All you ever wanted to know...

I decided to refrain from doing this on a Facebook note the way most folks have been doing it here lately.  I wanted to make it a little more in depth, so I put a little bit of time into it and it's turned into a rather lengthy blog post.  So, here are your 25 "things" about me...

1. Probably one of the most shaping experiences of my life was attending a tiny Christian school from 5th grade through graduation.  The first classroom I sat in was a rearranged Sunday School room with 4 students; the rearranged Sunday School room next door had 2 students.  I was half of my graduating class in 2004.  You can read more a little more about it here if you want...

2. Prior to attending the aforementioned private school, I was homeschooled.  My dad did a few science experiments and helped with math stuff here and there, but mainly my mom was my teacher.  Those years probably held the most shaping experiences of my life.  I owe every academic success in my life to my mother.  She was a hard task master, but it's made me who I am now... and, hey, I like who I am now.  You can read more about my homeschool days as well in the link I added above.

3. I have been looking forward to homeschooling my own children since way before the kiddo was even born.  I have no desire to send my children to the private school I attended.

4. My first job was at a little country grocery store about 5 miles away from my home.  After calling in to ask off of my Sunday shift one day so I could attend a church service, I quit on the spot when my boss basically told me I would have to choose between church and my job.  I had worked there around 9 months.  That was probably one of the hardest days of my life, but I'm not sorry I did it.

5. It is a rare day indeed that I don't cook something.  It may not be a full spread or a big meal, but my stove/oven almost never gets a day off.

6. I keep a supply of homemade bread on hand and my family doesn't really eat store bought anymore.  I also like to make my own spaghetti sauce and guacamole, although I don't always keep these around.

7. I like the transition between seasons more than any particular season itself.  I like every season in some always changing rank that always has winter coming in last.

8. Throughout my life I've said and thought that one of my defining personality traits was that I liked and was good with all kids in general.  I've learned recently that I'm not at all.  I'm good with and I like a few kids in particular, most of those being within my own family.  Other than that, I can pretty much do without them.

9. The discovery in #8 led me to realize that one of the only professions I ever thought of doing - teaching - is nothing I'm interested in doing at all.

10. Upon graduating high school, I had big plans of being an English major and one day teaching high school or college level English.  I married ye olde hubby with one 1 year of college under my belt and my desire to get that degree diminished somewhat.  After 2 years of varying class loads, we found out we were going to have the kiddo and my desire to get that degree diminished even more.  Nine months and a baby later, my priorities reordered altogether and I took the final class I needed to complete a General Studies Associates Degree.  I haven't regretted it for one nanosecond.

11. If in some alternate universe I wanted to and was able to go back to school now, I would be interested in my alma mater's nursing program or in the local technical school's ultrasound tech degree.  If I ever do go back to school, I know it will be 20+ years from now, so who knows what I might be interested in at 45-ish years old.  Yikes...

12. I do laundry every day except Saturday and Sunday.  I go by a schedule... you know, like, Towels on Monday, Socks and Whites on Tuesday, etc.  My schedule is on a white board in the laundry room.  I've found this is the ONLY way I can stay on top of it and not have my house overtaken by scarily huge piles of dirty clothes.  In other words, I've forced myself into quite a few OCD tendencies in order to keep my house neat.

13. Here's my parenting philosophy in the nutshell: I think kids are people, too, and should be treated as such.  I don't like it when adults patronize and even lie to children for the so-called sake of their happiness or because it makes their own lives easier.  Babies come into the world barely knowing how to breathe on their own; I think it's ludicrous to expect them to "self-sooth" and be happy without human contact when that's all they've known for the past 9 months.  I don't think "why" constitutes "talking back" or that "because I said so" constitutes an answer; a child deserves to know reasons for what's expected of them.  I do believe in spanking, but I think that once a kid gets to be a certain age there are other much more effective methods of discipline.

14. I don't trust people easily, am naturally "careful" with my confidences, and tend to expect the worst of people.  It may seem unhealthy and/or pessimistic, but my judgement rarely points me in the wrong direction and it's not often that I'm messed over or have my heart hurt.

15. Relative to #14, I know that I have a generally weird outlook on things, so the few people I've made real and lasting relationships with are especially dear to me because I know that they love me in spite of myself.

16. I don't gossip and I don't care for people who do.  One of the greatest lessons I've learned is to keep my mouth shut, listen, and maybe nod politely every once in a while.

17. My merciful Savior made me one of His own on Wednesday, July 14, 1999.  It was late (maybe even after midnight, thereby making it July 15... never really thought about that actually) and I was alone in my bedroom, stretched out across my bed.  I was 13 years old.  My experience that night isn't as sweet to me as some of the glorious things God has shown me since then, but I'm thankful for the quietness of the beginning of my walk with Him.  He knew just what I needed.

18. I like computer games... a lot.  I don't consider myself a "gamer"... I don't have time to be a full-on gamer, but sometimes when I just need to zone out, I love the doing-nothingness of a good mindless game.  I play for a little while now and then while the kiddo's asleep and I have time to relax.  I have The Sims 2 and one expansion pack that I can think of, but rarely play it anymore.  Most games I play now are time management or strategy games from Big Fish Games.

19. Practically everything I own has a price tag on it.  There are very few things I would refuse to part with if I were offered the right amount of money.  I have a lot of stuff and I like a lot of stuff, but I'm not incredibly attached to most of it.  Contrary to that, if it comes down to selling something or keeping it just in case I might use it again, I'll probably keep it.

20. Within the range of normal (meaning non-exotic) food choices, I'll eat pretty much anything.  There's not really anything that I absolutely detest and refuse to eat.  My favorite foods include pretty much any kind of pasta (as long as I have parmesan cheese), guacamole, chess bars/pie, and (I've discovered recently) apples with peanut butter and honey.  My drink of choice is water, but every now and then I just have to have a Diet Dr. Pepper.  Oh, and I have at least one chai tea latte per week (and they always talk me into the biggest size because "it's only 20 cents more" and I'm a pushover).

21. I've lived in 3 houses during my lifetime.  We moved away from the first one when I was around a year old, so I have no memory of it.  I lived in the second one from that point until I got married when I was 19 and I've lived in my present house since then.

22. "You got married when you were 19?!?!?!?" Yes, I did.  And no, I wasn't barefoot, pregnant, or any combination thereof.  I probably didn't even realize what a good thing it was for me to marry young at the time, but that's just one more way the good Lord has taken care of me.  No regrets here.

23. I attach smells to memories and vice versa.  One weird example... when I was around 11 or 12 I bought the first Spice Girls CD (I know, I know...) and some cappuccino flavored lip gloss during the same shopping trip.  To this day, when I hear certain songs from that album (which, ya know, isn't often since it's the Spice Girls) I can still smell that lip gloss.  My sad little brain...

24. I'm convinced that my husband is the best man in the universe... he has to be.  He's a good provider, an amazing daddy, and he puts up with my crap, which is saying a lot.  I know there's not a day that goes by when I'm 100% easy to live with and he just lets so many things go without complaining.  I think the best thing about him, though, is his ability to soothe me.  I always thought my parents would be the only ones on earth who could truly comfort me, but now I would rather have his reassurance than anyone else's ever.  Was that sorda mushy?

25.  If I never accomplish anything else in this life, being a mom is enough.  If I died tomorrow, I could say that I had done exactly what I wanted to do with my life and was 100% fulfilled.  Raising a child thus far has been the single most rewarding thing I've ever done.

The end.

And just to wrap this up... thinking of 25 things about myself was infinitely more difficult than I ever imagined.  This actually took me several days.  Does that mean I'm super complex or just really, really slow? Probably the latter...