My friend Michelle from
Subtle Revealings tagged me to participate in the 16 things exercise. You have to write 16 random things, shortcomings, facts, habits or goals about yourself. I fought the urge to make this into an all consuming self-evaluative exercise -- and I think I've succeeded. I'm just not sure whether I'm as interesting as she is.
1. My freshman year in high school, my parents moved us from New York to Connecticut over Spring break. The transition was traumatic and made me swear I will never uproot my children when they're in high school.
2. I am compulsive about keeping the floor in my house clean. Except for special occasions, I don't allow shoes in the house past the mud room. There are few things that bug me more than crumbs underfoot.
3. By the end of college I was pretty well able to hold my liquor. Fast forward to two not-even-a-sip pregnancies and almost 2 years of nursing and all that's left is a girl who's flushed and silly after a single glass of wine.
4. Genetically speaking, I'm less than half Italian but I have a strong affinity to all things Italian. I lived with my Italian grandparents for most of my formative years and WISH that I'd learned the language when they could have taught me. I still hope to learn it someday.
5. When I first met Bob I was drawn to him because he reminded me of my next door neighbor when I was growing up, John. He was as close to a big brother as I had as a girl. I remind Bob all the time that if he ever meets John, he has some serious thanking to do.
6. I like going to school. I think about getting another graduate degree. Or at minimum, taking enrichment classes when the kids are older.
7. One of my regrets from childhood is being mean to my sister. I used to torment her because I was so much older and I could. Today, she's my best girl friend.
8. Part of me wants to be just like Martha Stewart. I love things organized, color coordinated and all things monogrammed. I have (almost) every copy of her magazine dating back to 1997.
9. The thing in college that introduced me to the most new experiences was the debate team. I traveled to Louisiana, Utah, Maryland, Michigan, Virginia, Vermont and all those states in between to compete at debate tournaments. Yes, I met plenty of geeks but many more cool, smart people than I anticipated.
10. I love vintage clothes, jewelry and household items. I know I'm too young to say this, but they just don't make things as well as they used to.
11. When we found out we were having another son, we both loved the name Benjamin. But I could not give him that name because I was convinced people would catch on that his name was "bend wire."
12. People closest to me used to call me the Ice Queen. I once sat through the movie Lorenzo's Oil without shedding a tear while all the women around me were whimpering. Ever since I had children of my own, I'm a regular water works. And the thing that gets me worst? Sick kids.
13. I will always be a value shopper no matter our financial situation. The only things I will pay the retail price for are groceries.
14. My hands are like my dad's-- rough, strong, manual laboring hands. Except smaller.
15. I fight the urge to be the grammar police. I like to write but am kept from it because I have to edit, edit, edit to perfection. Even a quick personal email has to meet rigorous standards.
16. I am terrible about keeping in touch with people who mean a lot to me. I never think to pick up the phone and call someone to chat. This has cost me several friendships over time. Sometimes it's so bad that I wonder if I'm phoneaphobic.
At the end I'm supposed to choose 16 people to be tagged. But I like the number 4 better (and I think my chances will be better if I only put the pressure on a few) so... Sarah, Dave, Rick and Laura consider yourselves tagged.
Labels: Consumerism, Family, This and That, Travel
We've not done a very good job of writing lately. Well, here at least. You may already know that Bob is a prolific writer elsewhere. My writing has been mostly here. The least I can do in the meantime is share a couple of pictures from my garden. 
There are few things I love more than having fresh flowers in a clean house on Fridays to enjoy for the weekend. When Bob and I were on our honeymoon, a long long LONG time ago, the wife of a couple we met gushed to me about how her husband always brought her "Friday flowers." The idea seemed appealing, especially because they were celebrating something like their 25th anniversary. It was a sweet and romantic idea until pragmatic me started thinking about how much money goes into those shriveled-by-Monday tulips. For a short time after that, Bob kept the tradition alive. But these days, I'm happy to go outside with my scissors and bring something in that I grew myself. Here are a couple of shots of what was in bloom today. It's the same concept but instead of blow his cash at Kabloom, all Bob needs to do is take me to the nursery now and then, cart mulch, fertilizer and compost around the yard at my whim and keep the children occupied while I pull weeds. Now that's true love.
