35 things (updated with Steve's list)

I'm stealing an idea here...

I read my son and daughter-in-law's blog where they have each posted 25 things about themselves. It was funny, and enlightening, and inspired me to do the same. Except that I had some more. I wonder if I can get my husband to contribute.

Anyway, about Heidi:

1. I love to have a good, hearty laugh, even unto tears.

2. I enjoy studying the Bible, its history, and watching God's plan for mankind unfold.

3. I love my husband, foibles and all. Underneath a tough Aussie bloke exterior at times, there is a sensitive, caring man who loves me and wants to make me happy.

4. My children, and granddaughter, and daughter-in-law are my life's blood to me.

5. I love adventures, good and bad, as they are all fodder for writing. If there's an adrenaline rush involved, all the better.

6. I love words, and expressing myself, and my outlook on life with them. As James Michener said, "I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with the human emotions."

7. I hate that I cry whenever I express deep feelings, good and bad, out loud.

8. I love to cook for someone who loves to eat, and to throw a good party for lots of people.

9. I like a clean, organized home, but want someone else to do it for me so I can write.

10. I am interested in books about Holocaust survivors, English royalty, real life in past centuries, especially regarding women and how they cope. My latest interest is the Gold Rush in Alaska.

11. I am fiercely loyal to those I love.

12. I hate spiders. Especially the "bite-you" kinds, which are prevalent in Australia.

13. Snakes give me the willies. Especially the "bite-you" kinds, which are prevalent in Australia.

14. I like to dance...fast and slow.

15. I love music that makes me want to dance and shout and sing along loudly (even if I'm off key a bit.)

16. I procrastinate horribly. The bane of my existence.

17. Soaking in my spa tub with fragrant bubbles, candles lit and a glass of wine is heaven on earth.

18. I miss my friends and family in America more than they will ever know.

19. I go for looooong drives by myself...to pray, to ponder, and sometimes I don't know what I'm doing. But at least after two years of living here I know where I am going, and on the correct side of the road.

20. I'm not a confident person. I second, third, and fourth, etc.-guess myself a lot.

21. I hate hot weather!

22. I love Christmas-time and all the trappings that go with it.

23. My favorite clothes to wear are a sweatshirt and jeans, which is not possible in this hot Australian summer. I wear whatever is comfortable.

24. I want to be appreciated for who I am, foibles and all.

25. My favorite flowers are roses, gardenias, fuchsias and geraniums. I DON'T like carnations. (A bit of past angst here.)

26. I love four-wheel driving on Australia's bush tracks. The steeper and rutted the better. I laugh in glee, and Steve seems to enjoy making me squeal.

27. There's no thrill like riding on the back of a motorcycle on a beautiful day.

28. I'm a people-pleaser.

29. I can't stand dishonesty.

30. My favorite foods are Spanish/Mexican (which is hard to find in Australia) and Chinese (which is easy to find here.) My son made me a potato skillet dish once after he returned from Spain that I long to have again. It was delish. Perhaps he and Naomi will make it again when they visit this winter (June/July). Hint, hint!

31. I love good movies that make me laugh and/or cry, and leave me pondering for awhile.

32. I love Australian bush camping...bring in own water, shower standing on a mat of gum tree bark with a water bag slung across a branch, with no one else around, and even digging a "long drop." There's nothing like a good cuppa tea from a billy on the boil.

33. I hate rote platitudes that people say when there's nothing else to say. Why not just keep quiet and give a good, strong hug, a cuppa tea or coffee and just listen?

34. I miss newspaper writing. Not necessarily for The Reflector, but I miss having my finger on the pulse of a community and knowing everything and everybody, and keeping up-to-date.

35. Hallmark cards almost always create a lump in my throat, and I feel silly for that.

So there. Probably not much of a surprise, and maybe more than anyone wanted to know. If I can get Steve to contribute, it will be in a day or so, but I wouldn't be surprised if he only contributes 10 answers. So I've made up for his. He's busy either fighting fires, on call to answer a suspected fire emergency, or in an airplane looking for fires, like he is today. So check back. If not, oh well. He is an Aussie bloke. :)

And if he isn't able to contribute, I will do so for him. Hehehehehehe. Number one would be "I like to fart." That's a warning I suppose. LOL

About Steve:

1. My wife likes "certain things" as much as I do.

2. I love fighting fires.

3. I love flying.

4. I love sailing.

5. I love driving off-road, four wheel drive, and hearing my wife laugh as we thunder through the bush. And then, a cup of billy tea off to the side of the track.

6. I love to hear the sounds of the desert in the morning...birds, insects, etc.

7. I love a quiet, warm, summer's evening on the verandah with a glass of champagne with the companion of my heart.

8. I like to work and to provide for my family.

9. I love helping others.

10. I enjoy being a part of a community organization.

11. I like good, simple food. Spicy Thai food.

12. I like my pet galah.

13. I like chooks (chickens).

14. I love the way that my wife makes me see what I see, differently.

15. I love my wife. I like to amuse her.

16. I like wondering and finding what's over the next hill.

17. I like bringing home bugs and buried "treasures" from work for my wife.

18. I enjoy the wonder of creation.

19. Trying new things adds to the enjoyment of life.

20. The smell of a newborn baby is like nothing on earth.

21. I believe that the innocence of children and the wisdom of old age needs to be experienced and pondered on.

22. I try to learn from others' experiences, yet seem to be hell-bent on experiencing them myself.

23. A fine wine, a good conversation, with a great woman...that's my wife.

24. I enjoy the smells of life that bring back great memories...wattle blossoms in winter, summer roses, the smell of the earth after a summer rain, and freshly mowed lucerne; the sound of rain on a tin roof.

25. I love the lonely sounds of a windmill bringing crystal clear water from a deep source. There is a long, mournful note of a steel rod drawn through a steel pipe as water is drawn up from a deep bore. A thump, the whirring and sighing of blades, the hissing of water entering a corrugated iron water tank, the mournful repeating of an endless cycle.

26. I often leave my wife speechless. (for oh so many reasons)

27. I like running around the house naked, and outside if I can get away with it.

28. I like creating things with my hands.

29. I like imagining, planning and thinking about the future of fun things to do with my wife.

30. I go all melancholy when I see the ruins of farmhouses and other countryside houses and wonder about the lives led by people who lived there. The isolation, the loneliness, the broken dreams, and wonder why it was abandoned.