25 Things About Me
1. I rarely check my comma usage because I know I am correct. The Twilight series bugged me because the commas were incorrectly used. Can't turn the English teacher off for long.
2. I can't read some books because I am an English teacher. It took me all of Twilight to admit it was a decent book (and the fact that I can't put the title in italics is bugging the crap out of me . . . and the fact that I can now add italics means I can take out the quotation marks, which clearly denoted a short story).
3. The fact that I just said "crap" shows great restraint on my part . . . great restraint.
4. I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up until I was 30. I credit the girls having awesome teachers and working with incredibly gifted and dedicated teachers for that decision.
5. I always wanted to be a mom. When I found out I was pregnant, there was never a choice in that matter. The choice was in getting married.
6. That was the best choice I ever made.
7. I didn't like having siblings growing up. Honestly, I kind of liked being an only child and probably did more to annoy/torment/abuse my younger siblings than most other people.
8. I can't imagine being an only child now.
9. I can devise any number of plans to get out of cooking. I think my record for successive days not cooking was eight. I've told the girls that when they go to college and Dave is on a business trip, I might have frozen dinners all the time. However, I actually enjoy cooking; it's the cleaning up that I detest.
10. I was raised Catholic and decided to raise my girls Episcopalian since they are slightly more accepting of women as ministers. I never had any intention of them becoming a priest, but I wanted them to keep their options open since I am a feminist at heart, which, in a true ironic twist, is a group of individuals that one of my daughters despises.
11. My parents used to take me to the public library in Fort Wayne for books when it became clear to them that purchasing books would be too expensive. I mostly remember my father taking me to the library and the giant globe that was in the lobby. I've since become a fan of the same library's mock-Newbery award blog.
12. I met my husband when he walked across the table in a very cramped office to get to the only remaining seat, which was right next to me. He asked if I knew his cousin who also lived in Springfield. This, I thought, was kind of lame since it is a pretty big city. Turns out I did.
13. I named Jordan after Bono's oldest daughter of the same name. I say "I named Jordan" because Dave didn't have a say in the matter. He and I picked out Shelby's name together, agreed on her middle name and the spelling, but he changed it when he filled out the birth certificate. I won't admit it out loud, but it really looks better that way.
14. I love going to the dentist.
15. I learned how to knit in 2000 but then didn't stick with it. Then my sister Bridget found out she was having a little girl and I wanted to make her something. I'd like to credit Emma for me sticking with knitting. Others may blame her.
16. My two biggest fears are of loud noises and clowns. Circuses are a particularly bad place for me as are most firework celebrations.
17. I've been to London nine times and will never tire of the city. I know my way around London better than New York City, which is 90 minutes away. It strikes me as odd that people always ask for directions, and I can generally get them where they need to be. Dave, on the other hand, gets asked for directions in cities where people speak French as a rule. He has mastered the phrase, "I do not speak French," in French.
18. I miss driving a manual car.
19. If the opportunity ever presented itself, I'd love to live on a farm. Having access to my grandparents' farm growing up was one of the best experiences in my life. I used to feel bad for people not having had that same chance.
20. I used to drink soda obsessively every day. After a trip to Ohio, I stopped cold-turkey and haven't touched it in close to three years. And, yes, I think that it is particularly addictive and cold-turkey applies precisely.
21. I would like to write a book some day but am convinced that no one would ever read it. Maybe if they were being polite, they would, but the thought of other people reading what I write kind of terrifies me a little. This might strike some of you as the epitome of "ironic" . . . and you know who you are.
22. I love the use of ellipsis . . . as long as you are judicious about them . . . and you use only three periods . . . with a space between every period . . . because that is the correct format. See? Can't turn off the English teacher.
23. I don't like my middle name and thought seriously of changing it legally when I turned 18. Consequently, every legal document has my full name listed for some strange reason, and I have come to terms with it. Since my mother has pointed out that the alternative would have been to call me "Lorinda Suzanne," I've accepted Lorinda as a middle name. She occasionally will call me "Rinda Sue."
24. I've donated plasma through apherisis but am highly sensitive to the anti-coagulant that they use. After the bruise from the second time, I decided I would only donate blood as the bruise lasted six weeks and encircled my arm.
25. I am intensely afraid of the emotional melt-down that I will have when the girls leave for college and have been theorizing how to manage it. I am counting on my friends and family members to get me through the two-week period surrounding their departure. You have been warned. Update: Turns out I was not the one who had an emotional melt-down. The move hit Dave harder than anything I could have anticipated for myself. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
