10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

*and might not care to know...

10) I am the second oldest (oldest girl) in a family of 8 (kids). Which may be one reason why I am very much a take the bull by the horns kind of person. My baby sister just turned 18 last fall. I was almost 16 when she was born.

Kathryn (#8), Lydia (#6) Bek (#4) Me (2nd is the best...)
Seth (#7), David (#3) Nate (#5) Josh (#1)

9) Mr. Hippie was also from a big family. He was number two in a family of 11. As a matter of fact, we knew a lot of big families growing up. Six to seven kids was on the smallish side.

Mr. Hippie's Family. Not going to name them all. It would take up too much space. 

8) I used to want to have 9 girls, because my mom was one of nine girls. Growing up, I thought that was the coolest thing. I even had nine girl names picked out, each one starting with S. Suffice it to say, having two boys first, kind of put the death knell on that particular dream. Well, that and being pregnant. And going through labor. And potty training...

7) I am not an animal/pet person. At all. Ever. But, being a game player, I made the foray into pet owner world with gold fish. They all died. We're talking like almost 50 gold fish, people. Animals are not my thing.

6) Neither are indoor plants. My thing, I mean. I love fresh cut flowers. They are supposed to die. After a while, of course. But, green plants, that are supposed to stay alive? I can't quite manage that. My missing green thumb has made me unable to figure out the sun/temperature/water thing.

5) I wanted to be various things when I grew up. A nurse. A marine. A lawyer. A camp cook. I've combined them all in my role as a wife, mother and teacher. Bandaging scrapes, being the best of the best, arguing and logic and unending paperwork, cooking for kids with hollow legs.

4) I have a big vocabulary of correctly used, mispronounced words. Blame it on fonneticks. And being a voracious reader. But, I am willing to laugh at my own faux pas. Which segues into...

3) I have a great sense of humor. That a good portion of the population doesn't get. I love irony and tongue in cheek humor. My family gets it. Mr. Hippie and his family really don't. That's okay. I don't get their humor either. My favorite part of the Reader's Digest is the various jokes columns. They're funny! What do you call a pig that does karate? A pork chop!

2) Sometimes my brilliance astonishes even me. Like the time in the not so distant past, when I whipped up a batch of lemon scented sugar scrub. I doled it out and gave it away. Eventually, as I was looking at it the leftovers, I decided that the color was somewhat lacking. Lemon should be a nice shade of yellow, right? And, I have some yellow food coloring in my cupboard. A drop or two should do the trick. The trick of turning my feet and hands yellow whenever I use it. It makes me look like I have some rare disease. Brilliant.

1) I love being barefoot, inside and out. (even when my feet are yellow) I love the feel of sand between my toes. Shoes are a bother. I hate the feel of grittiness on my bare feet on indoor floors. When sand and dirt get tracked all over inside and stepped with bare feet. So not cool.

What can you tell me about yourself that I wouldn't know from casual conversation or from reading your blog?