brought to you by Ron at Atypical Homeschool

(He said we could tag ourselves. So, tag, I’m it!)

1. I am overly addicted to navel gazing. (You probably already knew that from the tag.)

2. I hated reading literature in college and grad school, even though I am an English MA and PhD.

3. Sometimes I forget basic words and have to work around them. For instance, I once had to say “the big green thing in front of the TV” for the word couch. (Remember, I teach English. This can be a problem.)

4. I love writing letters, but I rarely do it. Too bad. It’s one of the few things that I like doing alone. I think it would be fun to teach a belles-lettres course which concentrated on the dying art of letter writing. I haven’t gotten so far as to make up the course content, but I have thought about it.

5. If there is a subject I would like to teach some day, I collect books in the optimistic expectation that I will someday teach just such a class. I have taught some fun and oddball classes, like Dinosaurs and Dragons and Games and Races through History. One class I have been preparing to teach for about four years and haven’t seen as a possibility yet is a literature class on science fiction and fantasy. (I am a big sci fi and fantasy reader. But in high school I offered to read anything other than The Hobbit because I didn’t understand it. And at 16 I took a science fiction literature course and got my first introduction to that. I didn’t really care for it then either.)

6. If I could claim as a home state anywhere I had lived, I would claim New York because I loved it. But I have lived in Texas most of my life.

7. My house is paid off. (Don’t hate me!)

I dreamed that I counted all the places (not cities) I had lived and got to 50. When I woke up I tried to count them. I can’t remember all of them in my head, so let’s try writing it down.

Kingwood (7 years and you will see why that is amazing quickly)
Austin house
Austin apt
NC townhouse
NC apt
Abilene house
Abilene duplex
Indiana apt
Indiana room in a house
Abilene rental where the gas leaked
Conroe with my parents
Geneva, Switzerland studio apt
Geneva, Switzerland Manolo’s apt
Geneva, Switzerland apt that I shared with a German student — bldg was waiting till their leasees all died so they could sell/demolish and rebuild.
Abilene on the alley
Abilene on the creek with Larea
Abilene apt with Larea
McKinzie dorm
Gardner dorm with Kerri
Gardner dorm with Sheralyn
Gardner dorm the summer I met my sexy husband
Zellner dorm
Mandeville, LA with parents
dorm at Southeastern Louisiana
New York house
New York hotel (We lived there for two months.)
NC house
Corpus Christi house
Corpus hotel (At least one month)
Tyler house that we bought
Tyler house that we didn’t
Houston house
Houston apt one bedroom
Houston apt two bedrooms where I heard Santa’s sleigh
Kerrville house next to the older couple
Kerrville house that had no locks on doors
house where I pretended I was Popeye and I got stung by a bee
Austin barracks
Lubbock, wherever I don’t remember.
Flagstaff, Arizona

Okay, that’s 40 so far. So I’ve lived in 40 different places, at least. I am 45 years old. I moved a lot.

You leave a random comment here, and I’ll ask you 5 questions.

The Rules of the Meme:
1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like [the food you hate most in all the world]. Something random. Whatever you like.
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

My So-Called Homeschool is supposed to be asking me five questions. You should ask her about the kiddos and pickles, it’s a cute story.

But unlike her, I love memes. So I decided I’d look up questions on the internet and ask myself them while I’m waiting for hers. I am putting in beginnings and taking the first question that could apply to me.

I put in “What is the first” and got the question:

What is the first thing you would save from your room in case of a fire?

I would save my husband first. Assuming the boys weren’t home, I’d probably grab our handguns after that. There’s nothing else portable in my room that is important enough to risk flames for.

Hmm. This might not be such a great idea. I put in “Why would you” and got the question:

Why would you kill someone?

I would kill someone if that were the only way to stop them from hurting my family, other children, or killing me. If I were a soldier, I would kill someone whose job was to kill me. Other than that, I don’t think I would.

I put in “When did you first” and got

When did you first have the “kid conversation”?

I had to read a little bit to figure out that meant whether or not you were going to have kids. R and I discussed it within three months of meeting. Of course, we married within four months, so that’s not that impressive.

I put in “when have you ever” and got the question

When have you ever said anything intelligent?

I usually say intelligent things. What a nerve to ask me that question! Oh wait, no one asked me that. Well, still. They asked someone.

What makes something intelligent? That the question used big words? The epistemic valuing achieves postmodern heights in this book. No, I made that up.

If I can speak, I am already being intelligent. If you understand me, I am saying something intelligent. But my guess is that the author meant when do you say things I agree with. With an attitude like his, I hope my answer would be not very often.

My next question piece was “where would you go” and I got

Where would you go with 100,000 bonus miles?

I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand and Australia. I’d want to take R and the boys. Is 100,000 bonus miles enough for that?

If not, we’d all go to NC to see our friends.

Drats. I’m up to my five questions already. But if you want to say something random in the comments, I’ll come up with questions for you, too.

And I’ll repost that offer when I get my questions. (And, yeah, you won’t get them in less than 24 hours either. She’s not slow. I’m just chomping at the bit.)

