Thursday Thirteen #8 -- I Found Out!

Thirteen Things I Found Out This Week

I've actually started getting things done in my real world space, so this week's list after much brainstorming for something "brilliant" to say to the world! will just be another random look at what's going on in my world (I paused for about ten seconds wanting to say "in my head" while I tried to convince myself that it wasn't JUST in my head, but was, in fact, part of my observable reality!). Ok, so if that introduction doesn't give you a clue about what my life is like when my kids go stay at their dad's house for extended time, maybe the list will help you understand what life without any major routine looks like! =)

1. I found out from a couple of bloggy friends that not only does my favorite flower flourish in Oregon, but that they are blooming RIGHT NOW! Lilacs, how I love thee! Here I come!



2. I found out just how many people (or should I say how few?) on my notification list actually want to read my blog regularly when I asked them to sign up for email subscriptions instead of getting emails from me. Alas.



3. I found out how the raw foodists were right when they said that changing the way I eat would change my whole life...for the better! Everything. From how I look, to how I feel, to how I behave, to how my connection with others and even life itself would change. I'm so glad I started in the spring, too, because my new blossoming is right in line with the seasons and it's truly a joyous combination!



4. I found out that we have Jimmy Buffet's "Boats, Beaches, Bars, and Ballads" box set on MP3 and I am listening to it today as I get things done. Jimmy is definitely a contender in my stuck on a deserted island music list. He's such a poet philosopher. Really. I think he's also one of the people I might say I would be if someone asked, "If you could also be anyone else in the world, who would you be?" (I'm a big fan of thinking it would be really cool to get to life swap to see what it's like...we all live vicariously from time to time, no?)



5. I found out that I CAN live without animal protein every day. I used to think I could not. In fact, I thought about making this list into thirteen new things I have learned to eat since "going raw," but the general concensus of my readers is that it's just too weird, so I'm going to probably just post that on my new raw food blog instead!



6. I found out that after about two months of eating mostly fruit, vegetables, seeds, and nuts, no dairy, no wheat, and very little meat, and exercising more regularly, that I have lost about eight pounds and have tons of energy!



7. I found out that what I like most about my new lifestyle (eating really is a lifestyle) is that I don't feel bloated and swollen and droopy-eyed tired anymore. And I love the food I get to eat! See, I love food, so this really works for me because I get to eat "dessert" for dinner if I want to. Last night, I had four jumbo fresh strawberries cut up and sprinkled with hemp seeds (they taste like moist sunflower seeds but have the highest protein of any nut/seed) and topped with banana "ice cream." That means a frozen banana, four dates, a swirl of agave nectar, a dash of vanilla, and a handful of ice cubes (and a little H2O for mixing purposes since I don't have the best blender). It was luscious! And filling. And good for me.



8. I found out that I've finally hit my stride and can eat much less than I had when I first adopted this style of eating. I know...this is the last one...but I was really worried at first because I just felt so empty eating just raw food. And then I had to go through all kinds of withdrawal feelings and actually DEAL with my emotional eating patterns to get here, so I'm really excited about it!



9. I found out that focusing on being the change I want to see in my marriage is a miracle of Biblical proportions. (hehe) Seriously though. And now I'm reading The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz, and it all makes perfect sense because of the revelations I've been having in my own life lately. I recommend his books. I also just checked out his book of Prayers and have the companion (handbook?) to The Four Agreements. Ancient wisdom. Funny how things don't REALLY change...just new faces and new gadgets!



10. I found out that my computer doesn't respond well to power loss. I was halfway through the last item and the power went out. It was rather funny, actually, because I finished typing a sentence at the same time that a Buffet song ended and them BAM! out went the lights! So, now, about 30 minutes later, I'm back to finish this list that is STILL taking way too long! =)



11. I found out that I still love Turbo Jam. It's fun. Like dancing. In fact, cheery Chalene Johnson actually gives little breaks between sets to just "get your groove on" freestyle. She's a lot of fun, and very encouraging. I can't watch people who are just making a tape, you know? This lady has a heart you can connect to in her videos. (I liked that about Billy Blanks too, but I like Chalene more!)
    
    
12. I found out today that Blogger's wacky glitches have a whole lot to do with why blogging takes too much of my time. Three times now I've had to close out the browser completely (this last time using alt+F4!!!!) because the dang link button gets stuck in the "on" position and keeps popping up a window no matter WHAT I click on....save, exit, anything!!!! GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Guess I'll have to use html AGAIN to bypass the mess. Oh, and need I even mention the crazy addition of spacing everywhere when I have to leave and come back?????? Hmph!
    
