You're It!

Well, I'm it, technically. Sara from Odd Dotty Dollymaker tagged me (thanks, Sara, this is fun!) and I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself then tag 7 other people.

1. I moved to Texas from Missouri when I was in college. Everyone in Missouri (well, the people I knew, anyway, not the entire state) seemed to think I'd end up saying "y'all" all the time and that I'd go off and marry a cowboy (because all Texans are cowboys). Looking back on my Texas experience, I can see that not everyone is a cowboy (they do tend to say y'all an awful lot), but I was inclined to believe they were when I learned these things within my first few weeks as a Texan:

• how to 2-step...at a bonfire with a cowboy named BILLY BOB! I still think this is too good to be true.

• a "dualie" is one of those big trucks with double rear wheels. Of course, I thought they were saying "dooley." Actually, it took me a little while to figure this one out.

• even girls wear custom-fitted cowboy hats.

• Rockies are jeans for cowgirls (specifically those tight jeans with no pockets on the rear) and Ropers are boots.

I did enjoy my time spent with cowgirls and boys, but no, I did not end up marrying one and I do not say "y'all."

2. I could drink a pitcher, or more, of iced tea a day. I wouldn't care if I ever had anything else to drink. Tea is fine with me.

3. I was a cheerleader in the 8th grade, which I find kind of embarrassing to admit. Watching old pep rally routines on tape, with your husband, is even more embarrassing. Except when you watch in fast forward. Then it's pretty funny.

4. There's this line in the movie Spiderman (where Peter goes to that wrestling match to win money for a car and he's fighting that hairy guy called Bonesaw), "Bonesaw is readeeeeee!" that absolutely makes me crack up every time I say it or think of it. Why I'm thinking of it or saying it that often, I have NO idea.

5. I am constantly tortured by feeling trapped and sorry for myself in winter in this city, but thinking I shouldn't be feeling that way because so many people have it worse than we do. Surviving the ever-gray and unending winter in Chicago with 3 children under the age of 4 in a 2-bedroom, 3rd floor apartment with street parking, no dishwasher, no job, no preschool, and no extended family is HARD. Maybe it's because I'm not as creative as I like to think I am, maybe it's because my heart is just not in the right place (two sizes too small?), maybe I have SAD or maybe it's just true. At any rate, I know we're blessed, but it's sometimes hard to remember.

6. The first piece of art I sold was a clock I made for a class project in high school. It was on display in the class window and a teacher I didn't know asked to buy it. Now "making art" seems past-tense to me, but I hope it won't be that way forever.

7. I have a sister who is an absolute wizard at the original Nintendo game Dr. Mario. I can save the princess in Super Mario Bros., but somehow that doesn't seem quite as impressive. We fondly remember the days of Mario, Duck Hunt, and sleepovers and I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to make a character even walk around in one of the contemporary game systems, let alone win something in it.

So, yes, it was fun to list these completely random things about myself but I've always been one of those people who stops the chain and I'm afraid I'm going to continue my tradition by not tagging anyone.