... passion ...

secret passions? 

is that the same as favorite things? 

i'm not sure about passions that seems to be bigger than what i feel about most things ....  i am awfully enthusiastic though .... unbridled enthusiasm comes to mind .... 

here's a short list of things i'm enthusiastic about ... 

tennis .... i started playing tennis well into my forties ... and i'm making up for those forty years that i didn't play it by playing a LOT now .... in the last two weeks i've had three clinics/practices and four matches ... all the matches were with the same doubles partner ... we won three times ... this morning we were stomped on ... huge loss ... no matter ... it was super fun playing on a sunny windy cold morning amongst tall turning trees .... on monday i had three tennis events on my calendar ... a match in the morning, a lesson in the afternoon, and a round robin party in the evening ... that was a first, once a day is generally plenty ... three times a week is the norm ... i'm not even very good .... i just like it ... 

family dinners ... i don't even like to cook, but i will move heaven and earth to get my family sitting around the table together for a home cooked meal .... it is my favorite thing my family does .... and since realizing this a couple years ago, i do think my cooking has improved ... 

vacations ... i love going on trips with my family .... i love exotic fabulous vacations and i love the daytrip or weekend trip doing something simple vacations ... i like going going going .... i'm given this passion to my youngest who now wants to visit every continent .... so i went ahead and added antarctica to my bucket list for her ..... 

artsiness ... not just art, but artsiness .... i like color and whimsy and goofiness ..... like painting my own shoes .... or decorating my house with my own home mades .... 

museums ... really not all museums .. but art museums ... and especially art museums with surprises ... like, when we went to yellowstone there was a museum in jackson, the national museum of wildlife art, with picasso prints, dozens of them, of animals... they were astonishing ... and a huge surprise .... and it made me feel artsier and happier for having seem them ... and of course i just looked online for a pic for you and couldn't find one ... darn ... 

children ... i am passionate about children ... i am a teacher by trade ... my favorite volunteering things are all kid related ... sunday school, camps for inner city kids ... any discretionary donation type money i have goes to kid related stuff .... either through my kids' schools, my church, or other kid philanthropic organizations ... 

can i say i'm passionate about not getting your groceries in those stupid flimsy bags and that you should bring your own sacks EVERY time ... i'm quirky anal about that passion ... 

can i say i'm passionate about cookies? really mr.e.beck.artist is but it rubs off, ya know? this household ADORES cookies ... 

can i say i'm passionate about reality tv? survivor... american idol ... amazing race .... what ever happened to the mole? i loved that .. 

i think yesterdays post indicated my passion for color ... orange green and yellow especially ... this makes me think i should tell you about some of the trees right now .... today has been perfect tree color day .... if you've been with me today at all, i've pointed out beautiful trees to you .... 

reading ... those last few were aberrations ... this one is real ... i am very passionate about reading ... i love, love, love books ... i'm always angling for ways to make more time to read more books .. my favorite right now is to read young adult fiction that my kids' like so we can be passionate together ... 

in the comments, tell me some of your passions ... do any of yours match mine?