    
13. I found out that I really love my life. I'm really learning to stop beating myself up for being a housewife who "needs a job/career" and started just being grateful for the fact that my husband works hard and likes it, that my kids have me around to take care of them since we don't live close to many family members, that I can go and work part time teaching and make some money if I need to, that I have this wonderful time to find my next true calling. I read something about "life's work" on a friend's blog yesterday and thought, "YES! That's exactly right!" Being a mom has absolutely been my calling all this time and when I haven't seen that, it's because I've been thinking I needed to be someone else for someone else (not just one person!) and that's just not who I am! So thank you Zenmomma for your wise words yesterday!!!! =)

And thanks to YOU for reading my Thursday Thirteen!

I've also found that I can do this once a week blogging thing without TOO much trouble. It gives me a focus and just enough incentive so that I don't walk away from my blog for too, too long.

Like I said, there's been a lot going on here lately, and I am preparing my life to be conducive to writing about it more often. Needed to get some things taken care of first, though, and I'm happy to finally be making some major progress. I guess I literally had to start from the inside out and learn to fuel my body so that it will cooperate with me in getting things accomplished!

Have a great day...weekend...and week! May you be grateful for your life--it's the only one you have, and not everbody gets to stick around as long as they would like, so enjoy every day, even if you only enjoy MOPING for the day, ok????!!!!!

Muah! =)

© Nicole J. Williams, 2008, all rights reserved.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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"Meet Your Meat" Changed My Life

A little video, available at YouTube, called "Meet Your Meat," changed my life, although, the transformation took a little time to percolate.

I've been mentioning raw food lately, and it's been an interesting path that has led me here finally. It started a long, long time ago when my mother became, what many friends and family members jokingly (for the most part) referred to as a "health nut." But that story is too long for today, so I'll cut to the chase.

Somehow today I came across Pam Anderson's video (honestly, I think it was a link from a link from a blog or some kind of internet surfing scenario) about "Kentucky Fried Cruelty." It seems PETA is after KFC to change it's torturous treatment of chickens. If you love animals at all, you'll agree it's torturous.

See here:


Watch more videos at KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.


But something bothered me. Why was it only KFC?? What about Chick-fil-A? Church's? Popeye's? Yes, the South runs rampant with chicken "joints" that serve up lots and lots of chicken. (In fact, my husband brought some Popeye's home the other day, much to my dismay, and yet, I was weak and I ate of it and am ashamed.) So I did a little searching, and REALLY, it's the chicken processing plants that are doling out the torture, the biggest offender allegedly being Tyson. Now, all I could think of were all the people who made their living at the Tyson plant down the street from where I lived in rural Mississippi! People or chickens, people or chickens?

Ok, so chicken "farmers" and processors are to blame. So again, in my searches to find more answers, I came across the "Meet Your Meat" video that I had stumbled upon two years ago. I tried to make myself watch it again, but after about four minues or so, I was in tears. And then, I heard a line I had forgotten. Narrator Alec Baldwin said, "If you drink milk, you are supporting the veal industry." And that made me come here to just get this off my chest.

I've lived my whole life feeling guilty if I ate veal, and have only done so about 3 times (a couple of the parmesan variety, and a picatta). And I've heard BUNCHES of folks say, no, they don't eat veal because, awww, it's a poor baby. Well guess what? Apparently the milk is making the veal, so to speak. And it makes sense, but I never thought of it (and apparently didn't remember it after the first viewing!).

To keep milk production going, cows are routinely impregnated. The calf is taken away almost immediately and "raised," confined in a "stall," until it is auctioned off and/or slaughtered. Ugh. Now, I did finally switch to organic milk, but I don't know if this is across the board for milk production or what. My uncle's family owned a dairy when I was a kid and I loved cows, and we would visit them, and I never knew that it could be a bad thing. But this was an independent dairy that still DELIVERED fresh milk in glass bottles, so I don't believe it was anything like what is in this video. These cows roamed the fields and ate grass and hay and came home at night, so it seems to be "industrial" in nature. I would think organic dairy farms are more like those of old with cow pastures and all.

So anyway. All those folks who don't eat veal, not because of it's price tag but because of some love for baby cows, beware the milk. Oh goodness, I digress?!

