Me From A to Z

A
- Age: 34 years
- Annoyance: People who don't keep commitments, when TP etiquette is not observed.
- Animal: Simon the cat.

B
- Beer: husband says if I drank beer it would be Killian's Irish Red because it's more crisp and less bitter. But I don't. Drink beer.
- Birthday: February 16th
- Body Part on opposite sex: Eyes.
- Best feeling in the world: Getting out of a cold swimming pool and lying on warm cement, getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist, pedicure @ 8 mos. pregnant.
- Blind or Deaf: Definitely deaf- I could read without trying to ignore husband and screaming children.
- Best weather: A crisp fall day, wading through leaves, blue sky against bright fall colors.
- Been in Love?: Still am.
- Been on stage?: Yes, unfortunately. I pray all video recordings have been destroyed.
- Believe in Magic?: Yes- my daughter is magic.
- Believe in Santa?: Of course. Silly question

C
- Candy: Take 5, luckily they are hard to come by.
- Color: #1-Red, #2-Green, #3-Orange, #4-Brown (I know, Brown?!?!?, but seriously, yes)
- Chocolate/Vanilla: Chocolate
- Chinese/Mexican Food: Depends on my mood and whether or not I'm pregnant.
- Cake or pie: Pie, definitely. Apple, preferred.
- Continent to visit: Any of them, I'm a travelin' (wo)man.
- Cheese: Feta for salads, smoked gouda for crackers
- Cuddling: Not a fan, and it drives husband nuts (what is wrong with you?) get right to it I say.

D
- Day or Night: Day AND Night. Why must sleep be a requirement? Why must I love it so much?
- Dancing in the rain: Dancing? I say walking in the rain, kissing in the rain, sliding on my stomach on the grass in the rain, falling asleep to rain pinging on the roof/windows ... all of it, I love the rain!

E
- Eyes: Like: it's easier for a camel to go through than a rich man.... ?
- Ever fail a class?: Poly Sci. Hated the teacher and the early hour, stopped attending, neglected to drop the class- oops

F
- First thoughts waking up: Wow, I feel awake enough to exercise today...ZZZZZzzzzzzz
- Food: Ahhh, my great nemesis.

G
- Greatest Fear: Anything bad happening to my kids/husband
- Goals: Mostly to do with traveling, sights to see. Also books to read.
- Gum: Cinnamon
- Get along with your parents?: Yes, I no longer live with them.
H
- Hair Color: Brown (I should say something more alluring, like Russet Brown, nope, connotes potatoes....ideas on how to make brown sound good? Chestnut, perhaps?)
- Height: 5' 4" ish
- Happy: ha ha, I'm listening to "shiny happy people" on my ipod right now, how odd.
- Holiday: I dislike saying Christmas because it's so typical, but come on, it lasts a whole month!
- How do you want to die: When I am very old, having lived a full and active life, surrounded by family.

I
- Ice Cream: Breyer's natural vanilla stirred up into a shake with crumbled oreos or plain chocolate OR Friendly's Buttercrunch.
- Instrument: piano, guitar, clarinet all played at a mediocre level- I guess that's another goal.

J
- Jewelry: Wedding rings and a ring I bought in Edinborough. Sometimes earrings and a bracelet to church. I LOVE antique jewelry. chokers on occasion.
- Jobs: EMT-Intermediate @ Gold Cross Ambulance (6 yrs.), @ IHC (desk job)(2 yrs.), working with autistic/developmentally disabled @FTC and TKJ Inc.(4 yrs.), sales @ ZCMI (when it existed)(2 yrs.) and numerous nanny jobs. (Mom is not a job, it's a calling and a gift)

K
- Kids: 3 beauties. Dew Drop Fairy (6), Drama Queen (4) and Greased Lightening (1)
- Kickboxing or karate: I've only tried karate, can't judge. Although I believe my current work-out video incorporates kickboxing.
- Keep a journal?: Sometimes, let's be honest, almost never. check mark for another goal.

L
- Love: "All you need is love, Love, Love, Love, bump a budda bum."
- Letter: I think "S" is pretty cool but I'm biased.
- Laughed so hard you cried?: watched a 5 year old girl in a dance recital attempt to keep her pants up while holding hands with other little girls. Guess you had to be there.
- Last movie you watched and with who: At the movies? "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" with husband, 2 brothers, 1 sister, 1 father. At home? I don't think you could call it "watching".

M
- Married: Yes
- Milk: Got? Yes.
- Movies: Amelie, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Field of Dreams, movies that involve magic -especially of the everyday sort.
- McD’s or BK: McD's, they have the best salads of the fast food persuasion and they substitute fries with apple slices- something ALL 3 of my children will eat.
- Number: 37, my address as a child.

O
- One wish: don't wish, do.
- One night stands: Is that like when a Chicagoan/Mexican tries to sell hot dogs/tacos for one night and his business fails??? What is this talking about?

