25 Things You May Not Know about Me

#1. I am a follow-the-rules kind of woman, except when the rules are dumb. Like telling me that I have to tag 15 or 25 people to do a list like this. Not gonna do it!

#2. I'm thinking to myself that the stuff you don't know about me, maybe you SHOULDN'T know about me! :-p

#3. I have all my teeth, my tonsils, and my appendix. Everything that I was born to have. I have no plans to part with any of it! haha! [UPDATE: Wrote this in 2009. In 2013, a surgeon removed my healthy appendix without my consent while he was searching for the cause of my pain! Then in 2014, I had to kiss my gallbladder good-bye (figuratively, not literally). So now I can no longer say I still have all the parts I was born with. Boo.]

#4. I won the Spelling Bee 2nd place trophy in 6th grade. I choked either on the word brilliant or the word sheriff. My mind went totally blank. It was so embarrassing.

#5. I'm normally a gracious human being, but I have my moments. (Don't we all?)

#6. I don't base my actions/reactions on the actions of anyone else. I choose to do the right thing (except for the occasional slip-up) no matter what others are doing.

#7. Number 6 is probably an issue of pride. Nuts. That shouldn’t be the motivator!

#8. I have a bulletin board COMPLETELY COVERED with ribbons won by my kids and myself! Mostly them, from 4-H and a local multi-county fair. Oh, some medals are hanging there as well. Mine are from that fair as well. We placed a lot in photography over the years, as well as in food.

#9. As an adult I’m very disdainful of dogs, but that’s the only kind of pet I had growing up!

#10. I once took a test that said I was more conservative than Rush Limbaugh! Which is probably true.

#11. I loved being married, I loved my husband, but he did me wrong, and I plan to be single for the rest of my life. [UPDATE: in 2014 I started to think this plan might be a bit nuts.]

#12. I am descended from farmers on both sides of the family tree, but I hate gardening or anything that involves getting in the dirt!

#13. I love to look at landscaping books. Designing a landscape would be fun as long as someone else did the grunt work!

#14. I held my ex-husband’s baby boy. And later, his baby girl. I’ve kissed the babies too. (and then felt like crying the rest of the day)

#15. I have encouraged contestants in vocal competitions who were competing against my kids. I can’t help it! I see someone shaking and scared, and I have to boost his or her confidence! (It sucks when they win, though. LOL!)

#16. Although I make a living as a writer and proofreader, I do NOT judge my friends’ blogging/spelling/grammar skills. But I’m very critical of my own, because y’all may be judging my skills! :-O

#17. I eat LOTS of sugary things when I’m under stress. LOTS. Trust me. [update for 2017: did you know that most sweets are sweetened with corn syrup? I developed a sensitivity to corn and can no longer indulge in foods that have corn-y ingredients. Boo! But it’s okay.]

#18. As a child, I always wanted to be “Mary” in the children’s Christmas program in church, but I never was chosen. I was an angel or the innkeeper’s daughter. At least I never had to be a sheep or donkey!

#19. I HATE being lied to. My mom is the same way. Honesty is a must.

#20. I used to dream of being a star in musicals on Broadway. But I didn’t have the voice for it, not to mention the confidence and drive needed to succeed.

#21. I wrote a full-length mystery novel. It’s around here somewhere ... unpublished.

#22. When I drive by houses that are obviously down-on-their-luck, I wish I had the money to fix them up. My daughter feels the same way!

#23. I never had a teddy bear as a child. I have some now!

#24. I have not spoken to my brother (his choice) since 1995, the Christmas before Dad died. He suffers from depression and chronic pain and locks himself away from the world. Mom is the only one he will see and speak to. [Update! After 20 years, he has started speaking to me again and even wished me a happy birthday! And asked for my help as he bought his first computer and was struggling to get it set up.]

#25. I have a purple lava lamp. I once had a blue one, but it got broken during a move. My former husband bought the blue one. I bought myself the purple one. I’m a purple-lava-lamp kind of woman.