by jphilo | Jan 29, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
What’s the difference between Iowa and Texas? Here are my top ten answers based on a few days in Corpus Christi last week.
10. Bilingual signs are no big deal in Texas. In Iowa, some people view them with suspicion.
9. Corpus Christi, population 307,953, is considered a small city in Texas. Des Moines, population 206,599, is Iowa’s largest city and the capitol. We think it’s plenty big.
8. Texas wait staff ask if you want sweet iced tea or plain iced tea. Iowa wait staff ask if you want hot tea or iced tea.
7. Texas restaurants feature iced tea as their go-to drink in January. Iowa restaurants feature coffee. Hot coffee.
6. In Texas, you can order shrimp three days in a row, and it’s no big deal. In Iowa, it’s a big deal.
5. When the Star Spangled Banner accompaniment doesn’t work in Texas, every day folk sing a capella, no holds barred. In Iowa, every day folk refuse to sing anything a capella unless under duress because it’s not polite to show off.
4. Iowans feel guilty about escaping winter to enjoy 70+ degree Texas weather for a few days. Texans think Iowans are crazy to live where the temperature goes below freezing.
3. In much of Texas, home owners consider swimming pools a necessity and furnaces non-essential. In Iowa, furnaces are a necessity and swimming pools are for rich people.
2. In Texas, people will wait in line for a half hour to get ice cream at Baskin Robbins on a January Friday night. In Iowa, people wait in line for a half hour to get hot chocolate on a January Friday night.
1. John Wayne may have been born in Iowa, but Texas owns him.
by jphilo | Jan 22, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
I just finished reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. It’s a fascinating read, full of research about the role habits play in our lives and of inspiration about how to break old habits and build new ones. The book was motivation to create a list of the top ten habits that need breaking in my life.
10. Snacking on chocolates and baked goods rather than healthy foods.
9. Chewing my lips.
8. Equating sundown with bedtime.
7. Chewing the skin inside my cheek.
6. Picking at hangnails when I’m bored or nervous.
5. Not listening to Hiram’s answer after asking him a question.
4. Checking my email/Facebook/Twitter feed/Amazon rank too often.
3. Reading the end of mystery novels first.
2. Daydreaming.
1. Telling the same stories about the kids over and over and over.
Since this week was devoted to creating the list, I can wait until next week to use Duhigg’s framework (presented in the appendix of The Power of Habit) to break my #1bad habit. Hmmm…perhaps procrastination should be the first thing on the list.
So, what tops your list of habits to break? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Jan 15, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
January can be a hard month to weather. This week’s top ten list is an attempt to stay positive in the middle of winter.
10. Though my teaching career ended in 2003, my shoulders always relax when January comes, knowing the school year is halfway over.
9. January’s stay-home weather makes it a great month to start projects around the house. Or to procrastinate about starting projects around the house.
8. February’s coming.
7. The fresh Clementine and Mandarin oranges are really good.
6. Every day has a minute or two more daylight.
5. The dust is down on the gravel road.
4. No birthdays or anniversaries in January at our house. That means the checkbook has time to recover from Christmas.
3. It’s a great month to travel to Texas…for say, a speaking engagement…if a person doesn’t worry too much about the weather holding on the day of the flight…and about catching the flu before the trip…or on the trip…or after the trip.
2. The cold weather cuts down the number of hot flashes that afflict women of a certain age.
1. Downton Abbey
What do you like best about January?
by jphilo | Dec 4, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
After hearing one marvelous review after another–one of which was by Mom–of Steven Spielberg’s new movie Lincoln, Hiram and I went to it over the weekend. It was every bit as wonderful as the critics, and Mom, said. Later, my inner movie/history buff created this top ten list:
10. The combination of politics and name-calling is nothing new.
9. Neither is the combination of dirty business and politics.
8. Thankfully, the chambers of Congress and spittoons no longer go together.
7. Lincoln is the poster child of self-education through reading.
6. How interesting that the poor and oppressed thanked God when the amendment abolishing slavery passed, but those in power congratulated themselves and one another.
5. The Civil War was an unspeakable tragedy and a great evil.
4. Slavery was an even greater evil.
3. Sally Fields‘ acting never ceases to amaze.
2. Daniel Day Lewis is a phenomenal actor.
1. If you feel like crying at the end of the movie, go ahead. Lincoln was a simple and complex man who sacrificed and died for our young country. His life and death are worthy of our tears.
Have you seen Lincoln yet? What did you think of it? Leave a comment!
photo credit: stock exchange
by jphilo | Nov 27, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
November’s 30 days of gratitude project will be over in just a few days. For the past two Tuesdays, because I seem to have trouble following the rules, I’ve listed ten reasons to be thankful per week rather than one per day. Today, I’m back with ten final reasons (in no particular order) to be grateful.
- Mom’s love of reading and history which she passed on to all her children.
- A public library that turned our kids into avid readers, and offered books, audiobooks, and DVDs that provided endless free entertainment.
- Our seven years in Camp Crook where we were loved, supported and made life long friends among the hearty people in cowboy country.
- My dad had a great sense of humor he passed on to his kids and grandkids.
- Burgie’s Coffee Shop in Ames.
- My Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna. They added adventure and love to my young life.
- Family Camp in Idaho every summer.
- The best group of high school friends ever.
- A solid public school education thanks to dynamite teachers.
- The television show, Parenthood.
That’s the last of this year’s thankful lists. But it wouldn’t be hard to think of more. What about you? What are you thankful for today? Mention one thing or two or ten or even thirty in the comment box.
by jphilo | Nov 20, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
Many of my Facebook friends are still participating in the November 30 days of gratitude project. As was mentioned in last Tuesday’s post, I missed the memo about when to start, and played catch up by listing 10 things for which I was thankful. This Tuesday, because I seem to have trouble remembering to post one thing per day, I’m back with ten more reasons (in no particular order) to be grateful.
- My twenty-five year career as a teacher provided our family a good livelihood and was perfect preparation to be a writer and speaker.
- Being an uncoordinated kid because it gave me compassion for students who hated recess.
- Our warm house, preferably mouse-free, but even with unexpected company, it’s a great home for over twenty years.
- My son’s early medical adventures and my father’s illness taught me to never take good health for granted.
- Being raised in Iowa and raising our kids in Iowa.
- Attending a church where the pastor preaches truth and makes in interesting.
- A loving church family.
- A mom who taught me to cook and to love cooking.
- Being able to spend most Tuesday’s with Mom, though this week she’s visiting my sister in Minnesota.
- Siblings who do all they can to make Mom comfortable and happy.
So what are you thankful for this Tuesday before Thanksgiving? Leave a comment…or two…or ten!
