59 Things About Me (You Probably Didn't Know)

1. I completed CERT training (FEMA's Community Emergency Response Teams). At our final class we put out a fire, a searched a smoky building, and triaged people with terrible fake injuries.
2. I like choral music and have sung in the local Community Choir.
3. I can read a book then re-read it a year later and not know how it ends.
4. I sleep with a teddy bear. Ok, currently it's actually a Snoopy, but I absolutely NEED a small, cuddly object to hold at night.
5. Each of my children weighed almost 10lbs at birth.
6. I have been spelunking.
7. I met Maya Angelou in college. She said, "Hi Baby" in her warm southern accent.
8. I helped physically build a church in Mexico.
9. I like to watch UFC on tv. I am the only one in my family who does, unless I can make convince my husband to watch with me.
10. I grew up in what most people consider a religious cult.
11. I have sung on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York. Yes, in front of an audience.
    
12. I know sign language and have taught at a School for the Deaf.
13. I had a horse and can ride both English and Western.
14. I lived in an underground house. When I was 13, my parents built it and I helped jackhammer out the sunken living room, build the deck and shingle the garage roof.
15. I have arthritis.
16. I have never broken a bone.
17. I was an only child for 17 years.
18. I am part Native American.
19. I am slightly obsessed with thank you notes (both sending them and getting them).
20. I do not have any first cousins. As a child, family get-togethers were pretty boring quiet.
21. I use hand sanitizer religiously.
22. I can ski and enjoy taking my children to the slopes. My daughter can ski better than me.
23. I enjoy eating acorn squash, rhubarb and sauerkraut. Not at the same time.
24. I love stargazing and will drag my children out of bed at 3 AM to watch a meteor shower.
25. I am learning to play the cello.
26. I get up early every day so that I can drink my coffee and read the newspaper online uninterrupted.
27. I once stood right next to Holly Hunter at an art museum and pretended not to know who she was.
28. I saw "Return of the Jedi" 13 times in the theater.
29. I feel light-headed if I see, think about, or think I see a broken bone.
30. I taught myself to play the piano.
31. I don't play the piano very well.
32. I have never pierced my ears. Neither has my mom. My sister and daughter do have pierced ears - I think they are very brave.
    
33. I need to read something before I go to sleep at night.
34. I used to wear glasses, but had a tumor removed from near my eye and now I don't need them. Update: OK, now I'm just old; I need glasses again. :P
    
35. I am not a sports fan but I enjoy watching the Olympics.
36. I don't know how to dance but would like to learn the waltz.
37. I have homeschooled each of my children for a time.
38. I am constantly putting my foot in my mouth. Not literally - I am not that flexible.
    
39. I can not swim very well. I can dog paddle tolerably.
    
40. I have a very dry sense of humor. Most people don't get it.
    
41. I am learning how to kickbox.
    
42. I wanted to be a librarian when I grew up.
    
43. I don't like drinking tap water.
    
44. I got married when I was 21.
45. The smell of food-scented candles makes me feel nauseous.
46. I would rather have a cavity filled than get sick to my stomach.
47. I like a clean and tidy house but my house is not usually tidy. Or clean.
    
48. I am irrationally afraid of stepping on earthworms on the sidewalk or road after a rain. The thought of them "popping"....shudder!
    
49. I kill houseplants. And entire gardens full of vegetables.
50. I love being in the mountains. And the woods.
51. I honeymooned in a cabin with no electricity and lots of rodents.
52. I am not a talented cook (but I can follow a recipe).
    
53. For the first time in my life, I can now do push ups.
54. I am on chemotherapy.
    
55. At the grocery store, I once accidentally leaked sugar from a 10lb bag in every. single. aisle.
56. One time I backed my husband's car into my mother-in-law's van. Not on purpose!
57. I love my mother-in-law.
    
58. I have never gotten a speeding ticket. Or been pulled over.
    
59. I remember words to songs and melodies and can sing entire musicals and 3 hour choral pieces to you. Please don't ask me to.