ROBIEWANKENOBIE

i'm such a copycat. a thought association hundred (you only get 51 today).

1. i am the youngest of four and the only girl.

2. my next oldest brother is 11 years my senior.

3. the first girl in my father's direct line in over 200 years.

4. my grandmothers had a bet as to whether i would be a girl or a boy. grandma bea always hoped for a girl.

5. grandma jesse lost - which made everyone happy because she was a fabulous cook and was to make a feast for the entire family if she lost.

6. i should remember grandma jesse, but i don't. i wonder if my kids will remember my dad.

7. grandma bea taught me to knit.

8. she would always make us leave the house when it was time to watch her "stories."

9. i've never had a better pecan pie than the ones grandma bea made.

10. my mother is probably a better cook than my grandma bea.

11. mom makes the best danish puff on the planet. she can also throw down with the peach chutney, and makes a heck of a plum wine.

12. i made danish puff for a 4-H demonstration speech - i won a blue ribbon.

13. i also won blue ribbons for a shelf i made in woodworking and a pair of pants i sewed.

14. i never raised an animal for 4-H - it was too sad, though i did judge some 4-H rabbit speeches while in college.

15. i still miss new york.

16. i had qualified for the women's national sailing championship the summer that we moved to kentucky.

17. i think sailing is like flying.

18. being landlocked is my least favorite part of kentucky.

19. my favorite part of kentucky is theLeon.

20. if it weren't for theLeon, i'd probably be living in philly.

21. this weekend theLeon reminded me how hot the mediterranean men were that worked at the restaurant near my apartment.

22. i lived near a coffee shop & dirty franks, but never went in (i did go to df before i left - boy was i missing out. it is THE perfect skeezy dive bar).

23. i hardly ever go in coffee shops now that i don't work at one.

24. i gave up caffeine - i think it was a good idea.

25. i've pretty much changed everything about the way i eat.

26. i really miss being athletic.

27. at one time i was skating 4 hours a day - i had a fabulous body.

28. i'm fluffier than i used to be.

29. fluffy can be downright adorable on a short person.

30. i don't mind being fluffy (because i'm adorable) but i want to be STRONG.

31. i used to be strong a long time ago. i skated at the ice rink for hours every day.

32. i started taking figure skating lessons at 29. i stopped skating early in my pregnancy.

33. i only skated once last year.

34. i took the kids and was surprised to find that both of them could hold their own.

35. i'd trade skate time for kid time any day.

36. i'm working hard to be "in the moment" with the kids.

37. sometimes it is difficult to step back. i blame the homework. i think homework sucks.

38. we're hiking more, which is loads of fun.

39. i think we're going to start camping. we tried camping when the kids were younger. fucking epic fail.

40. i've camped in probably half of the states. mostly state/national parks, but occasionally a koa when we were desperate.

41. whenever i'm at a state park i think of my dad.

42. i've been missing my dad a lot lately.

43. i thought a lot about him this weekend when we went to theLeon's hometown. we went to a park that had great trails. the kids say that they remember him most when they hit the trails. i remembered how he used to make me eat granola and yogurt in the mornings as we picnicked at scenic overlooks. i hate scenic overlooks, and i swore, as God as my witness, i would never eat granola and yogurt again.

44. i eat granola with yogurt almost every morning. i just realized that this week.

45. our weekend jaunts to the mountains are so relaxing. the moment we hit the highway i can just feel my shoulders start to unknit themselves. it helps to have a fantastic mother-in-law.

46. theLeon and i went on a fabulous date while we were there. a trip to the movies and a late night snack at the waffle king (they don't have waffle houses up in them hills) was all it took for us to reconnect. we're easy that way.

47. at the waffle king there were a number of dirty looks. apparently it is okay to be indian with a white girl, or black girl with a white boy, but don't you black men steal our white women!

48. i can count the number of times we've been given crap on one hand.

49. i'm in love with theLeon. passionately.

50. we're going to go see george winston tomorrow night. when we were young whippersnappers we would sneak into my father's office at night and have candlelight picnics while listening to wyndham hill.

51. winter into spring is one of my go-to happy places. as is chopin. as are simon and garfunkle. as are all sorts of other pieces of music. yes, please! also? new favorite: