Blogstalking Assignment #4 - A Love/Hate Relationship

When I was growing up, there were some words that we just weren't allowed to say: curse words or anything that sounded like a curse word (ie: jeeze, gaw, dang), shut up, stupid and hate. If one of us said, "I just hate that kid," mom would get very upset and remind us to "hate the sin, love the sinner." (Easy for her to say -- that kid wasn't stepping on the back of her shoes or making fun of her name.)
When we whined about now much we hated doing laundry, pulling weeds or shoveling manure (one of our daily chores), she would always bring up the pioneer women --"Just think of the pioneer women," she would chirp as she pulled grass from between the strawberry plants. "They didn't have washing machines (or cars or sanitary napkins -- whatever worked best with the topic) and they survived; so will you -- be thankful for what you've got." (The more I studied American history, however, the more I wanted to point out that many pioneer women did not survive. But correcting adults wasn't allowed either -- I once got my mouth washed out with Lava soap for correcting my grandma, and I didn't want to risk that again.)

So this is a tricky topic. I realize that I say, "Oh, I hate that" a lot, like when my underwear isn't properly aligned, something explodes in the microwave or the last bowl of pudding I thought I had hidden in the fridge goes missing. But those really are just annoyances.

I really hate:
1. Injustice

2. Intolerance

3. Pedophiles (or anyone who hurts children, for that matter). I am intolerant of them and really don't care if their punishment is unjust. So there.

Now that I am on a roll, I also hate all forms of dental work and kale. And I absolutely hate it when male athletes use female terms to denigrate other male athletes -- "You play like a girl," "Hey, woman" (very popular with the HS wrestlers last season) and any slang term for vagina used as a synonym for "sissy". (For something they are so fond of, men carelessly use that term to describe someone they regard as weak or unworthy. Go figure.)

It's so much easier to name what I love, but so much more difficult to narrow down. There are, of course, the obvious : God, my family, friends, knitting.

More specifically, I love:

1. Musicals (which occupy most of the space on my Ipod, from South Pacific and The Sound of Music to Avenue Q and Wicked)

2. Books. Novels, cookbooks, picture books, biographies, songbooks. Just books.

3. Cookies. I am the Will Rogers of cookies -- I have yet to meet one I didn't like (of the homemade variety). I am especially fond of macaroons, biscotti, snickerdoodles and springerle, followed closely by no-bakes from our school kitchen and chocolate chip with walnuts right out of the oven.

I also love Scrabble, pink roses and gin and tonics.
Peace.