P
- Pepsi/Coke: Coke. But really Dr. Pepper.
- Perfect Pizza: Papa Johns, gotta love the extra guilt in a garlic butter tub.

R
- Reason to cry: No woman, No cry. My house is full of them, I oughta know.
- Reality T.V.: What's that? I don't think it really exists.
- Radio Station: X96, but now I usually just plug in my ipod or kids music.
- Roll your tongue in a circle? Yes and unwrap starbursts in >10 seconds, loop cherry stems, etc.
- Ring size: I think it's 5 1/2, but I have been pregnant (hold on... my ring still fits, hooray!)

S
- Song: Bridge Over Troubled Water- really it depends on the moment you ask. Ever changing.
- Shoe size: I don't know, I usually wear flip flops. Around 7 maybe. I've worn 6 and 8.
- Salad Dressing: Blue Cheese at a Restaurant. At home just a little EVOO with some red wine vinegar and pepper.
- Sushi: Ordered it once by mistake (the actual raw stuff) ... I got it down.
- Skinny dipped?: I plead the 5th... (which we all know means yes)
- Strawberries/Blueberries: both, yum. If I have to choose... strawberries.

T
- Tattoos?: No. birthmarks, scars, freckles and moles, YES. Hooray for au naturale, baby!
- Talent: finding new things to say that will drive husband insane.
- Time for bed: NEVER!
- Thunderstorms: "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens." Some of the most majestic moments of my life have been at my parents cabin watching a thunderstorm roll across the lake.

U
- Unpredictable: Life. For which I am eternally grateful.

V
- Vacation spot(s): Lake Winnipesaukee. Scotland. Italy. Backpacking is good but it's been a while.

W
- Weakness: Drama Queen's cry. For some reason it's easier for me to block Dew Drop Fairy out- maybe because she IS me. Greased Lightening too, in male form.
- Worst feeling: When a child dies.
- Wanted to be when you were younger: Writer/Photographer for National Geographic Magazine
- Worst Weather?: Anything that's going to cause death. No apocalypse please.

X
- X-Ray: Chest, to make sure I didn't have TB after a positive skin test. Several to check for broken bones.

Y
-Year it is now: 2011
-Yellow: Ich habe eine banane und die banane ist gelb (?) Also, Coldplay.

Z
- Zoo animal: penguins: the diving and swimming keeps the kids most entertained. For me giraffes & elephants, seriously take a closer look. They are both so oddly put together.

To be 10 again...

The three most memorable crushes I had on famous people as a child were:



#1 - Sean Astin. I still watch Goonies and think he is so cute, but when I do I'm ten years old at heart. Sadly, with time, his little snub nose and freckles did not retain their charm. I watched Lord of the Rings when I was still single and ... nothing.





#2 - Michael J. Fox. He was the epitome of cool to my little girl sensibilities. Every movement was poetry. Just watch him in the skateboarding scenes in "Back to the Future". Plus, he's just so darn charismatic. I watched a special on him a while back and was amazed by what he goes through with Parkinson's Disease. What a phenomenal person! He's still one of the coolest people around in my book (although my attraction to him has cooled over the years as well).



Finally #3 Davey Jones. I was completely duped by re-runs! I had no idea as a child that the Monkees were not a current band/TV stars. By the time I realized the truth I had surpassed Davey in height. (he once boasted that he is 5'3" with his boots on). I still have a fun time watching this video and I still enjoy listening to the Monkees now and again.

In retrospect

Almost everything I do/say is really embarrassing. Fortunately I don't realize it until days or sometimes years later. I am the Queen of dissecting every little thing I've done/said, but it often takes me a while before I have the time for such things anymore. When I analyze my actions immediately I get much less sleep than is desirable.

During my school years I had a teacher who had us read from various famous poems that he had compiled for that purpose. When my turn came up I was thrilled to see that I drew "Oh Captain, My Captain" a long time favorite (also I had been dreading being stuck with Chaucer, along with everyone else in the room. The evil instructor waited until the end of class to tell us he wouldn't make anyone read that excerpt, instead we would discuss it as a class). Anyway- I read my poem and the teacher made some little quip about the mood of the class being brought down or some such. I realize now that he was making fun of me for being overly dramatic. I can see me now doing my best Anne Shirley impression thinking I could bring the room to tears with my beautifully wretched recitation! Aaach, I want to run to a corner and hide. It's been years, I can safely say none of those people remember me nor do I precisely remember any of them. I think I would feel a little better about my behavior if this happened in elementary school or even junior high. Alas, it was a COLLEGE humanities course.

Isn't it funny how something so little can make me feel so insecure YEARS later! It's much easier than thinking about the thing I did last month which rivals those bad dreams that involve nakedness in public. Speaking of nakedness in public... I was conducting the music at church yesterday. That can be embarrassing enough on it's own but apparently the light pink shirt I was wearing under my navy spaghetti strapped dress didn't show up in the back of the room. I think I'm going to go console myself with some cookie dough.