25 Random Things About Me

I've been tagged a bunch of times over the past few months for a bunch of things, so I thought I would do one...

1. I worked until 11:00 am on the day I had Shayne. I had taken my fourth graders on a field trip the day before. That was my favorite class out of the 10 years I taught fourth grade.

2. I hitchhiked from Rexburg,ID to downtown Salt Lake City with Rick once

3. The one blemish on my post-high school academic career: A grade of D for a one-credit swimming class at Ricks. The culminating activity was a mile swim. I did the mile swim, with one witness, as required, but forgot to turn in the card saying I did it.

4. I love fuzzy slipper socks

5. Sometimes I like to go somewhere at lunchtime, on work days, and enjoy the idea that for that 30 0r 40 minutes, no one on Earth knows exactly where I am.

6. I think I am very good at getting to the root of "behavior problems" kids have at school. No one acts out for nothing.

7. I hate the act of paying bills. I don't mind making the money or the fact that there are people who want my money, I just hate making the arrangements to pay them.

8. The school I worked at for my first three years was in central Phoenix. It was diagonally across the street from the "Mo' Money Pawn Shop".

9. I love reading all types of books. One of my favorite genres is political non-fiction.

10. I get so into politics that election night is like the Superbowl to me (not just Presidential Elections, but mid-terms also). I watch hours worth of coverage with popcorn and everything. I DVR debates so that I can watch them without distraction after my kids go to sleep.

11. I love to bake and cook, but I don't like the mess.

12. I can fall asleep anywhere. I once fell asleep on a weight bench between sets of bench presses. Most nights I am asleep within 60 seconds of closing my eyes.

13. I really appreciate and admire good writing.

14. Each summer when my sister and I see each other, we have one or more of the exact same things we bought that year without the other knowing. We bought the same tan throw rug, white tab-top curtains, sandals for our sons and first backpacks for our sons.

15. I am not super-organized in real life, but I am on the computer.

16. I love daisies. They make me happy.

17. Very few people make me laugh as much as the people in my family do-my little family here and the family in Maryland (in a good way).

18. I am what a good friend of mine once described as a "binge cleaner". Sometimes I let things go and other times I clean like someone with OCD. It is very confusing to my family :)

19. I love antique maps (like the one on one of Tammy's recent posts).

20. I have kept a journal most of the time since I was 12 years old. There were a few years that I didn't write much, but I probably have 18 or 20 full books of writing.

21. I can talk to almost anyone. All my years as a food-server, bartender and teacher have made me good at finding common ground and be able to hold a conversation with almost anyone. Some teachers dread parent-teacher conferences (about 6 or 7 hours of talking with parents) but I always came out of conferences feeling energized.

22. I love the way the desert smells when it rains.

23. I once added 19 credits at ASU during the first week of classes. I worked 4 days and interned 6 hours a week at the time and needed to fit in 19 credits on exact days and times to make it all work. I was dropped from all of them before the first day of class because of a financial aid miscommunication, then added all of them again during the first week of classes. One teacher had said on the first day, "I'm not going to add anyone, so don't ask." I went to his class all week and did the first assignment. He let me add at the end of the week.

24. I make awesome guacamole. I worked at El Torito for years, where one of the appetizers was "table side guacamole" which was prepared, you guessed it, at the table side by the wait staff, so I have a lot of experience making it.

25. I read, write and speak Spanish fairly well. I used to speak it fairly well too, but haven't had many opportunities to use it in the past few years. Hopefully it's like riding a bicycle.

Were you surprised by any of these?

On the Way Home From School

Shayne:
"Mom, is Mississippi a state?"
"Yes."
"Why do they call it that?"
"I'm not sure."
"I'm gonna call it 'Mistersippi'."
"Why?"
"Because I'm a boy."
"Ok."