There’s this thing going around, it’s like a meme except everything in the list has to start with the same letter. I asked Fraulein N for a letter, thinking I would need something to post about anyway (ha!), and she gave me M:

McDonald’s - In an attempt to make up for contributing to the obesity problem in America, they have started selling an “Adult Happy Meal”. It consists of a new Asian Chicken Salad which sounds pretty good and is only 290 calories with the dressing, a bottle of water, and one of four exercise DVDs. That’s right. McDonald’s is sorry that you grew a second ass eating Quarter Pounders with Cheese all these years, and they’d like to suggest you do some yoga or cardio or strength training to make up for it. Too little, too late McDonald’s.

Music- When I look back at 2006, one of the things I’ll remember is that this has been the year I have rediscovered the joy of listening to music. I have dug all of my old favorite CDs out of storage, uploaded them to Windows Media Player and burned mix CDs of my favorites. I sing more to Kaitlyn than I did to either of the boys, and she listens and smiles.

Mission:Impossible III- Chris had comp time at work and took Monday off, so we packed up the baby and took in the earliest showing. I hate to admit it, but as batshit-crazy as Tom Cruise might be, he makes a hell of an action movie. I think it would help the movie if the trailers showed more of the other actors, like Laurence Fishburne, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup and Keri Russell. Our little Felicity does some major action-hero work in the movie. Who knew?

Muffinest- I know it’s not a real word, but it’s what my sister-in-law and I call Kaitlyn, as in “she’s the muffinest!” Because she is a scrumptious little muffin baby, and that’s all there is to it.

Martha Logan- I watched every episode of “Designing Women”, and I always knew there was more to Jean Smart than naive Charlene Frazier. Her work on “24″ this season has been surprising. Martha Logan is a woman you just should not mess with.

Mushrooms- Can’t stand them. There’s nothing I find more disgusting than ordering Spaghetti with Meat Sauce at a restaurant and finding it contains those rubbery, grayish-beige sliced canned mushrooms. Gah! Even after I pick them out I can still taste them. I will, however, eat the dry, chewy black mushrooms that sometimes show up in Chinese food.

More Movies- In my DVD collection are some movies that I can’t really explain. I’ve never been a cheerleader, yet I love “Bring It On”. Especially the Finals competition with all the squads performing the most amazing moves. And the music is good. I’ve never been a ballet dancer, but I love “Center Stage”, especially the final performance when Jody, Cooper and Charlie dance to “The Way You Make Me Feel” and “Canned Heat”. And I’ve never danced on a bar but I love “Coyote Ugly”. I have a bit of a girl-crush on Bridget Moynahan, and I like Maria Bello. I’ve even been watching “The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search” on CMT.

Meals- In a few short weeks, school will be out for the summer, and I will have to provide my kids with more than just a bowl of cold cereal in the morning and a sandwich/apple/juice box lunch. When they’re home all day, I feel like I should cook for them. Plus it gives me the opportunity to dust off my cookbooks. For even more ideas, I naturally turned to the Internet. It occurred to me that the one place that has to provide meals and snacks that kids will eat are daycare centers. And you wouldn’t believe how many websites there are that post daycare menus. Breakfast, lunch and snacks, well-balanced, lowfat, with dairy and protein and whole grains. There are even vegan/vegetarian daycare menus. I’m hoping the boys will appreciate the effort.

My hair - It’s been short. It’s been long. It’s been blonde. It’s been even blonder. It’s now more brown than blonde, with streaks of gray that defy any and all attempts at coloring. It’s had bangs, then after a good year and a half of growing it out it was all one length. Then, the day before Easter when the long front not-bangs layer kept falling in my eyes, I took a pair of sharp scissors and snipped it a little, and now it’s bangs again. I will never, EVER, be satisfied with my hair.

Matrimony- the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life. Next month Chris and I will celebrate 13 years of marriage. And 21 years of dating, living together, convincing my parents we weren’t making a huge mistake, getting engaged, breaking up a little, getting re-engaged, and then finally getting married. There will be a blog post, and photos, and much gushing about how lucky I was to find my husband and how much I luuuuv him.

And that’s Ten M Things! If you want to do one of your very own, say so in a comment and I’ll select a letter for you using a scientific method involving closing my eyes and pointing at a random collection of alphabet letter magnets.