my little pony

When I was a child and had nightmares, my momma would tell me to sing a song to try to get back to sleep. I was very much into "My Little Pony" as a kid, so she suggested I sing the theme song from that show. For some reason, this idea has always stuck with me, and even now when I am scared at night or have nightmares, I will sing "My Little Pony" to keep the scary images out of my head.

Now, this idea has taken on a new image to smudge: my momma's death. Many times, when trying to fall to sleep, I have the image of my momma's last moments stuck in my head: her illness, pain and suffering, her being alone and in pain when she realized how ill she actually was, and finally, watching her die and having to be strong and tell her it was okay: that she could go and we would all be all right without her... Watching the color of her skin change, and how frighteningly quick she grew cold to the touch after she passed. When I close my eyes at night, these are the images stuck inside my head. So I sing "My Little Pony" to try and make the nightmare leave my brain so I can sleep. My sister and I added to this, and along with singing the theme song, we try to name all the ponies we can remember. It is a good brain distraction, and I hope it helps her like it helps me. So far we have:

Sundance (and Megan)
Tiddlywinks
Cotton Candy
Whizzer
Applejack
Buttons
Twilight
Lickety-Split
Firefly

If you ever hear me start singing "My Little Pony," please don't laugh, just let me be.

challenging challenge

My brother Adam challenged me to list my top ten favorite books. I figured I would blog it since I could type the list more easily this way than if I typed it as a status update on Facebook. Number one is easy; the rest, not so much. Here goes:


1. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
3. Beautiful Cracked Eyes by Pat Ingoldsby
4. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
5. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
6. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
7. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
9. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
10. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand


I was trying to determine by favorites by the books I could read over and over again; the books that never get old for me. "True Confessions" is a young adult book, but it is SO GOOD! I can very much read all of these over and over again. I have not, however, read Atlas Shrugged but once. If you have even tried to read Ayn Rand, you will understand why the book has received only one read by me. I just haven't built up the stamina to attempt to read it again, but it was an amazing book. I feel like I could put a couple children's stories on that list, such as "There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom" by Louis Sachar, because I can still read that one and it makes me bawl like a baby, or "The Paperbag Princess" by Robert Munsch because the princess rocks!! Or, of course, the classic "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I do have a fondness for children's stories. Anyway, here is the list for now! I'm sure it will change over time, except maybe for the top 6, but you never know.