10. The Candy Woman Can

Who can resist candy? As Alton Brown says, "show me someone who doesn't like candy and I'll show you someone just South of trustworthy."

In high school I worked at Kilwin's in St. Joe Michigan. It was more than your average ice cream parlor in a touristy area by Lake Michigan because we made real Macknic Island fudge in the store! We even had the big copper kettle and marble slabs in the front window so people could watch the show! I paddled and formed my way through more pounds of fudge than I care to recall while I worked there. I also learned to make caramel for gourmet caramel apples (truly works of art!), caramel corn, and various brittles.

While I already liked to cook and bake, I fell in love with candy making because it is pure science: exact ingredients, exact temperatures, and exact procedures yield a perfect batch of fudge/caramel/peanut brittle every time. Sure, it takes some time and undivided attention, but the end result is so worth it. I especially loved packaging freshly made fudge or caramel corn off the marble slab and seeing the "I must have that!" look in the customer's eyes.

Candy making is a great hobby (or would be if I had the time and kitchen space for it), but someday I would love to study it further and possibly make a career shift in that direction. While I doubt I would ever become a master sugar sculpter, make complex chocolate masterpieces, or be the next Willy Wonka, it would be fun rekindling an old passion and savoring the results along the way.

9. Shorts Are Evil

It's quite simple really: my legs should never see the light of day. So any article of clothing that showcases them is inherently evil and I hate them.

I wear them when I have to: sporting events, intense cleaning or home repair sessions, etc. But by and large, shorts are probably the worst fashion invention in the history of time. I'd rather wear a skirt or sweat to death in a pair of jeans.

I don't even own a pair of non-athletic shorts right now. I bought a pair of maternity shorts when I was pregnant with my son thinking that maybe my growing belly would distract people from the two giant white monstrosities that were propping me up.

Not so much.

For all of you out there who actually enjoy wearing shorts (weirdos), more power to you.

I Blog for Rich

So ... I fell off the blogging bandwagon ... hard. Sure, I could tell you about how busy I've been lately and recount in painful detail all of the things that have pushed blogging from the back burner off the stove completely, but I won't. I will simply say that I'm ready to get up, dust off, and try again.

Why?

Because I blog for Rich.

See, Rich is leaving tomorrow for a long-term mission project in Africa. Even though we haven't lived in the same state for years, something about him being that far away for that long has motivated me to renew my commitment to blogging. Not that anything I have to say is so profound that it will instantly quell any feelings of homesickness Rich is sure to have in the coming months. But perhaps some random rambling of mine will make him laugh and serve as a little piece of home for the moment.

And I challenge my fellow bloggers wallowing in the dust left by the blogging bandwagon to do the same! I guess you could say I'm "throwing down." :-) Let's all blog for Rich (and Maya, Chris, Kathy, Matt, Josh, Becca too) so we can stay connected while worlds apart.

Safe travels and Godspeed!