50 Day Challenge

50 Day Challenge:
Something that You Like to Do

Central Market.
With the pay cut at he new job I can't afford to shop much there anymore.
But that doesn't mean I can't LOOK!
and give myself only 20 bucks and try all the Saturday samples.
And I swear I only spend 20.
I really do.
Usually I either buy...

1) good parm
2) fresh mozz
3) truffle cheese
4) hot cheeser pretzels
5) organic chicken nuggets (cause I REFUSE to feed him anything else)
6) pate (yep, I love pate)
7) fois gras (they only have it at Christmas but I do buy an 1/8 of a lb)

My love of porches started as a small child.
My Mom and I would have tea parties with my fabulous Greenbriar tea set (thank you Grammie) on the front porch of our house in Ottumwam Iowa on Green St.
Then we moved to Indiana.
I can't even begin to tell you the hours spent, stories told, and memories made on that porch.
When I was in Kenya I made a list of the top 5 things that I missed.
Mom and Dad's porch was on the list.
I can still smell that distinct pizza smell from the parlor next to us and hear the laughter of group of friends.
I miss how hot and sticky it is out there in July.
I loved my Grammie's porch and the old wooden, white furniture she had.
When company would come I'd make tall glasses of diet Pepsi, little bowls of chex mix and cheese and crackers or shrimp cocktail.
I always sat quietly while dinner cooked up in the kitchen and listen to the gossip while the warm breeze of the north would blow through all the open screen windows.
My other Grandparents have a killer back screened in porch patio.
It has this pronounced smell of garage and cut grass that still reminds me of grilling hamburgers and eating corn on the cob.
And the chairs.
The chairs around the white patio table are bright yellow, from the 70's, and my bum slips right through them...even at 26 yo...so imagine my poor 8yo cousin!
HeHe!
The other porch I have a special place in my heart for is Lakeside.
The old hotel there has a huge screened in porch that overlooks Lake Erie.
Big tall rickety ricking chairs, the Victrola playing, ocean air, and sun setting on the horizon.
I hope Little O thinks of my slight-very-large obsession with lanterns, my big white rockers, and our "fairy tree" someday in the same way that I think about my childhood porch.

Reading.
I LOVE to read.
I don't' even remember not loving books.
The smell.
The feel of the paper.
The stories.
The imagination.
When a new book comes in the mail I nearly have a nervy spaz and I dither about like a dithering ditherer.
Whatever that is.
Golly, I love to read.

Lucinda.
Country.
Buddy Holly.
Dylan.
Irish Fiddle.
Wee Sing Silly Songs.
Fiddler on the Roof.
The Monkees.
PANDORA!
Oldies.
Beethoven.
Petty.
John Prine.
The Broderick.
I could go on and on.
There is something so relaxing and thrilling about driving in the countryside as I head home to 3 Forks Ranch with the radio on.

My friend Jen and I have both talked abundantly about our love of the ocean.
Casondra and I took a near insane trip to the ocean in Charleston, SC
and I know that my twin, Elsa, loves the ocean as much as all of us.
She's my twin...
duh!
I consider one of the greatest perks of living in Austin is that I am only 3 hours from the most deserted beach I've ever found.
There is nothing like standing in the sand while the waves wash over your ankles, looking both directions, as far as your eyes can see, and seeing nothing. nada.zilch. not a car. not a dock. not a boat. not a human.
IT is the most inspiring and freeing feeling.
When we head to the beach I am literally like a dog hanging out the window once we hit that "point".
Ya know what I mean...where the air changes and you can literally feel the stress roll off your back??
So ya turn up the radio, let down your hair, and stick you head out the window.
Yes, I do that.
and yes, I'm sure D is trying to duck down so his face is not associated with the crazy woman next to him.