25 Random Things

I have been notified that if I do not post tonight one of my followers is coming to my house to be certain that I am still alive. Sorry I've been so busy - working two jobs, doing taxes, editing two newsletters and wasting a good bit of time sleeping! So in the interest of remaining on my follower's good side...I present to you "25 Random Things About Me." If this looks familiar to some of you - it was one of my first Facebook "notes". But since I think very few people go read those...I figured I could recycle.

The FB challenge was that if a friend tagged you in one of these notes, you would write 25 Random Things and then tag a bunch of other people and they were supposed to write one. I enjoyed writing it - so I hope you enjoy reading it (again...for some of you...)

1. I enjoy singing in the choir, can sort of read music...but have to sing the "Do Re Mi Fa..." song in my head to get the first note.

2. I have done some seriously stupid things in my life.

3. I regret very few of the experiences.

4. My favorite thing to do in the world is talk about wine. Second favorite is drinking it.

5. My time working at Kings Dominion was like college without classes. They were the best of times - they were the worst of times...

6. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

7. If I suddenly didn't have to work, I would volunteer full-time and still be stretched too thin. Well - just metaphorically...physically - it would take a bit of stretching to get me TOO thin :)

8. My cat is rude. Widely know - yet a totally random thing.

9. If you can choose the place you'd like to die (sorry, sounds morbid...I'm not planning anything!) - I hope I get to die in Canmore, Alberta.


10. The best Caesar salad I ever ate was at Sherwood House in Canmore in the shadows of the Canadian Rockies.

11. The hamster thing: it's not as interesting as you might think. I could make up something more creative...but the truth is, it was the nickname given to my car. An 89 VW Fox Wagon (rare, but not classic car). I drove it while I was doing plumbing supply merchandising and driving all over the great state of West Virginia. The guy I worked with would ride up behind me in his big fancy pickup (probably had a speedometer that worked, too!), call me on the cell phone and ask if I couldn't beat the hamsters to make it go faster. Thus hamsterbeater...see, I told you this wasn't interesting! But Random...it is random!

12. I once accidentally hung myself from a tree by the wrist. Seriously...the scar is impressive. I like to tell small children who ask me about it that I was attacked by a shark (or alligator, or whatever crosses my mind that day). Or "a dingo ate my arm!"


13. I flippin' love ethnic cuisines. But I'm not sure if it is politically correct to say "ethnic". Thai, Indian, Turkish, Peruvian, Chinese, Japanese...I will try almost anything. But that lunatic Bourdain can keep the grubs and live squid!

14. I am only two degrees separated from Kevin Bacon. His first acting teacher directed me in a production of Stop the World. This makes each and every one of you only 3 degrees from Kevin Bacon.

15. I was all the way to #20 when the power went out and I lost my random thoughts. I'm now wondering what the heck I was talking about then.


16. I am a fun aunt. I can sing 5 verses of "Fish Heads" and can sing it as a lullaby to my niece Taylor. Old MacDonald DID sometimes have an Elephant. My nephew Jacob thinks I'm HILARIOUS just when I'm breathing. Jack knows that part of my mission in life is keeping him from becoming "another teenage jerk". I also try to introduce him to a wide variety of foods, people and life experiences.

18. I can wield a tape gun with the best of them. I was part of a team that packed over 7000 relief kits at the United Methodist Sager Brown Depot in Louisiana in the space of 4 days. Check out my photo album to see more about that trip. I'm the one kissing the barbecue shrimp.

19. Over the years a dozen or more people have lived in our house for periods of time. I learned a great deal from each of them and miss them like lost brothers and sisters.

20. I think my brother is a genius. Even if he won't come over and fix my hot tub.

21. I have colored my hair since I roomed with Arthur Purslow the third year I worked at KD. I owe him SO much. Yes, I use a box. Yes, I do my own. No, it's not easy.

22. While we're on the subject of hair - I am growing my fourth or fifth ponytail for Locks of Love. It takes about 2 years to get enough length to give away 10 inches.

23. I never learned to play chess - but I can kick any of your butts at Backgammon. Yes, bring it on.

24. I cry every time I leave the beach (Outer Banks of NC). I get so depressed when I leave the Canadian Rockies that I should probably be medicated. But the mental pictures I can call up from either place can make me catch my breath.

25. I have sleep apnea. Technically I have Very Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea. In my sleep test I averaged a "breathing interruption" 91 times per hour. I was disappointed that I didn't break the unofficial record of 135.

26. I'm wondering how many people caught the fact that I skipped over #17.

We are the sum total of our experiences. Thanks to all my friends for helping me become the person that I am today. Part Lunatic, Part Genius, All Me.