I think I would pick a different love, but…

Top Ten Design Mistakes says the number one mistake is no autobiography. I already have 7 “About Me” posts, but they were written for fun. Apparently I need to write them as a resume.

“Even if you don’t have formal credentials, readers will trust you more if you’re honest about that fact, set forth your informal experience, and explain the reason for your enthusiasm.”

So…
I have a BSEd with majors in history and English and a minor in Biology.
I have an MA in English, with an emphasis on Old English and 20th Century American literature.
I have a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition with my second field being Old English. (Where I had to translate works.)

I have been a Christian most of my life. I have 18 graduate hours in missions. I have twelve undergrad hours in Bible. I have taught a course on Church History to a women’s group over a year. I teach a Bible class for young children and am a host for an adult study. I have been a member in good standing of six different “denominations.” I am now back in the one I grew up in for reasons I sometimes question, but understand.

I read voraciously on many subjects. Hobbies to read in are history, science, English, and home improvement. And religion. I own over 5,000 books now and have given away or sold more than that many over my lifetime.

I homeschool.

I teach at the local community college.

I teach homeschoolers other than my own.

I have taught either as a substitute (1) or a full-time teacher (3) at four junior or senior high schools. English, history, biology. Before that I taught in a one room school house and taught everything, including PE. These were both public and private schools.

I have been fiercely interested in politics since 2000. I voted in all presidential elections I was able to before that, but I don’t remember being highly involved in the political debate arena before 2000.

I have written a novel and have received my first rejection letter for it. When the wound has healed I will send it out again. It is part of a trilogy which I am halfway through writing.

I write poetry for fun and have taught poetry classes for groups and schools. The students have been ages 9-15.

I have taught at the college level in English for four years full-time and eight years half-time. Both public and private colleges.

I watch lots of HGTV shows, but I don’t have much DIY experience.

I don’t mind mowing the yard and I work haphazardly in my garden. But it doesn’t look too bad.

I’ve been blogging for over two years.

I am not now and have never been in the military. My brother and my husband’s brother both served in the army pre-Middle East conflicts. My uncle was in Japan and another in Korea. But, despite this lack of affiliation, I feel that our military is vitally important to our nation’s security. I have worked with 200 homeschoolers to send more than 100 packages overseas. I have had a VBS at church where we created and wrote cards for the military and then sent them off. (These were both from us and for them to send home.) There is nothing I can do to thank those who have served in our military adequately. But I have adopted a Marine and a Soldier to try to make a dent.

I rarely write about art or glass, but I have a small collection of both.

My father is an attorney so I grew up in a household with lots of legalese running around. I don’t think I write about the law, but just in case…

I have been on myriads of diets. Body for Life. Nutrisystem. Quick Weight Loss Center. Weight Watchers. Others I don’t remember. At my heaviest I was over 200 pounds. (I was pregnant and on bed rest, but that’s not much of an excuse.) At my lowest as an adult I weighed 145.

I am new to the sport of running.

I have lived in five states, two countries, and 17 cities. I have visited Thailand, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and France.

I used to speak Spanish and French with enough fluency to get around town and do my groceries, banking, etc. And to translate sermons from English into Spanish.

I’ve been a missionary apprentice.

I’ve lived in Europe.

I’ve attended five universities, both public and private.

I’ve been poor, as a child, far below the poverty level. And I think I’m now in upper middle class.

I have had surgery for TMJ, two emergency C-sections, and an emergency surgery for internal bleeding. I have been told I was crazy when I was sick. I’ve been told I wasn’t sick when I had pneumonia. I’ve seen more doctors than “you can shake a stick at.” Some of them needed sticks shaken at them too. I have a definite personal, logical, and forceful prejudice against doctors who believe that patient symptoms are psychosomatic just because the doctor doesn’t know what is wrong with them.

Oh, and I like to take quizzes and tests and do navel gazing.

I think that is about all I can think of that I’ve been commenting on. So those are my areas of expertise and interest.

Top Ten Design Mistakes says the number one mistake is no autobiography. I already have 7 “About Me” posts, but they were written for fun. Apparently I need to write them as a resume.

“Even if you don’t have formal credentials, readers will trust you more if you’re honest about that fact, set forth your informal experience, and explain the reason for your enthusiasm.”

So…
I have a BSEd with majors in history and English and a minor in Biology.
I have an MA in English, with an emphasis on Old English and 20th Century American literature.
I have a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition with my second field being Old English. (Where I had to translate works.)

I have been a Christian most of my life. I have 18 graduate hours in missions. I have twelve undergrad hours in Bible. I have taught a course on Church History to a women’s group over a year. I teach a Bible class for young children and am a host for an adult study. I have been a member in good standing of six different “denominations.” I am now back in the one I grew up in for reasons I sometimes question, but understand.

I read voraciously on many subjects. Hobbies to read in are history, science, English, and home improvement. And religion. I own over 5,000 books now and have given away or sold more than that many over my lifetime.

I homeschool.

I teach at the local community college.

