made WAY too much noise, and I probably woke up every squirrel in 10 acres)) BUT, I was certain that I had not, and that I would catch one of the fuzzy tailed tree rats by sun-up.
We found a spot - and settled on down. My dad helped me to cover up with leaves because - as I said before - Squirells can tell when their space has been disturbed. They just KNOW when something has been moved or is out of place. The sun had not even come up yet, and I could hear the plippity plop of water droplets falling from high above and hitting the leave covered ground that I sat on. And, I got cold.

As I sat there my mind raced. When would I see one? If I saw one, could I really shoot it? After all - they are SO cute. Maybe I could keep one as a pet. Take it home, and dress it up in cute clothes?? Sounds like a good plan to me... The sun started to come up and the forest around me started to come alive. Birds began to chirp. There is something so wonderful about the way that the breeze flows through the tree tops. Beyond the tree where I was, I heard my dad give a faint whistle, and tilt his gun over to a yonder Birch tree. I saw it... A squirrel! But, I couldn't get a good angle on it. So, I didn't take the shot. We waited and waited and waited some more. And then, Nothing. it's as if the first squirell knew taht we were there and had told all of his squirly friends about us! Maybe they were going to gang up on us and blow us right out of the forest! You never know with these rodents - after all, I have heard that they are VERY, VERY Smart little critters.
After a few hours, we got up to change positions. We took a little walk and my dad scouted the area. Then, suddenly, he spotted the squirrel. It was on the trunk of a tree. It had flattened itself to the tree as to not be noticed. My dad walked around the tree and told me to take aim for the little rodent. My heart raced and pounded in my chest. My dad walked to the tree and grabbed hold of a hanging vine and began to shake it. The squirrel edged his way around to the other side of the tree, just in my view. I took Aim... I shot!...
And I got that darn squirrel - oooh, he thought he was a "supah Squirrel!" and I got him! He fell from the tree and my dad couldn't believe it! (Neither could I to tell you the truth). He wasn't sure with the way that I was looking or holding my gun that I would have hit anything at all.

And that was it. I bagged em - I got to learn how to skin em' too. (It's like undressing a wiggly 2 year old if you ask me). Anyway, I wasn't hooked on hunting quite the same as some of the other siblings, but I can say that I did it... one day, I will have to take my kids out and teach them... and that's going to be a lot of fun, I think.

SING WIF ME NOW! It's the most wonderful time of the year.....

Today's fun topic is... Describe a Perfect Winter Day. What kinds of activities would you do on that day?Ahhh - the perfect Winter Day... Personally, I don't really adore winter. I am not a "cold" fan... I don't like the snow after it gets dirty - I don't like the cold - I don't like the wet - and I prefer NOT to be bundled up... BUT, since this is the question, I will describe my Perfect Winter day.Personally, I like sitting by the fire - and watching the snow fall through a nice big window. I used to have a nice big window - and a fireplace - though it was an awkward fire place - the positioning was all wrong... But, that's besides the point! This is about MY day... BWAHAHAAA. So, I would like to sit by the fire - watching the snow - and drinking this beautiful picturesque cocoa that I found on Google somewhere. Doesn't it look tasty? That's what I would want.
BUT - I would most likely have the kids with me... and they would want to go and Play in the snow and make a bunch of snowmen... And in a way, I guess that's kind of perfect too - in fact - I have some pictures of these "SNOWMEN" that they attempted to get me to help them make one year. I want everyone to know that the one that is actually upright is the one that I helped make... :DThis is the Snowman that the kids made... kind of like a snow Dwarf... or maybe a snow mountain. Or a Snow "Cousin It". So, I had to take a little bit of time and show the kids how to actually ROLL a snowball...
And make a snowman... And I guess- quite frankly, this is one of my best winter memories. I loved making that darn snowman - even if it wasn't the best looking snowman on the planet. It was still lots of fun - and I did get cold - and that wasn't my favorite part. But Laughing at the kids while they tried to make a snow "IT" - well... that was awesome...

The Best AND the Worst...

Today's topic was "What were your best and worst subjects in Grade, Middle, and High school".

Well, a long long time ago - when I was a wee lass... I had the WORST time reading. In fact - I almost failed out of the first grade (before all of that nonsense about No Child Left Behind and whatnot) - because I couldn't keep up with my reading. Turns out that it's because I couldn't see very well... and I ended up getting glasses... but that's besides the point. The point was that my reading and writing were Terrible. TERRIBLE. - I, however, was excellent in Math and Science. I excelled in the art of being Nerdy - but lovable... it was a great time...
Then came middle school. I, still, was pretty nerdy - but my Math started to suffer some, and my English, History and Art grades started to be a lot better. Science was still a bonus - and I still did pretty good in most of the subjects , but not as good in Math. I had Straight A's a time or 5... but, that didn't stop me from having a good time. Soooooo...

I moved on to High School. This is where I (ultimately) decided that I wanted friends more than I wanted good grades. I did really good in the subjects that involved participation. Choir, Art, Swimming (MAN... I was seriously a TIGER in the water...), ....... Health, English, Science, History, Civics, etc. They were all pretty darn good grades... but Math.. well, Math I struggled with because I didn't retain the basics. I had a hard time dealing with Algebra and whatnot - it stunk a bit. I test really well in Math. In all the aptitude tests I did well, but - no so much when it came to homework and practical exams. Go Figure.I finally Broke the Math issue in College - with lots of studying and help from my Hottie Hubby. (That would be Rick). I finally made it out of Algebra - now I just hope that I don't ever have to take it again!