16 Things

I was tagged last week by Esther at The Mommy Diaries for this meme – 16 things you don’t know about me.   I don’t really know that I’m that much of a mystery.   Ya’ll pretty much know everything there is to know about me, but I’ll try to come up with 16 things…

1. I had a bond to my Aunt Jo that I didn’t really understand until this past year.   She and her husband did not have any biological children of their own, they adopted my cousin.   Out of all the relatives on that side of the family, she’s the one that I most resemble.   I have always loved looking through old pictures and finding one’s of me where I looked like Aunt Jo.   I think she enjoyed it, too.   I now find myself in a similar situation to Aunt Jo 30-some years ago.   Hubby and I don’t have any biological children, ours are adopted.   Looking through pictures now, I take pleasure in the fact that my niece, Mustang Sally, looks a bit like I did as a baby.   I know that my genetic material won’t be passed down, but at least there’s a little bitty  part that looks like me that will carry on to future generations.  And that gives me sort of a strange comfort…

2. When we hire a babysitter, I make sure that I’m the one to pick her up and take her home.   I was greatly impacted by Billy Graham telling how he tried to live a life above reproach. Part of that, being that he never allowed himself to be alone with a woman that was not his wife.   I decided many years ago when I heard that message that I would be the one to take the babysitter home.   I think it keeps my husband from an awkward situation, and I think it helps him as he tries to live his life above reproach.

3. I try to not do any shopping or eating out or movie going on holidays or Sundays.   I grew up in a time when Texas had “blue laws”.   Blue laws were “designed to enforce moral standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping.”(wikipedia)   I think it wouldn’t be a bad thing if we, as a nation, were to return some of these blue laws.   I know I should do more to honor the Sabbath.   The other part of this is that, while I know that certain stores are open on Christmas day, I personally, don’t want to cause someone to work on a day when I think they should be allowed to stay at home with family.

4.   I was a horrible teenager who ridiculed my mother for years about having an awful yellow and orange kitchen and breakfast room.   I went on and on and on about how awful those two colors were. Why, oh, why wouldn’t she pick something more civilized???   Guess what color my kitchen is –  orange.   Guess what color my living room and breakfast room are – yellow.       I’m so sorry, Mom…

5. I’ve dated three famous people:   Tom Jones, Stephen King, and Richard Nixon.   Okay, they weren’t really famous, but I did date guys with those names.   Tom was the high school sweetheart.    I dated Stephen and Rich when I was in college (at the same time!)

6.   At one point in life, I got really frustrated with the superficial “Hi. How are you?” conversation.   You know where person A, says “Hi, how are you?” Person B, says “Fine, how are you?” and the conversation doesn’t really have any value at all.   Many years ago I decided that when I’m person B, I’ll change the answer to “Fine, thanks.”   I did, and I never looked back…

7. I hate clothes shopping.   I thought it was just shopping for my clothes that I disliked, but since I’ve had kids, I now know I hate shopping for their clothes, too.  

8. I have always wanted to be a mom of boys, but lately, I’ve had that niggling feeling that I’d really like  to adopt  little girl. Now, I just have to convince Hubby…

9. Hubby and I are completely obsessed with the show Lost.   But are comforted by the fact that were not obsessed enough to be creators of Lostpedia.

10.   I think the punishment  for drunk driving needs to be much more stringent.   If the punishment for the 3rd offense was the death penalty, I’d be okay with that.   Too many people are killed by the thoughtless, selfish  actions of drunk drivers.   I consider myself extremely blessed that I walked away from a head-on accident with a drunk driver.   I’d venture to say that I’m the exception to the rule…

11.   I think sweatpants are glorified pajamas, and I don’t think it is right to wear them outside the house. (Same goes for pajamas.)

12.   I am fiercely protective over my children.   Two summers ago, Hubby’s sister became pushy about something she thought my kids should have that I didn’t think was appropriate.   I stood my ground.   I found out she’s not used to someone standing up to her when  she ended up crying.   I still think I did the right thing…

13.   Hubby and I ordered a new refrigerator this past weekend.   We bought the one he picked, and I’m a little nervous because while Consumer Reports rated it higher than others, the actual  comments from consumers were pretty negative.

14.   I was on the Billiard Team in college, placed 4th at a statewide tournament.   Yeah, that’s something worth bragging about…

15.   I can’t stand eating noises – which explains why I will NEVER, EVER, EVER  give my children chewing gum.

16.   I despise June bugs.   They creep me out more than any other insect.  I totally scream like a girl when one gets in the house and I make Hubby come squish the bug to save me.

Wow, that took more time than I thought it would.   Hopefully, I didn’t bore you to tears and I hope that it wasn’t TMI.

I’m not going to tag anyone, but feel free to jump in on this meme if you haven’t done it yet and leave me a comment so I can come check it out!