I teach homeschoolers other than my own.

I have taught either as a substitute (1) or a full-time teacher (3) at four junior or senior high schools. English, history, biology. Before that I taught in a one room school house and taught everything, including PE. These were both public and private schools.

I have been fiercely interested in politics since 2000. I voted in all presidential elections I was able to before that, but I don’t remember being highly involved in the political debate arena before 2000.

I have written a novel and have received my first rejection letter for it. When the wound has healed I will send it out again. It is part of a trilogy which I am halfway through writing.

I write poetry for fun and have taught poetry classes for groups and schools. The students have been ages 9-15.

I have taught at the college level in English for four years full-time and eight years half-time. Both public and private colleges.

I watch lots of HGTV shows, but I don’t have much DIY experience.

I don’t mind mowing the yard and I work haphazardly in my garden. But it doesn’t look too bad.

I’ve been blogging for over two years.

I am not now and have never been in the military. My brother and my husband’s brother both served in the army pre-Middle East conflicts. My uncle was in Japan and another in Korea. But, despite this lack of affiliation, I feel that our military is vitally important to our nation’s security. I have worked with 200 homeschoolers to send more than 100 packages overseas. I have had a VBS at church where we created and wrote cards for the military and then sent them off. (These were both from us and for them to send home.) There is nothing I can do to thank those who have served in our military adequately. But I have adopted a Marine and a Soldier to try to make a dent.

I rarely write about art or glass, but I have a small collection of both.

My father is an attorney so I grew up in a household with lots of legalese running around. I don’t think I write about the law, but just in case…

I have been on myriads of diets. Body for Life. Nutrisystem. Quick Weight Loss Center. Weight Watchers. Others I don’t remember. At my heaviest I was over 200 pounds. (I was pregnant and on bed rest, but that’s not much of an excuse.) At my lowest as an adult I weighed 145.

I am new to the sport of running.

I have lived in five states, two countries, and 17 cities. I have visited Thailand, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and France.

I used to speak Spanish and French with enough fluency to get around town and do my groceries, banking, etc. And to translate sermons from English into Spanish.

I’ve been a missionary apprentice.

I’ve lived in Europe.

I’ve attended five universities, both public and private.

I’ve been poor, as a child, far below the poverty level. And I think I’m now in upper middle class.

I have had surgery for TMJ, two emergency C-sections, and an emergency surgery for internal bleeding. I have been told I was crazy when I was sick. I’ve been told I wasn’t sick when I had pneumonia. I’ve seen more doctors than “you can shake a stick at.” Some of them needed sticks shaken at them too. I have a definite personal, logical, and forceful prejudice against doctors who believe that patient symptoms are psychosomatic just because the doctor doesn’t know what is wrong with them.

Oh, and I like to take quizzes and tests and do navel gazing.

I think that is about all I can think of that I’ve been commenting on. So those are my areas of expertise and interest.

This was inspired by Cybertoad. I haven’t read much on the blog, but the 100 things reminded me of all kinds of things I hadn’t thought about.

1. A book I really enjoy is I’m In Charge of Celebrations. It’s poetry, art, and confessional all in one.

2. My favorite artist varies by the year. I’m a Durer fan. I love DaVinci’s pen and ink drawings and always have.

3. Pen and ink are my favorite medium in art, even though I adore bright colors.

4. My favorite poets are Edgar Guest, whose poems are homilies, and Longfellow.

5. I love ballads.

6. I was born on Saturday. “Saturday’s child works hard for a living.”

7. I love irises and yellow roses, especially mixed. One of my friends from ACU used to give me those every year for my birthday. And then, a week or two later, I’d give her some.

8. I have always considered myself an extrovert, but I no longer hang out with a lot of people nor do I have any close friends here–where I have lived the longest of my life. (Except my husband- he’s still my friend here.)

9. In high school my close friends were Leslie Nusbaum, Joann Valentino, and Karen Biserni. The last time I spoke to any of them I was 19 and Leslie was pregnant and living in New Mexico. (Big change from New York.)

10. In junior high I had several close friends. The only one whose name I still remember is Joe D’Amico. But there was a Bill. And another guy. I carried their pictures with me until my purse was stolen when I was 20.

11. In junior high I briefly considered showing a guy at my school (He was Greek, but I don’t remember his name.) my breasts so he would quit saying they were fake. Looking back on it, that was probably his plan. Thankfully the insanity was momentary. I’ve had lots of more permanent insanity. Perhaps Harry Stephanopolous?

12. I love loud old windy clocks that have chimes. And despite the fact that I wake up easily (I have sleep apnea.) I never hear the clocks chiming in the nighttime.

13. If I got on Extreme Makeover I’d want my teeth brightened and my eyelids lifted and maybe my nose shortened. (Noses continue to grow over time, so eventually we’ll all rival Cyrano.)

14. Cyrano de Bergerac is my favorite play.

15. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank was what the class I student taught for read in tenth grade advanced English. The teacher had the reading days all planned out so that they read this certain section in class. You knew when the kids got to that page because there would be silence, then a student would turn a page, read, and gasp. It happened over and over again in the class. It’s because the book began a list of those cities who were bombed in this apocalyptic war with the US. You turn the page and there was Abilene, the name of the city we lived in. It was shocking.

