100 Things About Me - Part 2

34. I weighed 11 pounds, 3 ounces when I was born and was 23 inches long. Check out this picture of me. I'm told that had I not been so big at birth I probably wouldn't have lived because I got the whooping cough when I was 6 weeks old and lost a lot of weight. Thank you God for making me so large. :)

35. I once stayed overnight with a passenger on a flight from L.A. to Dallas on my way to St. Louis. I was going to have to sleep in the airport and she invited me to stay with her in Dallas. She was my seatmate and we had talked the whole way there. Since my luggage was already on its way to St. Louis, she gave me a nightgown to borrow and even took me to the airport the next day. Above and beyond, I'll say! I wrote to Ann Landers about the incident and my letter was published during an "acts of kindness" kick she was on.

36. I once read an article about a young woman - a single mom of an 8-year-old son - who was killed in a car accident. The article really touched me because I was also a single mom. Eric was almost 2 at the time and I could not imagine leaving him behind. I felt I had to do something. The paper mentioned that her little boy was a big hockey fan. My stepdad was a coach for the Blues at the time and I arranged for the little boy to get tickets to a game and to meet some of the players. Here is the letter the woman's best friend wrote to me. I wish I could do small things like this all the time.

37. I have generalized anxiety and have since I was in 3rd grade (now that I look back). My biggest regret in life is not getting help for this sooner! To all those people out there who don't think medicine is the answer to many illnesses? Maybe not some, but for anxiety it is. Anxiety is a neurotransmitter thing. There is nothing you can do to talk yourself out of it. I would have been SUCH a better mom to Eric had I taken medicine sooner. Let me tell you people, it is NOT normal to have your stomach in knots and to be worrying and ruminating (thinking and analyzing) constantly. I did not know what "normal" was until I took medicine to put my brain on an even keel. Awwww...peace. Gotta love it.

38. I love reading! Oh, did I already say that?

39. I am the only person in my immediate family with blue eyes, the only one with fair skin and the only one who writes left handed. (Uh, mom? Can we have a word?)

40. I write left handed but do everything else right handed/footed (eat, throw, kick a ball, put make up on, etc.)

41. I like to write poems. I wouldn't call it poetry because poetry sounds professional, artsy and beautiful. My poems are just fun.

42. I wish I had inherited the musical talent on my mom's side like my brother did. He is an amazing piano player but doesn't read music. It's all by ear. The only thing I inherited is my dad's love for napping.

43. I love taking naps. They rejuvenate me and give me a second wind for the end of the day.

44. I am definitely a morning person.

45. I love all bodies of water...pools, oceans, lakes, rivers. Something about water is so peaceful.

46. I'm a Scorpio.

47. I don't believe in astrology per se, but I do think characteristics for the different signs are fairly accurate. I am definitely stubborn, independent, sensitive, loyal, and all-or-nothing.

48. Until starting medicine three years ago for my anxiety, I had never driven farther than 1/2 hour from my house. A.M. (After meds) I drove to Lake of the Ozarks three hours away and just recently drove six hours to Memphis by myself. Can you say "whole new world"?

49. I'm not afraid to die.

50. I'm a Christian. Guess that's why I'm not afraid to die. I look forward to it when it's "my time."

51. I am a good speller and have a sort of photographic memory with words. I can picture whether or not the word is spelled right if I've seen it even once. Eric inherited this from me...yay!

52. I enjoy crossword puzzles.

53. I enjoy doing calligraphy.

54. I'm always on time or early when I have to be somewhere, and so is my husband, which is nice.

55. It takes me 10 minutes to get ready (makeup, hair, dressed).

56. The older I get the less tolerant I am of noise and commotion.

57. I'm hypoglycemic and have to eat every few hours.
58. My first car was a Toyota Celica. I now drive a Lexus hybrid SUV and love it.

59. My family recycles.

60. I am a candy fanatic, not chocolate so much, but Sweet Tarts, Skittles, Gummy Bears, etc.

61. My favorite ice cream is Peanut Butter and Chocolate or Jamocha Almond Fudge.

62. I have a terrible memory for books, events, movies, names, etc. That's why I take a lot of pictures. It helps me remember events. I write book reviews so I can remember what they were about!

63. I have 25-30 photo albums.

64. I'm grateful that my dad instilled a sense of fitness in us at a young age. When my sister and I were 13 and 16, he bribed us with $100 each if we ran a 10K. We both finished and got our money, and we both have worked out ever since.

65. My first jobs were: renting out roller skates at a surf shop (age 14), busing tables at a small breakfast place (age 15), filing and secretarial work in the doctor's office where my mom was a nurse (age 15 thru 19, part-time), as an aerobics instructor at the Nautilus gym my dad owned (age 16, part-time) and as a bagger at a grocery store - I loved this job for some reason (age 17). I got my first full-time job with benefits as a secretary for neuroscan facility (CTs, MRIs, EEGs) at age 19 and was a medical secretary thru age 42, working for general surgeons, psychiatrists (for 15 years), and neurosurgeons, when I was 19 thru 25, and again as my last job before I "retired."

66. I worked two jobs when Eric was born. I dropped him off at a daycare at 6:15 AM, did typing for a doctor for an hour and a half, then went to my next job until 5:30 PM. I did that for 2 years until my main job finally gave me a raise.

Stay tuned for Part 3...