I'm about one step away from being an ovo-vegetarian (my eggs are organic free-range--and now raw!). Before that, any meat I ate was mostly chicken, sometimes a ground turkey spaghetti dinner, an occasional Texas-raised beef steak, and an even rarer pork chop. But I slowly became more and more repulsed when handling meat. Especially chicken. And I was buying Pilgrim Farms "all natural" (no hormones or antibiotics, but not organic though). But after watching this Pam Anderson chicken video and starting "Meet Your Meat" again, I think I'm ready to quit (no, it wouldn't have been very kind to say "cold turkey").

There are all kinds of other statistics out there about the amount of crops raised just to feed the "meat" being so many times the amount that could feed everyone on the planet...cutting down rainforests to do it...CO2 emissions from animals...blah blah blah.

I'm not posting this to change your mind. I'm posting it because I'm simplifying my life and finding my connection to the Great I AM, and the common level of avoiding the truth in our "modern day society" just isn't cutting it for me anymore.

Ghandi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," and so I'm practicing being the change. I'm giving myself permission to live the way I believe without worrying about what other people think. I've lived too long hoping that nobody thinks I'm "weird," or "different," or "too sensitive," or that I "think too much."

Well, too bad, I am all of those things according to the inherent peer pressure of acceptable norms I find surrounding me on a daily basis. I would like to experience balance. And peace. In my opinion, there just isn't enough of that in the world these days.

Love baby. That's where it's at. Love ourselves. Love each other. Love the animals. Love the planet that sustains us. For God's sake, if not for our own?

Amen.

Thursday Thirteen #3: Things I Could Have Blogged This Week

Thirteen Things I COULD HAVE blogged about this week!

So I think I want to be a blogger. For real. Talkin' up my random life, online, and hoping that it's somehow interesting. Heck, or just to keep track of my own darn self, you know? So for two weeks, since I started this Thursday Thirteen funfest, my brain has been buzzing even MORE than usual about what to blog, to blog, to blog, or not to blog!?

Thoughts like, "Hey, I wonder if I've diluted my original flavor with this little list that seems to have taken over. I wonder if I really can just talk about anything. About all those things that get stuck in my head, banging around, driving me crazy. Wouldn't it be fabulous to just send them on their way and get on with thinking new thoughts? Yeah, I think so!"

So this list is probably more for my benefit again. It's a reminder that I have plenty of things to say, I just don't find the time to sit down and let a little randomness out on the page.

Here's an idea. If ANY of these sound halfway interesting, please stop by in the comments and give me a thumbs up, ok? Then, I'll work on writing a nice short and snappy (yes, this is my curse) explanation and get the thought monkeys out of my head so you can hear them. I warn you, though, it may not be pretty.

But it might be FUN! =) Let's see:

I COULD HAVE BLOGGED ABOUT...

1. ...what the first two weeks (as of today) of eating an almost completely raw diet have been like: physically, of course, but also mentally and spiritually. As far as physically goes, the dirt is that I think I "cheated" with only a handful of items. Let's see, I had two BBQ chicken thighs, two 3oz. pieces of medium raaaare steak, a few Hershey's truffle kisses, a Cadbury cream egg (hello Valentine's and Easter candy...holiday candies are evil!), some yogurt pretzels (found them when I cleaned out my pantry. Gosh I love those things!), and yeah, that's ABOUT IT besides fresh fruit, veggies, raw nuts & seeds.


2. ...how much I love Mrs. G's Derfwad Manor and that it pained me to discover that a femiNazi had emailed her anonymously with a "shame on your unfeminist blogging practices" tirade in the dead of night. It's funny how one small, ignorant voice, even in the midst of many enlightened ones, will almost always give us pause. (hrmph)


3. ...how I am slowly but surely working through Step Four on my own and in my own way, learning more and more about my responsibility in creating this life I'm living. Oh me, oh my, I have been the poster child for blame!! But, better to be awakened to an ugly truth about oneself than to go on living in ignorant misery (hey, if it were bliss, it might not be so bad, but it was/isn't!).


4. ...all the new foods I have tried since starting to eat only raw food. Always wondered what fennel bulbs were all about. Now I love them and have to have them. And how many of you have ever put raw spinach in your breakfast smoothie? You are definitely missing out. It RAWks! (I know, cheesy, or, in raw foodie talk, cheezy.)