16. I love silk and taffeta best of all the fabrics for clothes. I like chenille best in furniture, although leather is probably a close second.

17. Songs I haven’t heard in over 20 years still drift through my head. Most recently it’s “Lucky Penny,” which was popular on the C&W circuit in 75 or 76 when I was in jr. high. “Oh, Penny, you’ve been lucky for me.”

18. One of my favorite songs when I was 21 was “Geneva.” I don’t know who sang it but the radio station only had about 400 songs and that was one of them, so you heard it over and over. I really liked it and would love to have a copy of it. — I decided I’d be brilliant and go to iTunes and look it up. Forget that. It’s not a Mac place, despite Apple owning it. I can’t figure out how to do anything there. There’s not even a “Do this now” list for dummies. No intuition, no instructions. Guess I’ll have to ask my hubby the geek. Blast that gets old!

19. My favorite dress was a lavendar hand me down in fifth grade that had tight sleeves till after the elbow and then flared out in a wide band. It was so ultrafeminine.

20. My favorite number is 3.

21. Of all the places I have lived, New York state was my favorite. Geneva, Switzerland is beautiful though.

22. I don’t like to wear shorts because I don’t like to show my legs.

23. I would rather be cold than hot.

24. I am not particularly fond of any kind of barbeque. Texans barbeque beef. Others (like NC) barbeque pork.

25. If I had to name a favorite meat, it would be beef. I prefer burgers over other things. My two favorite restaurants of all time are Nolan’s in Corpus Christi (which is now closed) and Towne Crier in Abilene (at which I haven’t eaten in eleven years). The meat is good. And Towne Crier has wonderful rolls. In college I would eat a whole basket of them by myself.

26. I prefer dogs over cats. People over either.

27. I have an atrocious accent when I speak with my family from West Texas. This includes those who have moved away and lost their accents.

28. My most recent normal TV series favorites were Andromeda and Farscape. Both were cancelled. Bummer. Update: I didn’t finish this list, until much later. My new favorite TV series is Bones.

29. I also watched Conquest. Also cancelled.

30. I still watch a bunch of HGTV shows, but most of them I only watch the first two or three minutes and the last two or three minutes. These shows include Decorating Cents, Design on a Dime.

31. I watch the first two sections of Decorating Cents all the way through. I love those. But then I delete the show before the last third, because I don’t care for unique ways to re-use old forks or whatever. I’m not into shabby chic, which is what that is, or country. So I skip it.

32. I watch the second two-thirds of House Hunters.

33. The HGTV show that I actually watch all the way through is Sensible Chic. Update: Now I don’t watch this at all and haven’t in over a year.

34. There’s a remodel show on the Travel channel that I used to like, but then it became clear that they were doing a $50,000 remodel on every show and that’s not going to help me. If I had $50,000 I’d redo the siding on our house, get the AC system fixed, and redo the fireplace. I wouldn’t spend all of it on those things, but I surely wouldn’t spend all of it on one travel themed room.

35. If I could change only one thing about my house with a wish, I would make the ceilings one foot taller in the main house on both floors. (That would require a total remodel, which I’m never going to do. The other stuff I can probably eventually get around to.)

36. My favorite time of the day is the morning when I’m awake and cuddled up next to my husband.

37. My least favorite time of day is 5:30-6 when the boys are hungry and arguing and my husband isn’t home yet.

38. My favorite fruit pie is apple, followed closely by cherry. Cherry would win except that often apple has caramel on it and I love caramel.

39. I like my house and hope I stay well enough to live in it all my life. I realize we might move, but I like my house and it is plenty big. Of course, for only two of us, once the boys are gone, it might be too big.

40. I prefer Doritos original to all other chips. I used to prefer Fritos and potato chips.

41. Mexican and Italian are my favorite cuisines. (American versions, though.)

42. I would rather go without than pay a lot for something, even if I want it.

43. The most I have ever spent for a meal is $100 and I don’t even remember what I ate. I know it was in Houston somewhere.

44. I don’t like risks, not in life and not in eating.

45. If I had more money than I knew what to do with, I would buy huge swathes of land with trees and not build anything on them.

46. I’d rather go hiking in the mountains than sit on the beach and burn.

47. I love the color of emeralds and amethysts. I also like blue topaz, which seems to be a more “in” jewel these days.

48. I prefer silver to gold.

49. I prefer ink to pencil, when I am using it.

50. I prefer black ink to blue ink.

51. I wish I knew how to dance well.

52. I read quickly. I have read as many as 27 books in one day.

53. I write quickly, as well. I am presently writing soldiers from AnySoldier.Com. I write as many as three letters in one day, when a lot is going on.

54. My hair has been red for the last 16.5 years. It will probably stay that way until I decide to show my silver. Update: Started in 2003 but… Apparently I am finishing this this over a year later because it has now been 18 years.

