100 Things About Me - Part 1

If you read my personal blog, you've already seen this.  If not, here are my 100 Things About Me, which I'll post in three parts.  Part 1:

1. I used to live with Sheryl Crow when she moved to Hermosa Beach from Missouri to start her music career. When she lived with us she was doing commercial jingles, and when she moved out of our apartment she got a job as Michael Jackson's backup singer. In 1997, she did an interview with the Post Dispatch and talked about how she moved in with some "wild girls" when she first moved to L.A. As evidenced by the bright halo hovering above my head, I'm certain she wasn't talking about me specifically.

2. I love being a mom. When I was pregnant, I prayed for a boy. I think I'm a better "boy mom" than I would have been a "girl mom."

3. I love all animals, especially my two dogs, Stella and K.C. I love animals so much because they are totally at the mercy of humans and I feel obligated to do what I can for them.

4. I love the sunshine and could never live somewhere dreary.

5. I can still walk on my hands at 45 years old.

6. I don't ever want to go back to work, but I love volunteer work if it has to do with helping animals.

7. I write a blog so my family can keep up with what's going on in my son's life.

8. I love St. Louis and have no desire to move back to California. I lived in the South Bay (Southern California) for 25 years and moved to St. Louis when my stepdad got a coaching job with the St. Louis Blues hockey team. He and my mom lived in St. Louis for 10 years before moving to San Jose for his job with the Sharks. They now live in the South Bay and he is a scout for the L.A. Kings. 

9.  My dad was a pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers; he stopped playing when I was 10.  He's now a scout for the Florida Marlins.

10. When I was 9 I swam with dolphins at Marineland with O.J. Simpson. He was afraid to put even his toes in the water. Not afraid to kill his wife though...(sorry, the devil made me do it.)

11. I love to read all kinds of books, fiction, non-fiction, true crime, biographies, anything.

12. I have to be in the mood to cook, otherwise I hate cooking. I could eat cereal for dinner every night. I definitely eat to live and not live to eat.

13. I never graduated from college but am proud of the fact that I got a B in college algebra despite getting a D in pre-algebra in high school and testing into basic math in college. Fortunately my son did not get my math brain (or non-math brain, I should say).

14. I have no sense of direction.

15. My favorite vacation was when I was 16 and our family went to Lake Powell for a week on a houseboat. I would love to take my son some day. I don't know how anyone can see that kind of nature and beauty and not believe in God.

16. I wish my mom had not put me in kindergarten when I was 4. I feel I would have done better academically had I been a year older. (I can't believe they used to do that back then!)

17. I was 17 when I graduated from high school and moved into an apartment soon after. I never moved back home after that.

18. I hope my son gets to go to Europe like I did. There is no better education than seeing the world. It makes me sad when I meet people who have never been out of the country or even out of state. There is so much to see. On our high school trip we went to 8 countries in 30 days.

19. The nicest thing anyone ever did for me was when I was a single mom of a 2-year-old, working 50 hours a week, and on Mother's Day my mom cleaned my entire house, scrubbed the kitchen floor on her hands and knees, made dinner and put it in the oven, turned soft music on, dimmed the lights, lit candles (she knew exactly when I'd be home), and picked my son up from daycare. When I walked in the door, I cried. It was the most heartfelt act of love during an overwhelming time in my life, and I'll never forget it. Hence my favorite saying, "No one is more cherished in this world than he who lightens the burden of another."

20. I am envious of people who find their passion or God-given talent at a young age and have a career doing what they love.

21. I still remember the whole Preamble to the Constitution (from 7th grade), Shakespeare's "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (...creeps in this petty pace from day to day til the last syllable of recorded time... [from 9th grade English with Miss Edsell]), and much of the first chapter of Ephesians. I know...so random, huh?

22. I am so lucky to have a sister who would be my best friend even if she were not my sister.

23. The only time I wanted to get away from my sister was when I turned 13 and was tired of sharing a room with her for all those years so I moved into our walk-in closet...my bed, stereo, everything. I came home one day to find her on my bed in my "room-closet." Now I know she just looked up to me and wanted to be with me, but back then I was pissed.

24. My husband and I met on a blind date set up by friends and it was love at first sight, although we dated off and on for 10 years before we finally got married almost three years ago. I'm glad we waited because I think we both needed to grow up. Now we couldn't be happier!

25. I love watching any and every sport and will probably end up like my 95-year-old grandmother, who, when I called and asked what she was doing one day, said, "I'm filling out my brackets" (for college basketball). She was a hoot and I miss her.

26. I love any food, drink or candy with peanut butter in it.

27. I love reality TV shows.

28. I cry easily, especially when other people cry. Even if I don't know them or they are on TV.

29. Even music can make me cry, which my son inherited from me. I guess it's something about the melody, but there are two songs that have made him cry since he was a baby: You Are My Sunshine and Rock-a-bye Baby.

30. Songs that really move me are Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art , Bika Mono Ve (It is Well With My Soul) and Great is Thy Faithfulness Go ahead. Click one one or all three. Beautiful! :)

31. I like animals more than most people. I heard a lady at the vet's office say this to someone and it made me less ashamed to admit it.

32. Another thing I used to be afraid to admit but a psychologist friend told me she felt the same way, is that I am not a kid-person. I absolutely LOVE my own son, as well as my niece and nephew, but in general I don't like kids.

33. I was a single mom for 13 years. When my son Eric was about two, I started a local chapter of the National Organization for Single Mothers. I collected dues, wrote a newsletter, held meetings, and through this group met moms who are some of my closest friends today. Nobody knows like one who's been there.

Hope you found out something new about me.  Stay tuned for Part 2...