Hello Dear Readers and Happy Sunday to you!

This weeks winner of Favorite Search term leading a lucky visitor to my blog is:  I hear long nails in my ceiling.  How very Freddy Krueger-esque!  You should all be proud of me that I even know who that is considering I’ve never seen any Friday the 13th movies… (and the fact I’m writing this on Friday the 13th really had nothing to do with the reference).  Back to the search term!

You hear long nails in your ceiling you say?  Did you apply Lee Press-On Nails to your chihuahua and turn them loose in your attic?  Have you recently offended anyone working for a nail salon?  Did make a nasty remark to Jazz Ison Sinkfield about her 24-inch long fingernails?  (Am I the only person who wonders how one would… you know… clean up while in the loo with those things?)

All pondering aside, chances are what you have is a mouse (or squirrel, rat, chipmunk or other manner of rodent).  I suggest putting a trap up there (The kind that kills them dead.  My favorite is this one.  No muss, no fuss.) to get the little bugger(s).  Good luck!

Project 365:  Facts 100-106

Random Fact# 100 – I love to cook and bake.

And that’s a fact!  Since I’ve covered my addition to Food Porn, talked about making my first souffle when I was 12 (Fact #67) and how people have found my site by searching the term “food porn“…. I think it’s pretty obvious that I love to be in the kitchen.  So much so that I fell (stumbled?) into a second job (or does that make it a 3rd job if I count modeling??) at a BBQ joint where I cook and wield big knives.  Pretty cool, huh?

Random Fact# 101 – I enjoy the occasional cigar or cigarette.

I’m a social (mostly) smoker.  I don’t care if my cigars are from Cuba (insert shrug of indifference here), the Dominican Republic or from Florida.  It’s like wine, the only thing that matters is if you enjoy it or not – not where it came from.  Now, for those wrinkling their nose up in distaste at this “disgusting habit”, I’ll let you know that I rarely indulge; perhaps once every couple of years, usually around a campfire or with friends or family.  I inhale more smoke from campfires than I do “tobacco products”.  And, my answer to most things for those that don’t like it… if you don’t like smoking, don’t do it.

Random Fact# 102 – I have two vices:  Alcohol & Caffeine

Ahh the “vice”… the things we love that aren’t necessarily good for us, and we don’t NEED them, but we really enjoy them.  Caffeine.  The morning kick-in-the-pants.  Go Juice.  Wake-up Juice.  Jet Fuel of the gods.  Ohhhh how I love thee.  And really only in coffee form… soda I don’t drink all that often, and when I do it’s usually a caffeine-free version.

As for alcohol, I’m comfortable in  my drinking habits.  I don’t drink every day, sometimes I don’t have any adult beverages for weeks at a time, but I am an equal opportunity drinker.  Beer, wine, liquor – it’s all good.

Random Fact# 103 – I have an affinity for footwear.

While I don’t come close to Imelda Marcos in quantity of shoes, I do own quite a few pairs of foot candy, from flip-flops to stiletto-heeled boots.  A shoe or boot for every occasion.  At one point I owned 60+ pairs (Payless Shoes was a good enabler), but now I spend my money on higher quality wares in hopes that they last me a long time.

Random Fact# 104 – As a child, I had to know if an animal was a male or a female so I would check. (there IS photographic proof)

I remember it being very important that I know if an animal was male or female.  So important that I would just walk up and check out the “plumbing” to see what I was dealing with.  I think this is why I’m bothered when I see androgynous people in public and can’t tell what gender they are.

Random Fact# 105 – My favorite cow at my Great Uncle’s farm was a Brown Swiss named, “Bossy”.

Bossy’s spot in the barn was the first space in the row of stanchions when you walked into the barn.  She was a “heather brown” color and so warm!  I remember climbing on top of her and burying my face into her soft coat and soaking in all the warmth from her.  I would stand nose-to-nose with her, fascinated that she could lick all the way up into her nostrils and then pop outside to grab a handful of dandelions to feed her.  I have a love of Brown Swiss cows with their brown hair and big, doe-like eyes.  They are gentle giants in the dairy cow world.

Random Fact# 106 – I have a box of state and national awards for Horticulture.

One day I might hang them all again, but for now my awards reside in a big Rubbermaid bin in storage.  I started to compete in the National Junior Horticultural Association when I was about 12, on a lark from my ‘Nother Mom who was wondering if I wanted to come along since her kids were all involved.  Sure, why not?  I liked plants (still do).  So I went along and discovered that I was pretty good.  I won the state competition in my division a few times and when I was 15 qualified for Nationals.  I competed until I was too old to qualify.  I met a lot of great people through NJHA and got to visit a lot of neat places I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.