100 Things About Me
1. My life is practically perfect now.
2. It has not always been so.
3. I am married to my soul mate and best friend, Jagman.
4. Divorcing my first husband was one of the best, and hardest, decisions of my life.
5. I am most proud of raising Mensa Child, because he is the most impressive, brilliant, witty, sensitive, self-confident yet modest 20 year old you could possibly meet.
6. Jagman and I are currently raising our 9 year old, Lima Bean.
7. Contrary to popular opinion, it is easier to raise a child as a single parent, because you aren’t undoing all the gross, inappropriate things his father has taught him (or arguing over disciplinary issues).
8. When I was first divorced, I was extremely poor, but happy.
9. I have worked as a waitress, hairstylist, and cleaning person.
10. Now I have my home cleaned by someone else.
11. I flunked out of college after one semester when I was 18 because I never went to my classes.
12. Now I have my master’s degree plus 18 credits.
13. I want my doctorate before I’m 50.
14. I am 43.
15. I love being 43; it’s not as bad as it used to sound.
16. I am an exercise fanatic now even though I didn’t start exercising until I was 33.
17. Most people think I’m a health nut, but I’m not. I’m vain.
18. I only exercise so I don’t get cellulite.
19. Usually, I don’t eat anything with more than 7 grams of fat per serving.
20. I live on peanut butter bagels with bananas, soy milk, lean pockets and balance bars.
21. When I was younger I used to eat anything I wanted. I loved McDonald’s french fries and subs with extra mayonnaise.
22. Now looking at mayonnaise makes me sick to my stomach.
23. (No, I am not anorexic.)
24. I have stayed about the same weight my whole adult life.
25. I used to belong to a gym and went three times a week.
26. Now I use my pilates machine and treadmill at home almost everyday.
27. I can still wear the jeans I wore the night I met Jagman, 16 years ago.
28. I smoked cigarettes for 15 years and stopped cold turkey.
29. I am a natural redhead, but I’ve spent most of my life lightening my hair.
30. I still have a redhead’s temper and can go berserk when I get mad.
31. It takes a lot to get me really mad now. I think I’ve mellowed a little. And learned to breathe deeply.
32. I’m still passionate about life, though, so that makes me super-energetic.
33. I walk faster than anyone I know, whether I’m in a hurry or not.
34. I’ve been teaching high school English for many years and I love it…
35. Except for grading the research papers, which is grueling.
36. Now I only teach seniors, which is good, because I have no patience for ninth graders who really belong in junior high as far as I am concerned.
37. I disagree completely with the whole middle school philosophy of ‘building self-esteem’ before they get to high school.
38. I agree with the premise of No Child Left Behind and think schools do need to change the way they teach kids.
39. I disagree with the method of testing that NCLB uses to decide if a school is making ‘adequate yearly progress.’
40. If you are in a good school with a good principal, teaching is invigorating, creative, and fun– it’s the best job in the world.
41. If you are in a bad school with a weak principal, teaching is demeaning, demanding, and frustrating – it’s not only the worst job in the world, it’s pure hell.
42. When I am not in school, I have several time-consuming, expensive hobbies that keep me busy (besides blogging).
43. I am a fairly good knitter. I’ve made sweaters for Jagman, Lima Bean and nieces and nephews.
44. I used to scrapbook before I started blogging and still have plenty of paper to catch up on this year’s photos.
45. Now that I am blogging, I probably never will.
46. Horseback riding is my favorite thing to do on a nice day.
47. Aside from a couple of rides when I was a kid, I had never ridden a horse when we bought one.
48. After I fell off, I took some lessons.
49. I was 36 years old.
50. Now I gallop across the fields and sometimes race Jagman.
51. He used to win when I rode my old mare.
52. Now that I have a young gelding, I win.
53. We both ride English.
54. We now have three horses and a pony in our backyard.
55. A perfect afternoon is a two hour ride, a stop at the local pub for lunch and a drink, then a 45 minute ride back home.
56. I only do trail riding, not showing, dressage or ring work. I only jump logs that are in my way.
57. I can get along with most people.
58. I can NOT get along with brainwashed religious fanatics who are too stupid to think for themselves.
59. I am basically liberal and think the republicans should stop trying to legislate moral values.
60. I am adamantly pro-choice.
61. I think the religious right is ruining this country.
62. I think most Americans are somewhere in the middle – not crazy religious fanatics and not card-carrying ACLU members either.
63. I am extremely organized; clutter drives me crazy.
64. I am constantly picking things up and putting them away around the house.
65. I am the only person who knows where anything is.
66. Half the time, I can’t remember where I put it.
67. Then I remind everyone that if they would put it where it belongs in the first place, I wouldn’t be picking it up and putting it away where they can’t find it.
68. I have used a Palm for over four years, and can’t live without it now.
69. Alarms go off to remind me to do something or be somewhere.
70. I love my house; it took nearly eight years to get it fully decorated.
71. Jagman and I have decorated both houses we’ve lived in ourselves.
72. I go to decorator show houses and open houses so I can copy other people’s ideas.
73. I am very grateful that Jagman and I have the same tastes.
74. We have seven TV’s in a house with four people.
75. I rarely watch TV.
76. I like the Mysteries on PBS and The Wire and The Sopranos on HBO.
77. I will set an alarm in my Palm to watch 24 on Fox.
78. Sometimes I can hardly breathe when I’m watching that show.
79. Then I can’t go to sleep when it’s over at 10pm.
80. When school starts, I have to wake up at 5:30am.
81. It’s the only thing I hate about my job.
82. During the summer, I will stay awake until 2-3am.
83. I like all different kinds of music, except screaming heavy metal.
84. I took classical piano lessons for 11 years when I was growing up.
85. Even though I haven’t played for 25 years, I can still sit down and play the songs I learned then.
86. I don’t like to travel at all; I hate everything from packing to airports to finding your way around someplace you don’t know.
87. Most ‘vacations’ are more work than just staying home and relaxing.
88. The only vacation I really like is going to Jamaica, because we don’t have to run around and do stuff all the time.
89. Lima Bean is bugging us to go to Disneyworld, which I’m dreading.
90. We are going to have to suck it up and do it soon.
91. I have one brother who is two years younger than I am.
92. We used to fight all the time when we were little kids.
93. We’ve been good friends since we were in high school together.
94. Now he’s married to Shopping Girl and we all like to spend time with each other.
95. My parents and in-laws are alive, healthy, live close by, and we all get along.
96. I have a great sense of humor and can laugh at myself.
97. I have great friends who are fun, compassionate, supportive, witty, hysterical.
98. I am glad I had my kids once a decade; it was probably the only way I could be a mother and keep my sanity.
99. I am glad I am teaching at a great school because I love going to ‘work’ every day.
100. I am thankful for finding Jagman, because that has made every aspect of my life perfect.
Filed by catherine at August 21st, 2005 under blogging, life in general