Of Bicycles and Babies

photo by me

I recently reclaimed my ten year-old bike from my sister's garage and took it on a joy ride in the country.  But doesn't that sound fantastic?  And let me tell you, it was totally fantastic.

Anyone who knew me as a child-slash-preteen knows that I was slightly obsessed with horses.  Seriously obsessed.  Like unto insanity obsessed.  And then I discovered boys and Leonardo DiCaprio and suddenly horses seemed very much less interesting.  (But really, how could they compete with Leo?)

photo by k2 imaging

But I still have this love for horses.  Almost as much as I love babies.  As in, every time we drive by horse pastures I exclaim to Kyle, "Oh look at the horses!" or "Oh I love horses!"  And every time I see a baby I shout, "Oh look at the baby!" or "Oh I love babies!" and make him oooogle at the cute little baby with me.

So on my joy ride in the country I happened upon a trail-side pasture full of horses!  And I fell in love with an old gray mare who ate weeds from my hand and sniffed my hair.  We made eyes at each other in the distance and I knew we had a real connection. 

This brings me to a totally unrelated topic: the word cute.

Are you a female who finds herself overrusing the word "cute?"  Do you get ridiculed by your husband because seemingly everything must be cute?  Do you want to punch his cute little face in for teasing you?  (No not really, cuteness does not breed violence)  Okay but really, I know "cute" is overused.  A lot.  But so is "dude."  And "man."  And rude gurgly bodily noises.  But you don't see me making a big deal about it, do you?  No.  I rest my case.