10 on the 10th: February!

I always had this problem in high school and college. If I was taking a test and 8 responses were required, I could come up with seven. It didn’t matter how many responses were asked for, I would come up with that number minus one! For this month’s 10 on the 10th, I had no problem dashing off the eight. Then, I had to really think. When I told Nigel about this prompt, he took it the opposite way. He thought I meant ten things I loved to hate. That could be fairly easy, right? But, coming up with ten things you hate to love…that’s like baring your soul and sharing your deepest, darkest secrets. Well, that’s a bit melodramatic. It’s more like admitting to liking things that others think are disgusting. I hope y’all understood what I meant! I am listing mine from least loved to most loved!

Without further ado…

• Cold feet – I know that’s very weird. But, even though I hate having cold feet, there is nothing like getting them warmed up in a nice thick pair of woolen socks, wrapped up in a cozy throw, snuggled under an electric blanket, or my personal favorite, shoved into the crooks of Nigel’s knees! I don’t love having cold feet enough to thrust them back into the cold air to get cold again, though.
• Skunk smell – My Aunt Lou, one of my two favorite aunts, used to hit a skunk every year, it seemed like. And, when you hit a skunk just right (I’m talking with her car), that stink stays for a long, long time. When we lived in our beloved home up North, we had a chow chow named Bowser. The poor dog was never allowed to just run free. For the first few months we had him, he actually lived with my mom as we were living in a rental as our home was being finished. He was always on a leash or chain when he was outside. That continued at our house until we fenced in quite a large bit of the backyard. When he would get lost, you might as well forget about catching him. I bet you know exactly where this is going, right? Bowser was a black Chow, and of course, he got out at night. We were sitting on the front porch, waiting for him to come home when all of a sudden this stench came wafting through the night air. You guessed it! He’d tangled with a skunk. Let me tell you right now…tomato juice does not remove that odor. We ended up shaving him ourselves. He was not a handsome boy, but I could almost feel his relief as that odorous hair was removed. Which brings me back to why I hate to love skunk smell. It reminds me of a perfume my mom used to wear. It was something Musk. And, I loved the smell of it. Skunk stink reminds me of that perfume.
• Squashing Japanese Beetles and their grubs – OK, now this kinda goes along with the next one, but I also hate what those daggone insects do to my bushes and trees. There are some bushes they don’t like, and they’re usually the same as the ones I don’t like. So, I feel like I’m helping the environment by getting rid of those things. They really are kinda pretty, though.
• Pimple popping videos – I know, I know! That’s really gross and disgusting. But, there’s something so satisfying about seeing that nasty looking pimple explode with all that goo. I honestly have no idea why it appeals to me, but it must be something lots of people like to watch. Just check on YouTube, and you’ll be surprised at how many videos there are. Remember that scene in “Animal House” when Bluto is in the cafeteria? Here ya go!

• Watching supernatural shows that are just plain campy – I blame my son-in-law for this one. He got us started on “Grimm.” His explanation made absolutely no sense to me, so we had to watch. One episode, and we were hooked! We then went on to watch “Haven,” “The Magicians,” “Locke & Key,” and of course, “Charmed.” In fact, we just finished one last week and started a brand new one this week. Netflix has definitely figured out our algorithm!
• Being in the hospital – This is another weird one, right? But, there’s something so comforting about being in a place where you know you’re being cared for. I feel badly for new moms these days. They get one, maybe two days in the hospital after giving birth. I got three! With my last, I actually got four because he was so jaundiced. Now, you have to remember my kids are all in their forties, so things have probably changed a lot. But, I remember the nurse coming in and giving me a sponge bath, then rubbing my back with lotion. It was a respite before the storm of going home and being a mom. I also know you don’t get much actual rest in the hospital because they’re so noisy. And, someone is always coming in to check on something or other.
• Dust – You are all probably going to think, “I never want to go to her house!” This house has to be one of the dustiest houses ever built. So, I just roll with it! I like to let the dust build up until I can sweep it off onto the floor in a big pile! When I clean, it’s just so satisfying! The downside is that I also know the dust will be back in a couple of days. It may be we just need to have our vents cleaned out, but the house is less than four years old.

• Paying bills – I think I’m seeing a pattern here. I like seeing things completed. In the bad old days, Nigel and I would sit at the table, with the bills all spread out in front of us. Remember, this was back in the day when you got paper bills for everything, including electricity, gas, etc. We would then total them up and decide which ones we would pay that week. There were some years when we got paid on alternate weeks. It felt like there was always money coming in (and going out). Then, there were the years, when we were paid on the same days. It always took a bit of adjustment to our checkbook when this change happened. Now, I pay as much as I can online and have automatic debits set up for utilities. I don’t have a budget, never could get the hang of one, but the bills are paid on time and in full every month.
• Fast food restaurants – I grew up in a family of six with only one income for many years. We rarely ate out as Dad’s paycheck had to stretch. Luckily, Grandpa Luderman (Mom’s dad) raised beef cattle so we always had beef. In fact, things like chicken and spaghetti (not kidding here) were luxuries. Put all that together with my mom being one great cook, and you can see why we didn’t eat out much. But, every once in a blue moon (does anyone even use that expression anymore), we would go to McDonald’s. Do you remember when you ordered at a window, then sat on a bench that was part of the building? Only me…hmmm… Anyway, I love fast food. Taco Bell, yes please! Burger King, of course! Now, there are lots of fast food joints I’ve never experienced so I can’t say I’d love them all. Would I try them? It would depend on what they looked like and what they served.
• Twinkies™! I absolutely love Twinkies™. Now, this comes with a caveat. The Twinkies™ of today are not the Twinkies™ of my youth. Those were so much moist, the cream was different, and I think they were even bigger. Oh, and don’t try to fool me with a knock-off Twinkie™. I will know the difference. In fact, we used to do science experiments with the knock offs. Have you ever heard of the Twinkie™ experiments? You can read about it here. The kids loved those experiments and even got to each some. It did get expensive, though. Originally, we used the real thing, then we switched to the knock offs. By the way, if you want to talk gross, put a Twinkie™ in water and watch what happens!

Wrap it up, Marsha!

I wonder how many of you stopped reading after the first couple of items. I’m hoping lots of you are as bold with your answers. And, if you went the other way and wrote about things you love to hate, that’s OK, too! I’m sorry about the errors in my writing today. For some reason, WordPress hasn’t been letting me edit. I have to actually copy the text, delete it, paste it back in, and then correct the errors. But, I couldn’t do that with the list items. That means, my students got to eat Twinkies™, not each them! And, they were so much more moist! So, can we talk? Did you watch “Animal House?” Have you ever dealt with an animal (or even yourself) being sprayed by a skunk? Do you have any tips on dusting that will remove that stuff once and for all? Are there tv shows or movies that are your guilty pleasure? Please leave a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as soon as possible.

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