What's that? What's that?

Oh hells yeah. Somehow, in the sadness, bitterness, occasional bit of crazy, and rare moment of parental insight, I wrote 99 posts!! NINETY NINE posts in this little blog. So guess what? We're turning over our 100th with a teensy bit of happy. 100 things that I love (absolutely NOT in order of importance, no offense Joss)!

1. Joss Whedon
2. Any dialogue written by Joss Whedon, including but not limited to the occasional Roseanne episode and, most fabulously, Commentary! The Musical.
3. Cupcakes. And cakes. And cakeballs. Anything cake-themed, really, I'll be honest.
4. Late summer Texas thunderstorms.
5. Skinny jeans. . . on ME!
6. Boots. . . boots. . . and more boots.
7. My husband. I mean, there's really no point in saying more.
8. My flute -- which I use once or twice a year - just enough to remind myself that my embouchure sucks.
9. My church. It's full of awesome people, awesome ministers, and awesome service. Their focus on being the church is inspiring. I really ought to spend more time with them.
10. Reading. Nearly anything. Given the opportunity if, say, I'm stuck in the bathroom for awhile, I'll read whatever I can get my hands on.
11. An ice-cold Pacifico with a wedge of lime.
12. Not cutting my hand while slicing said lime.
13. Monkeymoo. She's the best life-changing event a girl could ask for. She's like a mini-me. She's like some sort of social experiment wherein she will train me to appreciate my mother.
14. My mother. See above. But I appreciated her before that. Honestly though, I'm not sure I realized what an astounding woman she was until the past few years. Her strength continues to amaze me.
15. Making my friends smile.
16. Participating in Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society every year.
17. Teaching. No matter how you slice it, I LOVE LOVE LOVE to teach.
18. Reading people's blogs.
19. Pickles. And dried beef. And cream cheese. All together.
20. Cooking.
21. Belonging to a CSA.
22. Growing my own vegetables. It feels so good. The Budge and I check the seeds every morning, noon, and night and there's always change.
23. My colleagues at the college. They're fantastic.
24. The BUDGE. I can't forget my sleep ninja snuggle buddy. I adore that guy.
25. Coffee.
26. Knitting.
27. Giving to good charities.
28. Knitting for good charities while drinking coffee (hey, it's true).
29. Tea -- not just any tea. Earl Gray. Hot.
30. Captain Picard.
31. Bad reality television.
32. Nathan Fillion. Like so so much. In an interview once his local paper asked him how it felt to see himself on screen and he said his first thought was that you could park a Cadillac in his nostrils. I have no clue why that made me love him so, but it still makes me swoon. Plus did you see his pants in Firefly?
33. Long lists.
34. Lists of lists.
35. Sharpies.
36. Speaking of Sharpies - I love school supplies of all shape and form.
37. One form: Notebooks. I love spiral notebooks. I own dozens of them spread all over this house like potpourri. They make my home smell of smart.
38. My sisters from another mister. My stepsisters are the best sisters a girl could ask for - really - they are amazing and I love them deeply. Moreso than I ever understood was possible.
39. My brother from another mother. He rocks. I don't know him as well as I should, but that will come with time, I know.
40. Sugar. In all forms.
41. Half and Half. In my coffee.
42. Making yogurt. Somehow, in some small way, it makes me feel. . . powerful. I'm not. "Oh look, you brought milk just above room temperature for 12 hours. Go you." But still. I feel it.
43. The Sookie Stackhouse Novels. I really do. No shame. Not a bit.
44. The TV show Hoarders. I'm not sure I like it so much as need it as an inoculation against the Hoarding gene that seems to have seeped into my pool.
45. Yarn. Yummy scrunchy yarn. Wool. Silk. Lots of it.
46. My friends. They are just the best. They're probably the only ones still reading this list!
47. Did I mention blogging? I do like it.
48. Writing poetry, although I do not do it often enough.
49. Keeping a journal. Although see above. Not often enough. I need to keep better track of my life -- in order to repeat in excruciating detail my son's hilarious stories when he's on his first dates.
50. The things my kids say. They are hilarious -- they are at once super smart and super dumb and super insightful.
51. The word super, apparently.
52. The word apparently, when said by the Budge or Monkeymoo.
53. My blended family.
54. My extended family.
55. My IN LAWS. That's right. I love my in-laws.
56. Back to Joss Whedon for a moment: I love his musicals.
57. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
58. Angel the Series
59. Firefly
60. And Serenity
61. And the Jayne hat my buddy Amy made me.
62. I love the internet for its chat message boards and the friends I've made on them over the years.
63. Back to Joss: I even love Dollhouse. For real. Except for Tamoh. I still don't know about him.
64. comic books. For real.
65. comic book characters.
66. The Big Bang Theory and the friends who told me I needed to see it.
67. Back to Joss's musicals: Dr. Horrible. So so much.
68. I love music. Lucky for me, I married a musician.
69. My old apartment I lived in back in Omaha in '99 with Carlie and Stacy. It was nearly the same size as my current house. I have so many happy memories of that place!
70. Des Moines and Jan and Natalie who live there (or close to it). Okay, really I just love Jan and Nat. I don't have any strong feelings for Des Moines.
71. The coffee pot at Omaha and the big balloon at York and the Maranatha cross by Ogalalla, and the last place to stop for food (though we never do - I did once with Matt Mason in the way back days) before Colorado meets Nebraska.
72. Denver. The city. The outlying areas. The climate. The climate. The climate. Did I mention the climate?
73. Shoes. Just all of them. I said boots but I mean all shoes.
74. Peanut butter. I could eat it on ANYTHING.
75. All Quiet on the Western Front
76. A teddy bear I bought for myself when I was 14 at a bag overstock sale for Horizon Designs. It lives in the basement now but I still love it.
77. Sewing.
78. Cleaning our floors on my hands and knees.
79. Folding laundry. I both love and loathe it.
80. My cat. But don't tell him.
81. Babies.
82. Baby stuff.
83. That sweet kissable spot on the back of a baby's head.
84. Beets. Really. Strange, I know. Totally new for me.
85. That I could develop a taste for beets in the 34th year of my life!
86. Old friends. And new friends.
87. Living in the United States.
88. Big fuzzy socks.
89. Yoga.
90. Being funny. Or trying to be funny.
91. That humor can take the sting out of nearly everything in the universe.
92. That on the way home from our last depressing ultrasound, my husband told a wildly inappropriate joke and made me laugh through my tears.
93. Singing in church. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, moves me more than a beloved hymn in a church full of other people lifting their voices. I can honestly say, hard as it was, David's funeral was one of my favorite moments of my life as well - with 600+ voices lifted in song, how could you not be moved?
94. My wedding day. It was awesome. Rain. Tornado sirens. Morning sickness. Who could ask for more?
95. Being pregnant. Or, rather, staying pregnant. Hugely, ginormously, going to have a big fat 10lb baby pregnant.
96. Stretching first thing in the morning.
97. Bratwurst in July. With beer. And TONS of sauerkraut.
98. Grilling. (See above). Especially when grilling includes a good steak.
99. Wow, I feel so much pressure on these last two. Not that anyone's reading. Right now I love the person who makes it to 99.
100. Did I mention Joss Whedon? Man, wouldn't it be cool if he stopped by just to say "Dude, you are so silly."
101. Oh. And Sherman Alexie. I know, I know, I promised 100 but delivered 101. Deal.