5 Things You May Not Know About Me

This is somewhat lengthy, so I figure we ought to start out with a photo of Sophie. :) Ok, now on to other things...!

This morning I consulted Google analytics and was amazed to find that suddenly the entire country (and someone in Canada) seemed to have discovered our blog!! There were hits from places I'm pretty sure I don't know a soul. Hello world wide web. Anyway, it was surprising till I read my cousin, Oliver's blog and then it all made sense... See what happens when you are related to someone whose blog is ultra fun to read and then they mention you in a post??? Oliver, we feel as though the press has come to visit! I'm sure they were all just curious about this fiend that gives people a hard time for not posting to their blogs...

Anyway, so Oliver "tagged" me and now I'm supposed to take my turn and tell you all 5 things you may not know about me. And then I get to tag 5 more people.

I confess to having similar feelings about this being "tagged" thing as I do to those chain emails where you're supposed to answer 37 questions about yourself and forward it on to 53 additional people -- including the person who forwarded it to you, of course. Sometimes I love 'em, sometimes I hate 'em. But this did come from Oliver, after all, and we love Oliver, so... here you go.

5 Things You May Not Know About Me:

I gave up a dream job to be a full-time mom.
There's a long story to this one, but the short version is that I was 9-months new to the area and still looking for a job. Something we had not anticipated being a difficult task. I had interviewed with this non-profit down town for a junior-level position and they called me back asking me if I'd be interested in the soon-to-be-vacant senior position of Library Director. Um, yes. So I interview and they offer me the job. Tricky thing was that we'd just discovered little Sophie's presence and it was clear that they were looking for someone long term, long term. As in, I'd have to go back to work after the baby was born. I felt strongly that the most important job I could do was raise my baby, not direct a library... no matter how amazingly AWESOME it would have been. So, I turned them down. And then I cried. Emotions going crazy -- throw in some pregnancy hormones... you get the idea. It was the right choice for me, but it was still a hard one to make. 14 months later I am happy to report that there are absolutely no regrets.

I have made ice cream using dry ice.
I don't recommend doing this unless you have plenty of MIT students on hand, but it was great fun. Mad scientist meets sweet tooth. Good times.

I am terrified of earthquakes.
I was 8 years old when I experienced my first earth quake. I wouldn't say it was something I particularly enjoyed. We'd been schooled in dropping to the floor, rolling under the bed and putting a pillow over our head -- so that's what I did. And then I grabbed my little sister's 2-year-old ankles and dragged her under the bed with me. We hung out there, watching items appear on the floor after bouncing off shelves and dressers, until the shaking stopped. Seemed like it lasted forever. Not a fun memory. It took me a loooong time before I could remain calm when the windows of our house would rattle because an airplane was flying overhead. The windows did the same thing when earthquakes struck. My poor parents had an extra guest in their bed plenty-o-times while I battled this fear. The slumber parties were lots of fun, right Mom & Dad??

I am contemplating getting a perm.
I know, I must be insane, but there's GOT to be a faster way to deal with this hair in the morning. I mean, the 80's have come back, right?? Maybe just one of those really REALLY loose perms...? maybe? ...?

I won the school district-wide 8th grade writing competition in 199*.
This may surprise some of you who have read my less-than-prize-worthy posts. However, as Grace & Mary might agree, it's all about organization, people. Give them a thesis and 3 supporting paragraphs and they give you a trophy. Simple as that! I had to pull this secret from the vault while helping Bryce with his grad school essays. It gave me a bit more legitimacy when I uncapped the red pen. I may be a little rusty when it comes to writing, but I can whip up a thesis statement like nobody's business! Winning that competition ranked in my list of Top 5 Best Days Ever for a long time. It's since been replaced by other great days, like my wedding day and Sophie's birthday. I can, however, still remember what I was wearing when they gave me that trophy: an orange shirt with the sleeves rolled up just so. Maybe I should wear orange more often.

.... And now I get to tag 5 other people (the best part of this whole thing!). Soooo, who will it be?! And the winners are:

• Marci, of course! Did you think for a second that I would not tag you??
• Melissa -- seems like something you might like to do!
• Adrienne & Steve - cuz I know you guys will come up with a GREAT list
• Tim-Tim-Timmerooney -- maybe a good excuse to re-visit your blog? And also b/c I enjoy reading anything you write.
• Nicole (of Nicole & Christopher fame) - because she's the newest blogger on the block. Hooray for another addict!

And now, I bid you all adieu!