5. ...how I managed to inadvertantly alienate myself from the raw food forum I joined. By being myself for a change. Um, yeah. I guess it's that whole "tone in writing" issue? Thing is, usually I'M the one misinterpreting tone, and this time, even I missed the tone coming back at me. So it was an interesting tale. No suspense and intrigue I guess, but it was yet another learning experience.


6. ...the fact that I'm giving my dog parsley and megagreen supplements to help her naturally through her second "false pregnancy," which unfortunately means I will most likely have to get her spayed after all. She's eight and a half years old. I know, I know. I bet I could get some serious hate mail for my pet care philosophy.


7. ...how I "grounded" myself from the internet for a whole day because I am going through my addictions, one by one, and starting over one day at a time with healthy behaviors instead.


8. ...how the day I was grounded from the internet, I read a whole book on eating raw food, including every recipe. The book is Ani's Raw Food Kitchen:Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes, and it's my favorite so far. I would love to have my very own copy! She also has a few videos online that show how to prepare some of the recipes too (but I found those the next day, lol)! Check OUT this raw apple pie. Please? It's sooooooooo beautiful. And GOOD for you! Look at it. Look! =)


9. ...how love can surprise you, just when you think you might have given up hope that anything will ever change. Well, maybe I wouldn't blog about that specifically, but maybe I could. It's still tough for me to put myself out there in plain view sometimes. But hey, I could try. After all, there's hope that we can all change, right? Ok, enough with the suspense already. My husband did and said things this past weekend that I'd been wishin', and hopin', and prayin', he would do. Woohoo, teamwork!!!


10. ...how I changed out the downstairs thermostat by myself and felt really accomplished afterwards. I've had some experience with tools, so it wasn't such a big thing I guess, but it seemed so different, um, such a male-oriented thing to do? (crap, is that sexist?) Seriously though, I told my daughter I would rather do electrical work all day than clean toilets and vacuum. In my opinion, men have the brawn that gets them the better household chores sometimes. Of course, this from the woman who has painted almost every room in her home by herself (or with her DAUGHTERS), so maybe my life is way skewed on household task division; I don't know. (Ok, so I admit it, my husband takes out the trash now and everything else is mine...Christmas lights, exterior painting, lawn & garden, blah blah blah!) Not sure how that one came off. lol


11. ...how my husband surprised the hell out of me last weekend by doing things...wait...I said that already, right? Wow, it was just too cool! And now he can say I mentioned him MULTIPLE times in my blog. (hehe)


12. ...how a guy from my graduating class went trolling through myspace and sent me a message, not really remembering who I was, but just goin' through the list and playin' "look at me now." Well, I vote him "MOST CHANGED" since high school. Yep, this here's the year of the fabled 20th reunion, which I will most likely not be able to attend, although I would love to because I'm a curious FREAK who still remembers more than half of the kids in my class because I used to LIVE IN THE PAST and regarded my yearbook much too often during the first ten years after graduating. *sigh* So yeah, I didn't recognize him, but his age and location made me think, "Get the yearbook!" and I did, and, well, this definitely needs to be a blog, huh? (Hi Honey...didn't get a chance to tell you this story yet. I was going to though!)


13. ...how not only my husband has surprised me, but that I have done things in the last two weeks that have been on MY to-do list for WAY too long and I've been ticking them off, one by one. I attribute this windfall of personal power to the #1 and #3 working in tandem. Boy, food addictions are sneaky. They are often the last reserve in our highly addicted society. In my own experience, almost everyone I know has food addiciton issues. Becoming transparent to myself and admitting my fears, foibles, and addictions is really transforming my life from the inside out. Honest authentic living is where it's at. I hope I can put some of the transformation process into words and share. I know hearing other folks talk about their revelations has helped me get to this point, so I hope I can pass on a little of that.

Well, dear readers, I certainly appreciate your time and your thoughts, and your returns to my humble online abode. May you be blessed this week. Perhaps you will get to see something new in yourself or someone you love, and may you find great joy in the discovery!

Muah! =D

© Nicole J. Williams, 2008, all rights reserved.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Thursday Thirteen #2: I Heart Houston!

Thirteen Things I Love About Living in Houston

I don't know about you, but when I start looking in a new direction, I like to spend some time reminiscing about where I've been, and how good it's been. So, now that I have officially set my eyes on leaving Texas, and The South, behind, well, I've done gone and got myself all nostalgic about it.