55. I like to walk more than I like to ride a bike. I like to swim the least of these three exercises.

56. I like science fiction and fantasy equally well. But, in my opinion, it is much easier to find a romance novel that’s worth a quick read than either of those. I like happily ever after endings. I like the characters to be mostly good. That’s definitely romance more than spec fiction.

57. In second grade we were allowed to spend $2 on our Christmas presents for school. We drew names. Lots of kids spent more, but I only had $2. I bought a paper doll set, but I wasn’t sure it was a good gift because the dolls were white and the girl who received them was black.

58. In second grade I had a friend with violet eyes.

59. In second grade I loved HR Puffenstuff. I watched TV at my next door neighbor’s house. We didn’t have a TV.

60. I got sent to the principal in first grade. I wouldn’t play a game on the playground and got in an argument with a girl who said I was cheating in the game.

61. When I was in first grade we made popcorn strings for Christmas. The teacher said that we could take a handful to eat. I reached in with both hands. After everyone had gotten popcorn, she offered seconds to those who had only gotten a single handful. I felt so bad. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with getting two handfuls.

62. I threw a fit because my 12th birthday cake, which should have been perfect based on all the books we’d been reading in school about how important the 12th birthday is, had yellow yucca plants not yellow roses on it.

63. When I was in second grade, my best friend had strawberry blonde hair, more red than gold, and wore her hair in ringlets.

64. When I was in fifth grade I planned a surprise birthday party for a friend and forgot that we had a Campfire Girls’ meeting. All the girls came to the party not to the meeting. The leader was a bit upset about it.

65. When I was in sixth grade I would stand in the middle of a five lane road with a long bamboo stick and stop traffic so little kids could cross.

66. I thought it was funny at the time to try to get kisses from the cute guys. (Sexual harassment now. I’m glad I’m not a kid now.)

67. I saw a tornado touch down in my neighborhood when I was in fourth grade.

68. I slept through a tornado that hit the house I was sleeping in when I was seven or eight. I was okay, though the windows blew out in the living room and the weeping willow was destroyed.

69. My favorite color is royal blue. When I was 12 my favorite color was royal purple. I love all jewel tones.

70. I went to Spring Elementary for K and 1st and maybe part of 2nd.
I went to 2nd, 3rd, and part of 4th in Tyler.
I went to 4th, 5th, and part of 6th in Corpus Christi.
I went to 6th, 7th, and 8th in Charlotte, NC.
I went to 9th and 10th in New York.
Then I went to college. I went to college at Univ of SE Louisiana and Abilene Christian.

71. I took a Portuguese class at UT in the summer as an audit. They showed a porn show in Portuguese, from Brazil, as part of the class.

72. For my eleventh birthday I got an olive green record player from JC Penney’s or Sears and a Johnny Cash and Johnny Horton album. I also got two 45s, “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to” and “The Ballad of the Green Berets.”

73. I got a bike for my eleventh Christmas. It was a ten speed. I rode it halfway around the block and fell into a batch of cactus. It took hours to get the spines out of me.

74. In fifth grade I was mad about my spelling test and tore it up. The teacher decided that wasn’t appropriate and collected everyone’s spelling tests. And mine was untorn so I could turn it in. How did that happen? I don’t know. But I am glad.

75. I like reggae music, but don’t listen to it much because it doesn’t have its own channel.

76. I also like bagpipes music. I was thrilled that my high school graduation was piped.

77. One of my favorite movies of all times is The Princess Bride. I’ve read the book, too.

78. I am a big Star Trek fan, but never liked the prequel series, The Enterprise.

79. If I had to be a Star Trek person, I would be Deanna Troi. My second choice would be Dr. Beverly Crusher.

80. My favorite captain is Picard. Janeway is my second favorite.

81. I am a big Tom Hanks fan, as much as I am a fan of anyone.

82. I like action movies the best. (last updated 6/03/2005)

83. I like fresh bread better than dessert.

84. I am a fan of enthusiasm.

85. I am not a fan of whiners. (Even when I whine.)

86. I like Christmas music to listen to better than anything else.

87. I like to know the names of trees and flowers, even though I am not a gardener.

88. I talk to trees.

89. I usually get my Christmas shopping done early.

90. I like paranormal romances.

91. My hair is actually 3/4s silver.

92. I dislike grading.

93. I rejoice when a student learns something.

94. I no longer score as an extrovert on the Myers-Briggs.

95. I love hazelnuts in chocolate, but not on their own.

96. My tastebuds are a guarantee something will quit being made. I loved Josta. Gone. I loved some 7-Up. Gone. I loved Ice Botanicals. Gone. I loved Cailler milk chocolate hazelnut spread. Gone.

97. I really like Coke Zero. (Buy it up quick!)

98. I don’t like seafood.

99. I have eaten catfish once and liked it, but have never eaten it again.

100. I like to eat the same foods often, but not everyday. (finished 12/13/08)

Because I loved the idea, which came from Kelly, Alan, and Annika, I am going to tell you 100 things you never knew you wanted to know about me.

