Bestest

My name is Amy and I have an addictive personality.  Borderline obsessive personality.  

I have admitted the problem.  That's the first step right?  

The good news is I'm not addicted to anything illegal.  But, when I start to do something or find something that I like, I become like a hamster in a wheel.

Right now, I'm obsessed with this hand lotion.  It's so amazing it will make you want to slap your mama.  {That is a saying I have stolen from my very southern friend Shelby and is best when said with an extreme Georgian accent}.  The lotion is not greasy.  Not one little bit greasy, but it will turn red - scaly - itchy - eighty year old - dragon looking hands into buttaaa.  A teacher at my school had some that I borrowed one day and it was game over after that.  She ended up just giving me a tub because I'm obsessive and she embraces that about me.  That same teacher also taught me how to make cucumber dill sandwiches.  She's a gem.  And the name of this hand cream  is right up my alley.  Love it.  Over and out.  

I've also started an addiction to this tea.  It's the best tea I've ever had.  At least this winter anyway.  Just the right mix of that dirty tea taste with a hint of citrus.  The problem with being addicted to this tea is that it makes me want to wear yoga pants and sit cross legged on my couch while holding a hot cup between both hands twelve.hours.a.day.  And that just wouldn't be a healthy habit.  So, I allow myself one cup each evening.  Limits are good people.  Especially when you have the obsessive personality.

Bangles.  Not a new obsession but it's still hanging on...I do believe it started at the state fair last summer.  My cousin Erin is the queen of bangles and I jumped on the bandwagon for the last few concerts.  It must have been the clinging and jingling while holding a plastic cup that hooked me.  Now, it's pretty rare for me to not have a stack of some sort of bangle love on my left wrist.  It has to be the left wrist.  The right wrist would be just weird for me. 

James Blunt is my main man right now; in the music realm anyway.  I listen to him all the time.  While I'm chopping vegetables, lesson planning, running, editing, cleaning my toilet, writing, correcting papers, frying eggs...really anytime music is appropriate.  The twangy grit in his voice gets me.  Plus the accent.  An accent is always worth two bonus points.

Happiness.  For the past seven months, I have been actively seeking out feeling happy.  Finding the joy in the everyday.  And what I have realized is this.  When I am consciously aware of that "perfect song on the radio, sun shining in the window, hug from a loved one, content in what I do" feeling in my soul, more of it tends to come my way.  I'm not sure if it's that whole self full-filling prophecy or positive thinking philosophy or what, but I truly believe that the more I pay attention to being happy, the more happy I am.  Simple as that.  I'm to the point now that even when it's a six below zero windchill {so not normal for March} and I'm running uphill on a gravel road with red frostbite cheeks and white frost in my hair...I'm still happy.  However, I will say my lungs are the most happy when it's over. 

Hi, my name is Amy and I have an addictive personality.  Borderline obsessive personality.  Because I have the attention span of a gnat, I'll be in love with all different items next month.  And then those things will become the best ever.  It's just how I roll.

Except the running.  That's not going anywhere anytime soon.     

Round 2 Cody

We didn't have wrestling in my high school {maybe I should say we didn't have wrestling as a sanctioned sport in my high school} so I'm not uber familiar with the rules.  Before I went to grab some shots of Cody in their wrestling room with his gear, I thought their uniform was called a onesie.  

After hanging out with Cody and his mama in the wrestling room at his high school, I now know the following about the high school sport:

1. The room is hot.  Freaking hot.  
2. Outfit = singlet
3. Wearing a ridiculous Valentine's heart shirt might not be the best fashion choice to hang out in a wrestling room.  
4. Sometimes the local news crew comes to interview players and coaches.  
5. It's awkward to be taking pictures while the news crew is there.  
6. Really awkward when you are wearing a heart shirt.  
7. Teenage boys have not changed one bit since I was in high school.  It's safe to say that farts are still funny when you are a teenage boy.  
8. The room is hot.  
9. The room is a tad smelly. 
10. Cody is still a little bit better than fabulous. 
11. He was completely cool with taking time out in front of his friends to let me take pictures.  
12. Cody is good to his mama. 
13. There are special wrestling shoes and they look like high tops from the early 90s.   
14. A thingie needs to be around your head when you wrestle; I believe it's to protect the ears. 

It's always a treat to learn new things and at least this time with Cody, calling a cop was not necessary.  News crew there?  Yes.  Cop there?  No.

Alright Cody, we are done now.  Your mama and I won't make you take anymore pictures.   And now you enjoy the rest of your senior year! 

Salt--aay

When we were driving back from St. Cloud last Thursday, before we crossed back over into the land of North Dakota - I believe it was close to mile marker 49, we saw a vehicle that had MN plates and was covered in a white salty residue.  I can say with fairly decent certainty that it was mile marker 49 because Karen was constantly texting people which mile marker we were at the whole trip; she figured people would want to know.
 

Right after mile marker 49, the one man that was along on the trip said to all of us about that salty vehicle...

Well wait for a second.

First of all, let's just have a moment of appreciation for a man that can travel with six ladies.  In a vehicle.  And then put up with all of us for three whole days.  While remaining sane.  That deserves a moment.        

Anyways, the man said, "Minnesota sure salts their roads a lot.  Look at that."  

Everyone replied with an agreeing murmur or a head bob or some other form of compliance but I laughed inside my head.  Not outside my head.  Inside.  Because I remembered a time when Momma D. and I were visiting a friend's house when I was a young grasshopper still living at home.  We pulled up to the friend's house and spotted a spiffy car.  I don't remember what kind or anything.  Just that it was fancy and that it had MN license plates.  And when I was a teenager, I was going to be a rich adult.  Really, there was no question in my mind I would be rich {hmmmm...turns out I was wrong} so I exclaimed to Momma D. that I wanted that car and that someday I would have it or at least something like it.  Then she told me, "You wouldn't want that exact car because it's from MN and their cars are always salty."  

This was my answer for that.  "I thought all of their lakes were freshwater?"

Uffda.  

Momma Debi gave me the -how are you my daughter- look and laughed.  After she had regained her composure, she explained to me that having freshwater lakes would have nothing to do with a salty car because it's not like you really drive a car in the lake anyway and that the salt comes from the road which would be a more appropriate place for a car to drive.

Then she laughed some more. 

Here's what I know.  I've done some odd things and said some pretty off the wall statements in my life.  Think car wash.  And I'm sure there have been times my parents really wondered where I came from being the intelligent people they are.  But, I don't think the reason my thinking is wonky during those times is rooted from the fact that this head is simply a hat rack.  My grad school diploma tells me I must have a few, or at least a couple, brain cells.  No instead, I think the source of these momentary lapses is from this brain of mine just getting going a way too fast and pingy for its own good.  Or something like that.
 

At least when riding in the back back seat of a Ford Expedition as a 27 year old adult, I can laugh inside my head from the remembrance of one brief moment in time when I might have said something that didn't quite make sense.  Then, I feel thankful for two things.  Number one being that I am completely comfortable laughing at myself.  Number two being that I have been called many things, but boring has never been one of them.  Those are worth something.  I hope. 

I do give myself one bonus point for knowing that Minnesota lakes are freshwater.