So far, I have lived in Texas for almost right at (I'm using my Texas lingo, can ya tell?) eleven years. Exactly nine of those have been at the same residence. Folks, that's the longest I've EVER lived in one house. It's home.

But that home is in the Houston suburbs. So, really, I feel more like a Houstonian than a Texan. (The only time I feel like a Texan is during an election, or when someone brings up where the current POTUS lives. yeesh!) So yes, Houston is home. And I have loved Houston all the while.

Here's why:


1. Proximity to Galveston

Yep, that greasy grey Limpopo version of the Gulf of Mexico coastline that made me choose Houston over Dallas, sight-unseen, when I had to choose where to live in Texas. I knew I wanted to live in "the big city" for the first time ever in my life, and, being a child of the ocean, and all things aqueous, I had to know that I could get in my car and in less than two hours, find myself toes in sand, wind in hair, surf in ears, regarding the limitless blue horizon. Ahhhhhhh! Voila...Houston!

2. The University of Houston

Ah yes, the alma mater. She taught me much. Met way cool people. Learned SO much about writing. Read LOTS of great books. "Learned" how to teach freshmen how to write better than they knew before (this was my major goal...teaching them to learn how to write excellently caused more stress...precision was up for grabs, progress was inevitable!) Oh, and got to wander aimlessly in awe while becoming intimately acquainted with the most fabulous library I have yet to lay eyes on (this in NO WAY implies that I've been to many, but it does reinforce that "small-town girl meets the big city" thing that happened to me here!).

3. FOOD: Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Forget chicken soup. If you have anything that calls for a bowl of healing soup, THIS is the soup for you. The spicy (jalapeno or serrano pepper), pungent (ginger), fresh (basil), alive (bean sprouts), flavor of this slow-cooked force of nature will have you breathing easy in no time, and feeling fine. (Did I mention it has noodles? That's the comfort part of the soup...ahhhhhhhh!)

4. ASTROWORLD (in memoriam)

Oh me, oh my! We had season passes at least two times that I remember and we loved the heck outta that place! My husband and I loved the rollercoasters (and my girls grew into them all and loved them too!). But the whole family's favorite event was Fright Fest. Every year there would be a giant black widow spider mounted on the country's oldest, and largest wooden rollercoasters, The Texas Cyclone. Eerie greyish lights illuminated all the rides and ghoulish faces covered the top of the "six flags" poles at the entry gate. Blood flowed from all of the fountains, and zombies chased you (or just stared menacingly at you, while standing in your personal space) around the park. And then there were the haunted houses. Such fiendish fun! Our very last visit, before the park closed, was on a Fright Fest night. We made t-shirts for the kids to commemorate. We miss you AstroWorld! You were a most fun friend in town!

5. The MFAH (Museum of Fine Arts Houston).

Can you say "free Thursday"? Yep, today and every Thursday, you can view the general collections for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. The building is located in the gorgeous, live oak tree-lined Museum District of Downtown Houston, right down the street from the lovely triple fountain, The Houston Zoo, The Museum of Natural Science, The Children's Museum, The Health Museum, etc. etc. etc.

6. FOOD: Sushi/Sashimi

I will never eat a California roll from the supermarket EVER AGAIN! As Dr. Seuss would say "Oh the Places You'll Go" in Houston if you love sushi, or WANT to love it. My three favorite places are: Shogun (fun for the whole family, and the family's wallet. And they have "live," hibachi dining there too--where the chef throws his knives around to impress you while cooking your food in front of you.); Sushi King (For a romantic and nearly orgasmic meal tete a tete with your schweetheart. There was much moaning and eye rolling here when hubby and I tried the waiter's recommendations. Oh, and there's a piano bar too!); and Zake Sushi Lounge (a hip, happenin' modern nightlife spot with low light, high music volume, and the most mouth watering sashimi--just fish, no roll/rice--sampler presentations.).

7. The Harris County Public Libraries

What, you ask, am I talking about? Oh yes. I love me some books, and these libraries are just a little slice of heaven on earth for bibliophiles. Singly, they aren't large, but collectively, they ammass quite a fortune in books, videos, CDs, DVDs, books on tape, and the like. And if they don't have the one you want at the branch near you? No problem. Fill out an online request form, tell them where you'd like to pick it up, and they will deliver it for you. Gives a whole new meaning to inter-library loan. My favorite one also has an amazing set of computers available to the public. We spend a lot of homeschooling time there!