1. I went by my middle name all my life because first names are “family names” in my family. My brother, my dad, my grandfather, and my cousin all have the same first name. I share a first name with my aunt. Kids in my classes were always asking me what my “real” name was. My real name was my middle name. My first name was something else. When I got married, I got rid of the aunt’s name, moved my middle name to the first, kept my maiden name as a middle, and added my husband’s name as a last.

2. I was conceived in Flagstaff, Arizona.

3. I was born in Plainview, Texas because the doctors at the Lubbock hospital would not admit my mother because she was so young.

4. My mother was 15 when she got married and 16 when she had me.

5. No, I was not conceived before the wedding.

6. My parents had no intention of having kids that early, but my mother’s doctor said she was too young to get pregnant and told her to come back in three months. By then she was pregnant. With me.

7. My brother was conceived on the IUD and my middle sister on the pill. So even if he (the doctor) hadn’t been totally stupid, I might still be here.

8. My dad is a transplanted Okie. He loves Texas.

9. My mom was born in California, but grew up in Flagstaff. She does not love Texas. She does, however, love my dad, so she lives here anyway.

10. I first held a book when I was two weeks old. It was a college physics book and the cat and I tried to read it together.

11. When I was little (one year old) I went to UT with my dad because my mom was too sick to take care of me. I sat behind him in class and turned the pages in his law books for entertainment.

12. When I first saw children’s books, I said they were not “real” books because they had pictures in them. –I now like pictures if they are drawn in styles I enjoy.

13. I made lunch for my mother everyday when I was 14 months old. We had peanut butter a lot. My mom was pregnant again and very ill.

14. I was supposed to stay with my grandparents while my brother was born, but my brother started coming early and, in his hurry to get home to my mother who didn’t have a car and couldn’t drive anyway, my father picked me up and put me back in the car. We were several hours gone by the time he realized he was supposed to leave me. (Tha’s when I went to UT with him.)

15. I remember falling and cutting my head when I was two. I was on a rocking horse on some pavers in front of a house in Austin, Tx.

16. I remember falling down the church stairs when I was two. It was University Church of Christ in Austin, TX. They have painted the wood and changed the carpet color, but I remember the stairwell.

17. I remember being attacked by the cat (not Francoise, but a descendant) over and over again when I was two. My parents thought I was sitting on the cat, which Francoise had let me do. The cat was smart and never attacked when my parents were in the room.

18. His mistake was finally made when he attacked me outside and my mother was in the neighbor’s yard watching me. No more Mr. Bad Cat. I am, however, still mostly afraid of cats. I have also developed very bad allergies to them, which keeps most people from knowing about the phobia.

19. I love trees. Big old oaks or pecans are my favorites, but any tree will do in a pinch.

20. I love sunsets and sunrises. I don’t like to drive during them, but I like to look at them.

21. I have lived in 17 different cities in my life.

22. I have lived in one city six different times and one city three different times and one city twice.

23. The longest I have ever lived in any one city consequetively is four and a half years.

24. The longest I have ever lived in one building without moving is three and a quarter years. I live in that place now. So unless I update this by moving, the time I’ve spent in one place will continue to get longer.

25. I met my husband in Abilene. At the time he was in college and I was in grad school somewhere else.

26. I like most kinds of music, but I don’t like any one kind of music well enough to listen to it all the time. I like polkas, reggae, country, blues, jazz, rock, country western, and classical. I don’t like heavy metal, although there was a time when I did. I don't like rap at all.

27. The only time I have ever danced, on a dance floor was at my husband’s 20th High School reunion. I did a slow dance with him and a fast dance with a girlfriend. Since I don’t know how to dance, I just did whatever anyone else was doing. There were about twelve of us on the floor.

28. I have three siblings but only one nephew born. I do have another on the way. (Congrats to S and M, the parents, and A, the big brother!)

29. I prefer chocolate over vanilla, but I also love strawberry. As a kid, I always went for the sherberts in ice cream. Nowadays, I don't do much ice cream. But give me a doughnut and I’ll get a sugar high.

30. One of my goals, a relatively new one, is to furnish my home in nice furniture and beautiful art. I have lots of beautiful art, so that isn’t too hard. The nice furniture, however, is quite a few years off.

31. I collect children’s books.

32. I collect blue depression era glass.

33. I collect art I like. I have a Tarkayserigraph and a print and two Treby's, both Artist Proofs.

34. I also have an oil by a wonderful painter from Canada who signed his work but I can’t read it.

35. My other favorite piece in the house is a tiny orange oil with a hummingbird painted by an artist in Austin.

36. I like Coca Cola, but dislike RC and Pepsi.

37. I prefer Dr. Pepper.

38. My favorite mixed drink is Hawaiian Punch and Sprite.

39. Though I once drank a bottle of vodka in one sitting, the most I drink these days is a frozen Strawberry Daquiri. I actually prefer it without the alcohol.

40. Zio’s used to be one of my favorite places to eat, but they took the food I like off the menu and started serving herbs and oil instead of butter. (If I wanted Macaroni Grill, I could go there.)

