Who Am I?
I’ve been pondering the eternal question: “Who am I?” And I still have no clue.
But, I do know some things:
- I’m almost 40. But, I’ll probably be in my mid 30’s for the rest of my life. I liked it there. I thought that my 30’s would be hard, but I seem to be coping ok.
- I hate seafood. I hate freshwater fish. I hate shellfish. If it doesn’t breath on land, I don’t want to touch it.
- I have two children. A girl and a boy, born six years apart. I have baby envy, but I don’t want another one of my own. They’re more work than I ever imagined. And it’s never the same crisis two days in a row.
- I also have a stepson, who is six years older than my oldest child. We joke that my husband is an alien and could only spawn every six years.
- I have a step-granddaughter. My evil stepson married a lovely girl, and their daughter was born in September 2006. He’s since returned to his evil ways, and I think the girls are better off with out him. (I’m saddened to say that my stepson’s wife went back to him. I can only hope things don’t end as badly as I think they will. I’ve lost a lot of my faith in people’s ability to change.)
- My children can say, “My Mom wore Army boots.” I spent a very brief time in the US Army Reserves. I managed to complete Basic Training and Advanced Training, but hated it. Had I known my daughter would be into the punk look, I would have kept the Army boots.
- My husband is a cradle robber. I was only 19 when we met, and he was a divorced, 26-year-old, single father. We had a whirlwind courtship of only six months. We met in March, moved in together in May, and married in August of the same year. I wouldn’t recommend the same methods for anyone else, but it’s mostly worked for us.
- We got married on 8/8/88. We didn’t plan it, but it just happened that way. We had called a few “Celebrants of Marriage” (justice of the peace) to find out when they had openings to perform the ceremony, and we took the first one that called back. (And a brief search the other day (4/25/08) shows that the gentleman who performed our ceremony is still registered as a “Celebrant of Marriage”.)
- I’m a cat person. I like dogs well enough, but I’d rather have a cat in the house. Dogs are too much like kids.
- Even though I’m more of a cat person, we now have a dog added to our menagerie. The menagerie also includes 4 cats.
- I’m the youngest of my parent’s four surviving children. The eldest of six was stillborn, and an older brother died of cancer when I was two.
- I work for the government, but it wasn’t my original career goal. When I left high school, I wanted to go into the computer field. I went to Marshall University in Huntington, WV, for a year, but wasn’t serious enough about it. Life happened, and I needed a job, and wound up as a temporary secretary for a tiny government agency. Fifteen years later, I’m with a different agency, working as a Budget Analyst, and mostly enjoying myself. There was a rough patch almost 3 years ago where I thought Postal Workers might have had the right idea, but it’s gotten better now.
- Music keeps me from killing people on my daily commute. I drive only 17 miles from my house to my office, but it is 17 of the most congested miles in Northern Virginia. The infamous “Springfield Mixing Bowl”. If it weren’t for my car stereo, I think homicide would have been a really attractive option.
- Junk food will be my downfall. I have a candy jar on my desk, and it is always full, and my hand is often in it. Mini Reese’s cups are an excellent bribe.
- Reading is a wonderful escape. If I hadn’t become obsessed with knitting and now again with sewing, I would be buried in a book somewhere. When I read, I might as well not be in the room, because I’m too involved with the story to pay attention to anything else. My kids seem to have inherited this passion, and I’m glad.
- I have a certificate in Cake Decorating from the Wilton School of Cake Decorating. When my husband was in the Army, we were sent to Germany for three years. I speak no German. I had two small children to watch. I was bored. So, rather than sitting around moping, I took a correspondence course in cake decorating. I think I was really just fueling my sweet tooth.
- I collect Barbie dolls. Not just any old Barbie, mind you, but the ones in fancy ball gowns. When I was little, I wanted to grow up and be a princess, and the Barbies are part of that. Now, I never even bother to wear dresses any more. But all my Barbies are the “belle of the ball”.
- I’ve discovered my inner Renn Geek. A few years ago, my daughter got us all interested in the Maryland Renaissance Festival, and now it’s something I look forward to all year long during the “off-season”. It’s inspired me to return to sewing, and begin laying the groundwork for my own business.
- A writer I’m not. I envy people who have no problems getting their thoughts to flow onto the paper. I love a witty turn of phrase, but can never seem to come up with one of my own.
- I tend to accept people at face value, and am often disappointed when I find I’ve been wrong. I don’t have great skill at reading people. I pretty much see what they show me. Sadly, being wrong too often has made me much more suspicious of people’s motives.