Thursday Thirteen #34: The B's of Me

I'm taking the easy way out again (and maybe for the next 24 times too, lol!) and doing B's!

1. Bible: You know how Robert Fulghum wrote a book about how everything he needed to know about life he learned in kindergarten? Well, everything I needed to know I learned from the Bible.

2. Bill: My son was born on Mother's Day, 1987--the best gift I've ever gotten for Mother's Day. He is a joy to me (as are all my kids but we're on the B's right now) and I'm so proud of him. He is a brilliant young man but also very kind, generous and compassionate. What a great kid! Well..young man. :)

3. Books: I've had a life long friendship with books. Even before I started kindergarten, I knew how to read. I'd go to the grocery store with my grandma and she'd let me pick out Little Golden Books. I devoured them. I was so proud of my first library card and of being able to choose my very own books to take home. Over the years, books have kept me company, fed my brain and entertained me.

4. Beets: I don't know how many people like beets but I'm a lifelong lover of beets too. Long after I'd grown out of baby food I used to sneak Gerber beets into my parents' shopping cart. Heh. My mom used to serve beets with meatloaf and I've continued that tradition. My favorite type is to have them pickled. Yum!

5. Beach: When I think of the beach, I think of it at sunrise or sunset--not the crowded people-lying-in-the-sun scene. I think of sitting in the cool sand, watching the waves roll in and listening to them as they either crash or wash in. I've had my best vacations at the beach. For me, the beach is peaceful, soothing--a refuge.

6. Bowling: My parents signed my brother and me up for a duckpin league when we were kids in Baltimore. I took to bowling like a duck to water. I did very well and eventually we moved on to ten pin bowling. I made friends and felt accepted on the kids' league. I did well and participated in tournaments. I won trophies, which was really cool. I kept on bowling when I was an adult and had so much fun. After Rich died, I got Bill and Kristin into bowling too. I can't bowl now because of the issues in my hands. It makes me sad. I miss it.

7. Baseball: I loved the game when I was a kid. I used to listen to the games and follow the Baltimore Orioles. My parents used to take my brother and me to Memorial Stadium to see the Birds play. This was in the glory days, around 1966. After the game, we'd go hang out at the player exits and collect autographs. My favorite players were Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger, Frank Robinson, Paul Blair, Jim Palmer and Dave McNally. I followed baseball until the first strike--then I lost interest in professional sports.

8. Breakfast: It's my favorite meal of the day!

9. Blues: I love all kinds of music but hadn't paid too much attention to the blues. Within the last ten years, though, I'm enjoying it more and more. I've always liked Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Chuck Berry. Now I've listened to many other blues artists.

10. Ballroom dancing: I don't know how but I've always wanted to learn.

11. Boys: I started having crushes on stars when I was in junior high--like David Selby from Dark Shadows and Bobby Sherman from Here Come The Brides. I had crushes on teachers, too. I also had some crushes on classmates but those boys weren't all that nice. I was too fat. I'd made some chocolate chip cookies in Home Ec one day and brought one for Michael, a kid I thought was the cutest in the 8th grade. Michael stuffed it in his mouth and acted like he was totally mortified I'd brought it to him. Oh well.

12. Beatlemania: I enjoyed the music and thought the "boys" John, Paul, George and Ringo were cuties. I didn't feel like swooning, though, when I saw them on the Ed Sullivan show. I never did get Beatlemania. I listened to folk music and other groups instead.

13. Bigotry: makes me sick. If I could erase one thing from the earth, it would be bigotry.

Want more Thursday Thirteen? Check it out here.