They Named the Town What?

Sometimes I can be immature when it comes to humor. I love laughing at silly things that someone my age probably shouldn't. It's not anything hurtful. I don't make fun of people. I remember when I visited my friend Logan in North Carolina. We were going on an adventure and we stopped at a gas station in the town of Blowing Rock. I am not sure why I thought it was such a funny name for a town. I think it may have been because it was in the mountains. The town was really cool. I really enjoyed it. I miss my friend Logan a lot. We were really close up until his death. He always had a smile and a kind word for a friend. He was so amazing and such a sweet soul. Except for the time he made me eat livermush. Maybe I wasn't so bright not realizing it was actually liver and not just a cute southern name.

I am always reading signs and usually telling Noah where we are when we travel. Some town names are odd. It can be fun to take turns calling out town names. It's also great for when you are playing the city alphabet game. I will warn you that you may have to whip out Google to prove it's really a town name. You could also see who can come up with the funniest or strangest town name. Have you ever visited a town with a funny name?

Here's an article I wrote about funny town names.

Random Acts of Kindess & Senseless Acts of Beauty

When I was in 7 th grade my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Engledow started a movement in our homeroom. Little did I know, it would still have a huge impact on me to this day. I obviously knew it was great to give to others. My Grandma Rose was the most giving person I knew, but Mrs. Engledow, put a spin on it. This is when I learned about Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty. The idea of Random Acts of Kindness is to do something for someone without them expecting it. It could be anything from a smile and a kind word to something tangible. You didn’t have to know the person, it could just be a stranger or your dearest friend. I wanted to share with you some of my RAK and SAB’s that I have done and received over the years. I am a person who gives whole heartedly and doesn’t expect anything in return, because I know that if I give to someone, someday someone will give to me. It doesn’t have to be the same person but I know that if you help someone in need, then if you are in need then someone will help you. I am not saying I only give to people in need but I do sometimes.

When I was married, it was right after my birthday and my ex and I went to Super Target to get groceries, with the gift card I received for my birthday from one of his family members. We didn’t have much money so we had to be careful and were counting up the amounts. I think all we had at the time was the gift card. We noticed that these women were following us, we thought they were just shopping, didn’t think much of it and they stopped us. They talked to us for a few minutes and then gave us some money. We didn’t know them, it was such a blessing. We needed the help. She said she used to be a struggling single mom and I guess someone helped her once and she wanted to give back. I still remember how grateful we were that someone helped us. We didn’t ask, we just were able to get some help when we needed it.

I had a friend who had a two year old and I noticed that he hardly had any food to eat. One night before I was going over there I took a big box and gathered a bunch of food and took it over there so he would have some food to eat. I didn’t want him to go to bed hungry. I would of much rather been hungry than see a child go without food. I think she thought I was crazy but she accepted the food and I knew for a while he was properly fed.

In 2002, I went to visit my friend Logan and I ended up stranded at the Charlotte Airport because I couldn’t get a hold of my friend Logan and his wife was very pregnant at the time. Scared that she was in labor, and that I would be stuck in Charlotte North Carolina for forever, I started crying. I had been there for 8 hours and been up for a lot longer. Some jerk started yelling at me asking me if I was stupid. I was afraid he was going to attack me, so I started yelling at the top of my lungs, Leave me alone, Leave me alone all I was missing was a safety whistle. So, people would notice. I didn’t want anything to happen and it seemed to make me noticeable. Another man came up to me, as I was yelling leave me alone. He said ok I’m sorry. I said not you; please get him to leave me alone. He did. He asked me what was wrong. I explained the situation and he said he wanted to help me. Before I knew it, he arranged an airport van to drive me the 60 miles to the town where Logan lives. He charged it on his credit card without saying much of a word to me about it. I didn’t even know his name, all I know is he was from New Hampshire. I was so incredibly grateful to that man. Of course the rest of that night was a complete adventure.

So, I challenge you, my friends, to do something nice for someone else. Just out of the blue, just because, without a reason. You could make an impact on someone so profound, it could change their live. The world is a more beautiful place with Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty.

Foods I Won't Eat

Recently, I have been thinking about foods I refuse to eat, mainly meats I won’t eat. Yes, I eat meat but there are some I refuse to have in my mouth for various reasons.

1.Lamb – I don’t care how good you think it tastes. I will not eat lamb in any way shape or form. All I can think of is Poor little Lamb Chop and who would eat Lamb chop?

2. Duck- No Duck for me. No thank you. No Turkducken or roasted duck that is just plain yuck. Ducks weren’t meant to be eaten in my opinion.

3. Goat- Sorry Annie. No goats for me.

I don’t have a problem with those that choose to eat these items but, please if I am coming to dinner, don’t serve them to me and tell me they are something else, I will know. People always say to me: “You’ll eat alligator but you won’t eat, lamb or duck?” I always respond with yep, crazy huh?”

This reminds me of a trip to North Carolina I took. I went to go see my friends Logan and Loretta; they kept talking about liver mush. I had no clue what livermush was. There were signs for livermush everywhere. Even on the marquee at Walgreens. I thought it just had a weird name. I never did make the connection that it was liver! Call me naïve. I thought liver mush would be like grits. I have never had grits but I thought it would be mush, after all it is called livermush. I took the name literally, but the wrong part. Somehow they managed to convince me to try it. It looked like sausage. I think they told me it was sausage or something. I can’t remember how they got me to try it. I do remember trying it. It did not taste like sausage. It was gross. Never again will I eat livermush. Never again!

My friend Logan aka the Jerky King passed away in November 2008 suddenly. I miss him a lot. We had many good times together and laughed a lot. Loretta’s mom thought Logan and I were having an affair but we weren’t. That whole trip to visit them was truly an adventure, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. It was so messed up from the get go. I will blog about it sometime. I am so glad that I had the chance to know Logan. He was a great friend.

There are many other foods I won’t eat. Listing them all would take a coon’s age. What are some foods that you will eat?