41. My favorite steak house is Saltgrass, but it's like the little girl with the little curl. When it’s good it’s very very good, but when it is bad it is horrid.

42. I prefer Burger King over McDonald’s, like 1000 to 1.

43. I’ve been skinny dipping, in a lake, when I was in college. It was a mixed bathing forum.

44. My favorite color is royal blue. Growing up my favorite color was royal purple.

45. I have been to Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, and Belgium.

46. I have not been to Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, or Portugal, even though I have wanted to go there.

47. If I could take my family to one place in the world for a vacation, it would be to New Zealand. I’ve been told it is more beautiful than any country in the world.

48. When I was little my parents seriously considered moving to Australia. The reason we didn’t go is my dad knew he wouldn’t have the money to get us back here again if he didn’t like it.

49. My favorite pair of shoes are my black high heels with the rhinestones. The heels are three inches and the shoes are still comfortable.

50. I've always wanted to go back to New York (where I spent my high school years) to live. I haven’t ever done it and I probably never will.

51. Autumn is my favorite season.

52. Crisp cool mornings are my favorite time of day.

53. I am not a morning person. But I don't mind getting up early, it just takes going to bed earlier.

54. My most remembered grade in a college class is a C. It was in a genetics class. You were supposed to have a year of college chemistry and a year of college biology to get into the class. I had never in my life had chemistry. I got in anyway. It was a summer course. There were over 50 students in the beginning of the class. Seven passed. I was one of them.

55. My lowest grade in high school was also a C. I still made the honor roll every quarter. (Only because they didn’t count PE, though.) The C was in geometry class. I tried and tried but I could not get it. The final was the state required final and so was multiple guess. I got an 83 on it and passed the class. It was the first test I had passed all year.

56. I loved rain until we bought a house in Austin. Then my husband was always sure something got left open. Then here in Houston our roof was leaking. I will soon get over it, though, and go back to liking rain. We did get the roof redone after all.

57. I love to hike in the mountains.

58. I love to be in the mountains.

59. When I get to heaven, I want to live in the mountains. It won’t be heaven without mountains.

60. Of course, I don't think it will be heaven without sex, either, so that's a problem.

61. My favorite meal is Mexican steak. It's steak simmered all day in a sauce of ketchup, mustard, Worchestershire, butter, onions, garlic, and water. It's great over rice.

62. My favorite dessert is hot brownies with cold ice cream and chocolate and caramel sauce on them.

63. Another favorite dessert, which I don't get very often, is pineapple upside down cake.

64. I wear size 10 shoes. (I used to wear 8 and a half, but…)

65. I also wear size 10 clothes.

66. I like to ride my bike when the weather is cool.

67. My family lives in Texas and NC. (Two sibs in NC. One and my parents in TX.)

68. Both my grandmother's lived to be in their late 80s. So did two of my greatgrandmothers. I expect to live that long as well.

69. I was named after a girl my dad had a crush on in high school. My husband wanted to name our daughter after a gril he had a crush on in middle school. Thankfully, we didn't have any girls.

70. One of my goals is to go back to full time college teaching when I am 47.

71. All the carpet in my house is a dark green.

72. Since we moved in and decorated, our style has changed a bit. The accent color in every room except the kitchen and the bathrooms is now red. There was no red in our decor when we first bought the house three and a half years ago. Now we have a whole room painted in that color.

73. My Christmas present last year was an antique sideboard in Tiger Oak. My adopted grandmother (91 this year) remembers one just like it in her grandmother's house.

74. I wish my hair were naturally curly and red. Two of my three sibs have naturally curly hair and my relations on my mom's side have red hair. In heaven I'll have curly red hair.

75. My favorite stone is emeralds. My next favorite are amethysts.

76. I prefer silver to yellow gold.

77. I like stained glass and would one day like to have several pieces in my house. My cousin makes stain glass, but I can't afford it yet.

78. I like to wear dresses.

79. I like to sing old hymns. When I was growing up we sang them as we drove from one place to another. I used to start singing as soon as I got in a car.

80. I like thick socks.

81. I also like crazy socks– colors, or toes, or pictures.

82. I like sex. All hours, most positions.

83. I don't do coffee.

84. My drug of choice is Dr. Pepper.

85. When the lights are turned off, I can't see for quite a while. My hubby can see much better than I can in the dark. I do eventually adjust more, but he still sees better than I do. And did before his Lasik as well.

86. I am now well enough to get bored fairly frequently. I take it as a good sign and generally get housework done. (So, yes, the house is getting cleaner.)

87. I started a list of 100 things I wanted to do before I died, but most of them involved traveling to places. I'd love to go hot air ballooning again sometime.

88. I've never been to Oregon.

89. My favorite candles are called “cappuccino” and come from the Georgetown Candle Factory. If you're a coffee drinker, they smell like coffee. If you aren't, they smell like chocolate chip cookies baking.

90. I usually have all my Christmas shopping done by August. This year I only have two people's gifts. And it's the end of October.

