The Kate 100

Saveur, my absolute favorite magazine does an annual issue of their top 100 for the year. Here’s my top 100 of my life:

100. My hair is not naturally red

99. My mother used to say I should have been a redhead because I had the temper for it

98. I no longer have a temper

97. My mother is in heaven, my guardian angel so I no longer have a mother here on Earth

96. The best decision I ever made in my life was to give it up to God

95. My life has been infinitely better because of that decision.

94. I met my husband on Match dot com, the best 20 bucks I have ever spent

93. We will celebrate our 4th anniversary in 2006

92. We wanted to have kids and found out we could not because I was infertile

91. In the recovery room after surgery that determined my infertility, he told me he still wanted to be married to me. I had been deeply afraid that he wouldn’t want to still be my husband if I couldn’t have his babies. I have never been more wrong about anything in my life.

90. I have a son who is 12

89. His biological father was not a nice man to either of us

88. We never see his biological father and don’t want to

87. I have spent some time in my life surviving and getting by in any way I could

86. Many nights when my son was young, I would feed him and then subsist on whatever was left

85. I ate saltine crackers spread with ketchup for dinner on several occasions when there was nothing else

84. I still like saltines, but won’t eat ketchup

83. I still remember those days vividly

82. I never take food for granted

81. I will eat whatever is given to me because I remember when I never had enough

80. I am grateful to have known times of need and want

79. It makes me understand why I covet earthly posessions that I don’t need

78. It makes me appreciate everything I have

77. I have two cats

76. I have owned cats for 32 of the 42 years of my life

75. My husband did not like cats when we met

74. One of my cats thinks my husband is the best thing since minced fish

73. My husband is now a cat lover

72. He will never admit it

71. He plays with the cats

70. Don’t tell his family

69. I love to garden, flowers and vegetable both

68. The more natural my flower garden looks, the better I like it.

67. I love having toads in my garden

66. I love watching the birds

65. I have 8 feeding stations in my yard for the birds

64. I let the sunflower seeds sprout where they fall so the birds can eat the seed heads.

63. One sunflower plant has grown to be almost 7 feet tall and has 8 flower heads on it.

62. Orioles and hummingbirds are my favorites

61. One of my cats thinks the birds are there to be his toys

60. He can’t catch them anyway because they are too fast

59. They sit in the trees and mock him when he is out on our patio, calling out loudly that there is a “CAT” in the area!! It’s HILARIOUS

58. I married a man with a huge family

57. We now have 15 nieces and nephews

56. I love my mother in law

55. I love all the siblings and siblings in law

54. They are willing to do whatever is needed to help

53. They are a very close family and I envy it sometimes

52. I am a part of it though, accepted and loved and that’s all that matters

51. There is no third generation on my side except for my son

50. My brothers and sisters spoil him

49. I lost a sister to suicide in 1991

48. I had a hard time mourning her as I discovered she was almost a stranger to me

47. I realized eventually that it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it should have

46. I sometimes wonder how much more awful it would have been if we had been close

45. I love my siblings, but have a hard time telling them that

44. My mother died when my son was only 4 months old

43. She only held him twice

42. The only thing she wanted to do at that time was be a Grandma

41. I absolutely fall apart sometimes still when I think of her, and it’s been nearly 12 years

40. She would have been a wonderful Grandma

39. Mike’s dad and my mom died on the exact same day of the year, August 25th, five years apart; my mom in 1994 and his dad in 1999

38. It was one of those things where we simply knew it was God’s hand in our lives

37. My one irrational fear is being in a terrible car crash and surviving

36. I am not afraid of much, I welcome spiders and don’t mind the bats. They eat a lot of bugs

35. I talk to animals

34. I seem to have a magnetic attraction with animals

33. That being said, I would rather not pick up the dead offerings my wayward cat likes to leave on our patio, but I will if I need to be brave.

32. But I have completely balked at having to brush a spider off someone

31. I did brush a spider off my 16-month old niece, I had no choice

30. I sing beautifully and people have commented on it

29. I can’t read music very well, but have great pitch and a really good ear

28. I fantasize about being a jazz singer

27. I wish I could play the piano or guitar but I would have to read music for that

26. I love wine, but my husband does not drink

25. I would love to have a wine cellar and know more about wine

24. I am an amazing cook

23. I like to play ‘Iron Chef’ by looking in my cabinets and fridge and making up something from what I have on hand

22. I am the Grillmaster!!!!

21. I have a perfectionist streak when it comes to food and it’s all in my head

20. My son has an exceptional palate and eats better than any 12-yr old I know.

19. It’s my wish for mankind that everyone knows how to make good food at home. Sadly, I don’t think this will happen, but it could!!

18. I cry at sentimental things, movies, stories etc

17. Sometimes I am too sensitive and I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve

16. For the first time in my life I have wonderful friends that I know will be there for the long haul, through thick and thin and all that mushy stuff

15. I love being at the age I am…I am happy with who I am, what I am, where I am and where I am going. Everything has fallen into place and it’s amazing.

14. It’s more amazing when I think about how few years have elapsed since I felt like my whole life was falling apart and would never amount to anything

13. I spent many years of my life deeply addicted to drugs and alcohol.

12. I have been clean since 1997

11. It’s all about being one with God and there’s no doubt in my mind about that

10. I find life now to be much sweeter and more satisfying because I can compare it to a time when it wasn’t anything like that.

9. I love to write and have a minor degree in Composition simply because I kept taking classes in writing due to the fact that I loved them

8. I mix my love of food and my love of writing into this blog

7. I am not writing it to make a name for myself, gain recogniton or praises, or to get any kind of notoriety. I write it for me, as an outlet.

6. I have many people who have read my blog from all over, and have said it is very good

5. This is good enough for me.

4. My glory is to God, and my faith is in Christ. Anything else is icing. Nothing I do would be possible without my faith.

3. I try to find something every day to be thankful for, to appreciate, to be amazed by, to enjoy, to exalt, to be gracious about, to be humbled by and to be loved.

2. I hope you are still reading this

1. I hope you are enjoying my blog.

There……100 things about Kate that you never knew, and never thought you would know. I could probably do 100 more, but that might get redundant and boring. This is enough.