This-n-that

When the cat's away, the mouse. . .well. . .this mouse at least, throws herself a pity party the likes of which no one has ever seen. You'd think that after fifteen years of marriage, I'd be used to it when John leaves town for a conference; that my heart wouldn't be ripped to shreds as I stand in the front door, watching him drive away. But it was.

And so, while dear hubby was away last week, I found other ways to amuse myself. I found this link on chelle's site, and entered the Mom Idol singing contest. If you feel brave, and would like to be tortured, please feel free to check out the song I sang. Blogger will not work the way want it to, so here's the link:

I found this meme over at Much More Than A Mom's.

Five Facts About Me

1. When I was fours old, I thought I might have the power to resurrect dead animals. Our cattle dogs would bring wild rabbits they had just killed into the front yard. An animal lover at an early age, I risked life and limb by wrestling the prey away from the hungry dogs. Shedding tears of sorrow over the bunny carcass, I tied one end of a rope to the animal's neck, the other end to my tricycle, got on, and rode up and down the drive, as hard as my chubby legs could pedal, dragging the corpse behind me in the dust. I believed that if I went fast enough, the rabbit would come to life. Mom looked out the kitchen window and saw what I was doing. She screamed, told my dad to make me stop, and well. . .that ended my bunny "lifesaving career." And you thought Stephen King was weird.

2. I might have said this one before, but I brought one of my horses into my mother's house. Several months after Daddy was killed, Mom decided to have the re-modeling of the house completed, so she hired some workers to complete what my dad started. On day, when I was leading a four month old filly past the house, a worker remarked that the horse was very well-trained to the halter, but he bet me that I couldn't get the filly inside the house.

Wordlessly, I led the horse across the porch, through the front door, where she patiently trip-trapped behind me on the particle board to the kitchen. Mom, who was at the sink, told me--as if it was an every day affair--to get the horse out of the house. The worker, redfaced, stuttered as we walked out, said, "I-I didn't think you'd take me literally."

"Don't ever dare me to do anything," was my icy reply.

3. I used to eat Mircle Whip sandwiches when I was little.

4. I stood on the sidelines during an NFL pre-season scrimmage, and got to put a Superbowl ring on my finger. This occurred the very last summer the Dallas Cowboys had their training camp in Austin. I was field security, which meant I had direct contact with the players and special guests. One afternoon, when practice was over, I was introduced to an ex-Cowboy; one who'd played with Dallas the first time they went to the Superbowl.

I'd told him I'd been a fan since I was small, that "Go Cowboys," were among my first words spoken, and how my dream had been to play for them. Laughing, the gentlemen took his Superbowl ring off his finger, placed it in my palm, and said, 'Here sweetheart, wanna try this on?"

My heart pounded in my chest as I gazed at the piece of jewelry. "Go ahead, put it on," the ex-player urged. "You're not gonna hurt it. That thing has been dropped so many times it ain't even funny."

My hands shaking, I tried it on each finger. On each digit, the ring looked like a donut on a stick, until I tried my thumb; it fit then, but barely.

A few days later, I found myself on the sidelines, thousands of people screaming and cheering as the Dallas Cowboys scrimmaged the Oakland Raiders. It was a magical summer, a summer in which dreams came true.

5. I love pickled beets.