8. The Dump, and other stores like it

No, it's not full of refuse. It's a giant warehouse store for designer furniture and decor at closeout prices. All the top retailers send their remnants to The Dump, and every weekend (they only open Fri., Sat., Sun.), you can go find some amazing furniture at amazing prices. I have been once to check it out, once to torture myself with longing, and once to find a nice rug to cover the pet stains in my living room carpet that should have just been taken to the real dump! Houston has lots of great outlet retailers. It's a really inexpensive place to live, and live well, in my opinion, because of places like that.






9. FOOD: South of the Border

Did you think I was snubbing? No, no, no! What would life be like without thin, warmed tortilla chips and fresh, roasted salsa, a salty and cold Margarita on the rocks, and some of the rockin'est food you've ever eaten? There's Cuban, Venezuelan, Salvadorian, and yes, Mexican food galore. Ole! That being said, I am not a big fan of the average stuff: enchiladas, tacos, fajitas. I love that stuff, but I can make that at home. When I go OUT, I'm gonna get specialty stuff. Ok, and fishy type things. The grilled tilapia (mild, but meaty white fish) dishes alone are to die for. Usually they have a lovely cream sauce with mushrooms, tomato, avocado, and some crawfish tails on top. Or maybe it's ceviche, with lots of lime juice and cilantro. Or maybe some fried octopus dipped in chili sauce. Yuuuuummmmmmm. Whatever you want in this category, Houston has got it all.

10.The Weather

I really have loved not having a winter, in terms of low atmospheric temperatures anyway. I have missed snow terribly. Skiing. But I haven't missed having three to four sets of seasonal clothing selections, buying new winter coats ( I do have gloves for those two weeks when my hands get too cold), snow tires, shoveling--that kind of thing. My birthday is in February and it was always cold, and I was always sick. Here, once I became immune to the Houston influenza (had that the first three years), I could enjoy being outside in the warm sun with only a t-shirt on in my birthday photos. We won't mention July, August, and September. I just think of it as our reverse winter, with no shoveling. Woohoo!

Birthday in Feb. Family Foto:

11. Neighborhood Swim Teams

This goes right along with the weather. Living in suburbia, there are not just neighborhoods, there are "housing developments," and those almost all include swimming pools. And almost all of those pools are equipped to become competition pools with lane ropes and portable diving blocks and built-in flag pole (for the backstrokers) inserts in the cement decking. Very nice! And my kids loved to swim, so there ya go, their signature sport, right in the neighborhood. Funny though, it only lasts about 10-12 weeks, from the end of April until the first Saturday in July usually. But it's great fun! And then the kids can swim on the school teams...starting in junior high. Amazing.

12. FOOD: Seafood

Ok, so I spent the last five years of my life in Massachusetts on Cape Cod. My family owned a seafood restaurant. I worked there. I love seafood. Needless to say, I was biased when I came to Texas. Having said that, I have to admit that I am a convert to Texas style seafood. Can you say Gulf Shrimp? Oysters on the half shell? Crawfish boil? Although nothing can beat Maine lobster, and you can't find a clam to save your life down here, seafood in Houston ROCKS my world! (Remember, I almost always get the fish dish at the "South of the Border" restaurants I go to.)

13. Lonestar College, North Harris

Formerly known as North Harris College, the first of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District campuses, this is the place I got my first "real" job after earning my Master's degree. I will be there again starting in June, and I'm excited. I really do love to teach, I just hate giving grades and getting paid half of what a full-time instructor gets paid to do the same job. But hey, it's "home" to me too, and I am looking forward to meeting all of my new students!



So there you have it! Thirteen good ole reasons for making Houston home. Hey, by the time I skedaddle on outta here, I will have been here for a little over thirteen years!

As one of the "fattest" cities in the country, it should really be of no surprise to you that four of my reasons are food. Honestly, I could have (maybe I should have...hmmm...) done a whole list just on food. It's just that good. And we have eaten so much of it. We have wondered if we'd like it so much if it weren't for the food sometimes, but that's why this list has other things on it--because there ARE other reasons to live here than to stuff one's face!

Where's your favorite place to live? Please leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by, if'n you got the time, ya hea? (Ok, so I laid it on a little, but trust me, it sounds like home.)


Muah! =D

© Nicole J. Williams, 2008, all rights reserved.

(Sorry so late again...computer issues!)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants