100 Things About Me

100 Things About Me

a work in progress

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.  Quindlen

1. I believe that Christianity is a relationship.
2. I love my family.  They drive me nuts sometimes - but I love them.
3. I have been married to Hubby since 1975.  I would do it again - looking forward to our future together. Hubby has seen me at my best and worst and continues to hang in there with me - ya gotta love him.
4. I am a patriot.
5. I like to learn.  I believe in lifelong learning.
6. I am a book-a-holic.  I could be stranded in a library for a long time and be a real happy camper/
7. I am a teacher.  Does not matter where you put me or how limited my resources are - I can teach something.
8. I am a strong disciplinarian.  Ask my former students -but I am fair.  Okay- do not ask my former students.
9. I am creative.  I went to college to become a graphics art designer.  Ended up getting married and became a teacher (not of art)
10. I like to write and I believe I have a voice.
11. I am a published writer.  I would like to have a book published one day.
12. I have designed T-shirts, logos, etc.  It is kinda cool seeing your logo go by on a truck.
13. I have taught counseling classes at a local Bible college.  Must say that was an interesting adventure.  I still do lay counseling as needed.
14. I am adopted.
15. My son is adopted.
16. My son wanted to know if we could adopt my husband - so he could be adopted twice too.  Look in the Bible - you will see what he meant.
17. I am the mom of a special needs kid.  I think we all have glitches in our learning abilities - some just are "formally" diagnosed.
18. I have my state endorsements in gifted education and in ESL (English as a Second Language).
19. I have taught fifth grade, gifted ed, and home schooled our son since his 1998-1999 school year.  He will graduate in 2008.
20. Favorite scene: -outside snowing - the family inside by a fire reading. A hot cuppa sitting on the table next to me.
21. I do not have a fireplace and it does not snow here that often.
22. I have spent over twenty-five years in a state that I said I would never live in.  However, in the 25+ years I have lived here I have come to love it.  I would like to be closer to the mountains or on the water though.
23. I am too tall to leave a short message.
24. I am a perfectionist.  'Nough said.
25. My house has been broken into (more than once).  My pastor wanted to know if the house looked that way before the robbers came or after.  I still speak to this man.
26. I am house cleaning challenged.
27. My house is evidence that WWIII occurred - you just missed it.
28. I am twice the woman I used to be - in many ways.  That is what makes me a fluffy knitter.
29. I like to sing and I love music.  I quack like a duck when I hit certain notes due to my vocal chords being nicked during one of my surgeries.
30. All the organs I have left (after several surgeries) have been deemed "essential" by me and I am keeping all the rest of my organs - thank you very much.
31. Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love it and I miss the brilliant color change that I used to see in Western New York.  It is a dream to go up to New Englandin the autumn and see the glorious leaves up there.
32. I am a good cook and I bake great pies.
33. I like to sew but hardly have the time to do so any more.  I once made a mock sheep/pile outer coat for hubby.
34. I have done a myriad of crafts but have few examples.  I gave most away as gifts.
35. I think most school systems exist to perpetuate the system as opposed to benefit the students.
36. I love computers.
37. I hate computers.
38. I have designed websites and would love to have the time to do more with the design of this site.  I have become a PayPerPost blogger to help supplement our family income - we need some cash for curriculum.
39. I changed the bulletin boards in my classroom regularly.  Drove the other teachers crazy.
40. I can read a good book repeatedly and continue to enjoy the richness of the words each time.
41. I like the challenge of learning something new but then have to make myself finish the project once I have mastered the skill.
42. I am loyal - but not blind.
43. I am verbal and enjoy a good discussion.
44. Give me a good strong foundation over interior design any day.
45. I like ribbon candy - it brings back wonderful memories.
46. I am a tempered idealist.
47. I believe everyone can learn something.
48. I enjoy and need reflection time.
49. I do not mind being alone and I make time for myself to be alone. (makes me wonder how I taught 30 fifth graders)
50. I am big on taking responsibility for one's actions.  This was a trait my students did not appreciate but their parents did.
51. I have learned to eat crow - to admit I am wrong.  Not a tasty dish but worth eating from time to time.
52. I love worship and worship music.
53. I love swimming.  There is something about cutting through the water that is magical to me.
54. I think of my Dad every time I hear Christopher Cross's, Sailing.  I can see us out on the ocean fishing.  I cry.
55. Some of fondest memories are fishing with my Grandpa on Lake Erie.
56. One day I want to ride on a sailboat on the ocean.
57. Hamburgers over hotdogs any day.
58. I have more compassion and mercy than my social skills might lead one to believe.  That might be a hard sell to some people - lol.
59. I like to take long drives - does not matter the destination.
60. I hate spam - not the spam you eat - the site - email type.
61. I am a procrastinator - which is why I am doing this instead of cleaning my house.
62. I believe we are called to overcome as opposed to survive abuse.
63. I love blue.  Next time I get to do the living room, I am going to incorporate my favorite color. Hmmmm - how about the bedroom instead?
64. I love cannolis - a taste I acquired growing up in a neighborhood full of wonderful Italian families with great cooks.  Found a place here that offers these little jewels and makes the closest thing to a "real" calzone that I have seen done here.
65. I am a cheese-a-holic - every kind except limburger.  My parents used to love that smelly stuff!
66. I love the magic of snowflakes.  Snowmen rank up there too.
67. I think the smell of pretzels is soothing.  I have had this opinion since I was a little girl.  I do not have a clue where I picked this up.
68. If I am stressed out noises can get to me faster than anything else.
69. I hate confining spaces - I feel smothered.  I like cool wide-open atmospheres.
70. I once jumped and screamed when I was caught off guard by a whale billboard.  Too big, too fast....hmmm that one sounds weird.
71. I was not a great girl scout - many badges due to competitive nature - but NOT the "one for all" type.  They threatened to kick me out of camp, which is bad when your mom is one of the leaders!
72. I can eat a box of Crunch 'n Munch all by myself.  This is not a good thing.
73. I love toffee and caramels. Whoever created cappuccinos just may be evil.
74. I do not like to drive in ice or snow and panic when faced with the possibility.
75. I secretly wish I could play an instrument well enough to be part of an orchestra. Sonny boy has tried to teach me the violin - futile.
76. It is difficult for the idealist in me to succumb to the need of advertising on my site.  However, I know that I really need to do this and I write well.  I hope that I can learn the technology needed to expand the arena of the blog and yet retain its personal feeling.
77. I genuinely am amazed at the some of the very wonderful people I have met on the Net.
78. It is all about relationships.
79. I have determined that teen years are part of the “trials of our faith.”
80. As I get nearer and nearer to Jbird leaving the nest, I wonder how my mother did it.
81. I am back into the world of art – having been out for close to 30 years.  I am learning to paint with oils.  I am taking classes and going for it.
82. As I get older, “sisterhood” is taking on a new dimension in my life.
83. I have had very close friends die.  I now can understand the losses my parents felt as they got older.
84. Where do these age spots come from?  I could do without these thank you.
85. I am allergic to grass and live out in rural Georgia where they hay up and down the street from me.  There is NO wisdom in this.
86. I won the Miss Frankenstein pageant in my fifth grade play.  I wore a white ballet tutu on my head, an outfit like Morticia, and danced for my talent.
87. I have attended Maryville College, Peace College, Gainesville State College, and finally graduated from Brenau University.  I have also taken classes at North Georgia State College.  Sending away for transcripts is a pill.
88. Mosquitoes love me. 
89. I have worked at a child daycare, a men’s department at Kmart, cashier at another department store, secretary to an insurance agent, sales at a florist shop, teller at a bank, a program coordinator at the hospital, administrative assistant at a college, teacher at a Bible college, and a teacher in the public school system.
90. Written directions and not charts please.
91. Hoping Hubby will grow back beard in a few years – I kinda miss it.
92. Wanting to lose weight and losing weight are two different animals.
93. I really really want to get an advanced degree.
94. I want to make an awesomely bright, colorful quilt.
95. Would very much like to try my hand at spinning one day.
96. Wish someone else would get the next year (the last year for Jbird) all figured out and done.
97. I want to take dancing lessons with Hubby.
98. Would like to teach Hubby to draw – think he’d be very good at it.
99. Once Hubby is retired I can see us working on many things together.
100. I like black jelly beans.