91. I collect nativity scenes, but I only have a few. My mother doesn't collect them, but she has more.

92. I like to window shop for house items, jewelry, and books. I like to really shop for clothes and books.

93. I own way more jewelry than I wear. Most of it I inherited from my grandmother.

94. I don't have a primary care physician anymore. The last ones I had were in NC, seven years ago.

95. I've had three emergency surgeries, two of which were C-sections. I have had surgery for TMJ. It cured mine. I know that it doesn't work for most people, but I went from constant pain and regularly locking to the rare spasm, maybe once a month.

96. I did not have a TV in my home until I was 12. It was after Hank Aaron beat the record. But my favorite TV show when I was little was a Saturday morning show with Donny Osmond, a witch and a big purple character. I would go to my next door neighbor’s to watch it.

97. I own three pieces of antique furniture and wish I owned more. My husband says we don't have room for anymore. He doesn't understand that I'd get rid of stuff to make room for antiques. He ought to know that. He says I'm the “throw away queen.”

98. Since we aren't allowed to have garage sales, I think it is much simpler to give our stuff away and take a write off on our taxes than save the stuff and cart it to the annual garage sale at the college, where I'd have to pay for space.

99. I hated doing the laundry growing up because it was our Saturday morning chore. I don't mind it so much now. I do it during the week. I used to be like the Pilgrims and do it on Mondays, but now that I work on Mondays, I usually do the laundry on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

100. I'm so transparent I can't think of anything to put on this list that my husband doesn't know. I guess I will have to come up with something. The mystery isn't there if there isn't anything he doesn't know.

I’ve always been into navel gazing. I took every test anyone offered me. I know my IQ, my Myers-Briggs personality, etc. Just this week my husband took a day off work to think about who he is and where he’s going. I thought, AWK! I haven’t done that in ages. I used to have very specific goals.

When I was six I decided I would go to my alma mater for college. (If you check out the site, don’t let the pictures fool you. All trees on campus were planted. Most forty+ years ago in exchange for tuition. There are not very many.)

When I was nine I decided I would go to Purdue to get my PhD. I really didn’t know anything about Purdue at the time, except that it existed. When I went to get my PhD in rhetoric there, it was one of the two best programs in the nation–and the other one was way too technical for me. Since the rhetoric department didn’t even exist when I was nine, how did this work out? God. Otherwise, I haven’t got a clue.

After I got out of high school, I wanted to teach college and own my house. I’ve done both of those several different places.

Eventually I want to go back to full time teaching of college.

But right now I am homeschooling and teaching high school homeschoolers and teaching college and that is more than anyone with a working brain ought to agree to do.

I tried to think of new goals. But really, I don’t have many. Do well in teaching this year. Help my youngest do well in history. Help my oldest increase his writing skills.

I have a few old goals I still haven’t met that I am renewing. Getting fit and staying that way. Wearing a size 10 comfortably. (I did meet this but am five pounds off it now.) Getting out of debt. Finish revising my novel and send it out.

I just don’t have any new and improved really cool things I want to do.

I've lived in this house for three years and one week. That's a record for me. Growing up my family moved every two to two and a half years. I guess I was stuck in that mode.

I went to college and transferred to a less expensive one. Went back to the more expensive one. The less expensive one. Back to the more expensive one again, this time in the dorm again. Then out of the dorm again. Summer school in Austin. Summer school in San Antonio. Graduated.

A year and a half as a secretary in Geneva, Switzerland. Then back to Texas. Living with my folks (awk!). One year teaching school on 1960.

Two semesters doing graduate work at Sam Houston State U. Back to my alma mater for a year and a half to finish my masters. Then on to Indiana to start my doctoral program at Purdue. Two years there.

To an old hometown so my husband could go to grad school. Two years in a duplex. Two years in a house. Then we moved to NC. One year in an apt. One year in a townhouse. Then we moved to Austin. Two years in an apt. Two years in a house.

Then we moved to Houston. Three years. I've been in this house three years. I am 41 years old and I've finally lived in the same place for a whole three years.

Too bad this is the first time in my life I have moved anywhere and haven't made friends with anyone right away. Forget right away. If aliens came and took me away, only my husband's bestfriend's family would even notice I was gone.

Anyway, enough of the pity party; I have lived in the same house for three years. The down side to that, which is what got this blog started, is that I have now moved the furniture around often enough that it is in the best place for it and unless I get some new furniture, I will de-optimize its placement if I move it again.

Inside the Actor's Studio asks their famous guests some interesting questions. Thought I would answer them about myself.

What's your favorite curse word? As a curse word, probably “bad word.” That's the one I try to use.

What's your least favorite curse word? As a curse word, fuck.

What's your favorite sound? My husband talking during sex.

What's your last favorite sound? Children whining.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Bookstore buyer.

What profession would you not like to attempt? politician

Assuming there really is a heaven, what would you like God to say when you get to the Pearly Gates? “Welcome home.”

I think there are some more questions, but I didn't write them down. So I'll refresh this after I steal them from my husband's written list. I'll also add who James Lipton got the questions from.