31 Things About Me

One for every year.

1. I am married to my high school sweetheart, and have been since 2004.
2. We met when I was 16 and C was 17. At band camp.
3. Yes, it was the summer that American Pie came out. 
4. I played flute at the time (but not like that!!)
5. I am a mother to my two children, J (boy, age 6) and Dee (girl, age 2).
6. I have two dogs, who are 9 (Athena, Goddess of Farts and Twitchiness) and 10 years old (MacGuyver, Grumpy Old Man).
7. My favorite movie is Rosemary's Baby. Deliciously creepy movies are my favorite type.
8. I don't have a favorite book, but Jane Eyre is one of my favorites. 
9. I have 7 siblings; 2 older half-brothers (18 and 20 years older), 2 older half-sisters (15 and 16 years older), one younger adopted sister (11 months younger), one younger "whole" brother (5 years younger), and one youngest half-brother (11 years younger).
10. I had gestational diabetes, preterm labor, and some serious issues during delivery with my son. 
11. The horrendous experience with my son's delivery inspired me to do a med-free delivery with my daughter, and it was beautiful and perfect. 
12. I love to read.
13. I also love to knit and craft.
14. I am driven to write (I do also love it but it goes beyond just an enjoyment). I actually have a whole other blog about my creative endeavors.
15. I often fight internally over whether to write, knit/sew or read, and frequently end up playing Angry Birds because I can't make up my mind. 
16. I have a basically lifelong (since age 11) history of anxiety and depression, for which I sought treatment at age 23. I have been on Zoloft ever since and it is still a battle at times.
17. I work full time and C is a stay at home dad and musician.
18. I'm a scientist (which sounds way cooler than it actually is, but it's still pretty cool).
19. I am the only one of the kids in my family to have a graduate degree (I have a BA in Molecular Biology and an MS in Molecular and Cellular Biology).
20. I was once told I am a waste of a tall man...by a man. I'm 5'2" and C is 6' tall.
21. C's family really pretty much only makes boys. He has 1 sister, 4 brothers, and all of them only have boys. We used the Shettles method (and some extra things) to conceive our baby girl, and we still have moments of "holy crap, we have a girl!"
22. I love podcasts. My favorites are those in the Escape Artists group (Pseudopod, Escape Pod, and Podcastle), Keith and the Girl, Scott Sigler's audio, The Drabblecast, The Dunesteef, Mike Bennett's Podcast, and those in the District of Wonders Network (Starship Sofa, Tales to Terrify, Crime City Central, and Protecting Project Pulp).
23. I have breastfed both of my babies. J self-weaned at 19 months, and Dee is still nursing at 34 months old.
24. It makes me absolutely crazy when people can't get you're/your, then/than, effect/affect, they're/there/their straight. Or when they use an apostrophe to denote plurality. Especially when it's a business sending out emails with such glaring errors.  *cringe*
25. I sometimes keep library books long past their due date, just so I can finish them. As long as the fees are less than the cost of the book, it's all good. 
26. I'd like a tattoo someday, but don't have one yet.  
27. My pinky fingers are so crooked that, together, they make a "y"...and if I can figure out how to take a picture of that, I'll put it here.  
28. Believe it or not, I love my body. I do want to become healthier (I am pretty at-risk for developing metabolic syndrome) so I can live a longer and happier life with my kids, and if that means my pants fit better, great.
29. I *will* grow old gracefully. I love my sparkly white "unicorn" hairs. Not that there are many of them yet, but I will say that my daughter gave them to me because they showed up when I was pregnant with her. Honestly, I'm doing pretty well. My dad was totally grey by 35...
30. I love rain, but I cannot abide winters in the Pacific Northwest. Beautiful to visit, but my depression was at it's worst when we lived there. Guess I'm destined to live out my days in Colorado!
31. One of my favorite things to do is assemble furniture. I know, I'm weird. But it's just so fun!!