I have one story to tell for today. It didn't happen yesterday. It happened the day I picked my daughter up from the airport. My younger daughter and I were waiting at the luggage area for her luggage. You know those people who stand there with signs with names on them? Well she said "You should walk up to one of those guys and say you're the person on the sign." We have always toyed with the idea of doing that. Never have gotten up the guts to do it yet. We did however settle for a slightly tamer bit of fun. We looked at the guy and made eye contact with him. Then we walked directly toward him smiling. The poor guy looked at us then away , then back, then away , then back... the whole time we are walking straight at him grinning from ear to ear. I think he was about to run. We walked right up to him then turned to the side and kept walking. I actually brushed his arm with mine, we were so close. Then we went into the restroom and convulsed into laughter. Let me just say at this point if you are going to crack up in a public restroom, check for occupants first. We heard someone scurrying to get their pants up and get out of there. So to avoid being seen we dashed into a stall. We both cose the same one at first and it was very small. In order to remain toilet water free we decided to get our own stall. I kept that one and pushed Kati out. After all finders keepers and I was there first. Ok it wasn't exactly a fer that I overcame but it was a chance for public embarassment, and that is a big fear of mine. So mission accomplished. I looked it in the face and darted around it. I would still like to pretend to be the name on the sign but that's just me.

It's been a little while since my last post. I haven't been falling down on my resolution though. My daughter is in town from Canada, and we have been busy. I have done a few things that could be considered to have a modicum of danger in them. I did a leap off my front porch. I didn't intend to do it but I did do it and survived to tell about it. My son, the older one, you know who I'm talking about, grabbed the broom I was holding and tried to jerk it out of my hands. I guess reflexes took over and I held tight. Don't ask me why. Long story short I flew off the porch and landed with my face pressed into his chest. Thank God it was pressed into his chest. If he had moved I would have crashed into the side of my truck. Since I hit him instead all that resulted was convulsive laughter by me and an overwelming desire to retreat to the bathroom before I peed my pants. He on the other hand didn't laugh right away, he waited to see if he had killed or mamed me in some way first. All this happened because I was using my broom to prevent him from throwing a horseshoe over the fence to scare his sister and brother. I will protect my kids at all cost but that's just me.

Yesterday was pretty tame. The only thing I did that even remotely required courage was climbing a ladder. Now not to diminish the bravery it took. The ladder was 8' tall and only had one support on the side. I did have a moment of fear on the top there. I had to climb to the top step and put plastic over the kitchen window. It was either that or take the window fan out. It has been really cold for Florida, and the wind comes in through the fan. I knew we would need to cover it. It is supposed to snow tonight and early tomorrow. Can you believe that? Snow in central Florida. My plans are to stay up late tonight and get up early tomorrow and hopefully see snow. I went to Canada , to visit my daughter and son-in-law in November. I had hoped to see snow while I was there. Nothing! Now I'm home in sunny Florida and snow is forcast for tonight and tomorrow. Go figure. I hope it does snow. Everyone is saying "No I came here to get away from snow". Now the weather channel doesn't say if it doesn't snow it will be warm. And let's get real no one in Florida is going to have to shovel their driveway or put chains on their tires. We talking about a few flurries. Lighten up. I say if it's going to be cold enough to snow anyway, it might as well snow. But that's just me.

My challenge yesterday was to try sushi. I am a southern girl through and through. Raw fish is bait, not something people eat. Ok I have never had the desire to try it at all. I'm not afraid of it but it's not something I look forward to. I picked out 2 different kind at our local chinese resturant. I picked one up, smelled it,(it smelled like the bait store), put it to my mouth,(it was much denser than I imagined) and I bit it. It tasted like the bait store smelled! I spit it out into my napkin. Gross! Ok so that was just a bad one. I'll try the other one. I did. Same result, different napkin. I came , I tried, I spit it out. I can now say without hesitation, "I do not like sushi". My youngest daughter said " You have to try it at a regular sushi place. You'll like it there." Why is it when you try something, that someone tells you you'll love, and you don't love it, they always say it's better somewhere else? I guess I just like my fish the same way I like my steak and chicken.....well done. Thats just me.

It's been cold here. To cold to be doing anything but staying warm. Now that's what my mother would have said. I'm not regressing. I refuse to . Ok what to do what to do. hmmm. Ok lori , my oldest daughter who is "supporting " me in this effort, you win. Taking off sweater and putting on regular shirt and no shoes and walking out side. If my feet freeze, nope not thinking that way. Going to join my own little version of the polar bear club. My mother would never do this. Ok I checked the temp. outside. It was 34* . I went out no shoes and walked all the way around my house ,which is BIG, to the front door. At the front door I found it was locked. I knocked. No answer. I knocked louder. NO answer. I looked up at the window. There is the smiling face of my idiot husband. I pounded "LET ME IN!!" He laughed but he opened the door. Later that night when we got into bed I remembered that smiling face in the window. I reached over ever so tenderly and....stuck my frozen feet on his back. That's me!

Yesterday was Sunday so we were at church. My husband is the pastor, and since we live a long way from the church, we stay there all day. My older son ,he's 31, was playing around. He was stepping up on this chair, and putting his foot on the back and riding it over to the floor. "Try it mom" No way I thought, what if I fall. I had visions of me stepping on the chair, begining the decent, the chair closing, there-by breaking my foot and or ankle. Then as the ride down had been interrupted the landing would be off and I would fall incredible hard onto the floor, knocking myself unconscience. This was not going to happen. Later in the day I thought " There's that dog gone fear thing again". It was this blog that pushed me to do it. I needed something to write about. I told only my older son. I figured he could catch me. At the very least he could call 911. I eyed the chair. I changed my mind. I felt like a coward. I changed my mind again. I stepped onto the seat. This was not so bad, not to high ,not wobbly. I can do this. I put my left foot onto the back. Ok still not to bad. I pushed but not to hard. Ok since he had no gun to MAKE me do it , I asked him to give me a pull. He did over I went perfect except for the landing. I had my foot to high and landed on my toes and buckled my knees. Down I went straight to the floor, but up I came...... like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I did it!!
It was so cold yesterday, that I wore my jeans and sneakers to church. I can change into my dress just before the service starts, I thought. That was the plan, but I forgot my church shoes. The sneakers just didn't look right with my dress, so I went barefoot. I figured if God told Moses and Joshua to take off their shoes cause they were standing on holy land, He'd have no problem with me doing it. That's me. Most women wouldn't have gone in. They would have missed church all together. I went barefoot. I'm sure anyone who noticed just thought, "That's Janice.". It is.

I watched a horror movie last night. I'm not a big fan of them. Not the kind like monsters or zombies or vampires, I can deal with those. The kind where a girl is kidnapped and tortured. The kind that can really happen. They scare me! I watched it all the way through. No nightmares. I probably won't go outside alone for awhile but I made it.
I also wrote a program forthe kids at church. That's what I do. That's me. No one in my family influnces me in my writing. There are other people in my family who write, but we each have our own style. Converting stories to plays though, that's me.

Ok baby steps. I let my son zap my ear with a shock pen. I hate them. I screamed the first time I got shocked on the finger with it. I held my breath and let him zap my earlobe. It wasn't that bad. One fear faced, Ok so it was a small fear, but it was a fear none the less.
Now for something that is only me. I was always taught that the proper way to cook a turkey was to get up at 3 in the morning and put it on. You wrap the turkey in aluminum foil, then put it in a big baking pan with a lid and add water to cover the bottom of the pan. I did this for years. I was the one dragging around on Christmas day, because I had been up most of the early morning getting the turkey ready. Do you know how difficult it is to wrestle the neck of a turkey out of it's butt? Especially when the turkey is still partially frozen? I had several melt downs in my kitchen at 3 in the morning Christmas day. This is over. This year I put the turkey on at 9:00 am. No water , no aluminum foil, and no lid. The turkey was done by 1:00. Perfectly browned and the juiciest turkey I ever cooked. This is me. Never again will I fight a turkey at 3 in the morning. My mother would not approve. She would love the taste and say it was delicious, but she would not approve. I'm not her, I'm me.

Being Me

Ok it's Jan.1 2010. This is my new years resolution. To become myself. I see myself turning into my mother. I don't want to be her. I want to be me. This year I am going to try to do something completely me everyday. I loved my mother, but, I don't want to be like she was. She was afraid of life. I see myself leaning that way. This year I will challenge myself to do things that scare me. Things I have avoided. Things my mother would never do. Wish me luck.