25 things about me you may not know
25 things about me you may not know
1. Sara Jane was the name my “other mother” started calling me from the day she met me when I was 7 years old, even though my middle name is Elizabeth. Sara Jane was her mother’s name. Then my mother started calling me Sara Jane, too. It stuck. I then took it as my confirmation name at 14. Later, my husband started calling me Sara Jane because he was in love with the Dr. Who character with that name.
2. I have always wished I had blue eyes. My boys do, so that makes me happy.
3. I’m nervous about joining teams or groups because I don’t want to let somebody down.
4. I am a cautious person. To combat this, I actively seek out experiences that frighten me and take risks. They almost always pay off. I try to enter the forest via the darkest path. I learn more this way.
5. When I was in the sixth grade, someone put an anonymous note in my desk telling me I was beautiful. It blew my mind wide open. I never learned who it was.
6. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a kid. Then they diagnosed my allergies and asthma and took my Yorkshire Terrier away from me. It was devastating.
7. I love to travel. This pull I feel toward adventure and new places makes staying home with small kids hard.
8. I played the flute for four years, then switched to singing in choir. Singing was a great joy of my youth.
9. I was harassed mercilessly in the eighth grade, developed a budding eating disorder, and then eventually got over it.
10. When I was a small girl, I loved snakes, lizards, and dinosaurs. A lot. This was difficult for my mother because I would make her read to me from my book of snakes and she hates them.
11. I used to pretend my bicycle was a horse and I would ride around the neighborhood daily. I wanted a horse so bad from the time I was 7 until I was … um … 36.
12. On the urging of an older girl, I stole Barbie shoes and lipstick out of a boxed Barbie at a store when I was about 8. I was made to apologize and pay for the Barbie. The older girl was publically whipped in the street by her father and his belt.
13. On more than one occasion, I have eaten so many cherries that I have been sick for days.
14. I used to play a very mean game of four-square. This is about the extent of my athletic abilities.
15. The first time I rode a night train by myself from St. Andrews to London I sat across from a junkie/vet/crazy person, who talked and twitched the whole time and startled himself awake for 8 terrible hours. I didn’t know that I could get up and move to another seat.
16. The most magical Christmas I ever had was in Oban, Scotland, with Ian. We were in a small flat, had no money, and felt homesick. But we had a wonderful time.
17. I adore Burning Man and the friends I’ve met through attending it (5-time veteran); I also adore easy vacations involving lazing on beaches and drinking mai tais.
18. Before I had children, I wanted to jump out of an airplane. I do not want to anymore.
19. I regret not visiting my grandmother Mabel before she died. She lived in an assisted living home for a while and I never went to see her. I have guilt.
20. One of the few things my father has ever denied me is his silver 240Z with the rosewood steering wheel. I used to fantasize that he’d present it to me on my 16th birthday with a big fat red bow on top. He still has it. I don’t think it runs.
21. I was afraid to have children. For good reasons. It was a very hard adjustment for me and threw a lot of uncomfortable ambiguity into my identity. Frankly, I am still afraid to have children.
22. I didn’t experiment with drugs until well after college. I dunno. I guess I was too busy studying. I graduated Cal with a BA and a 3.8 GPA. I only attended Cal for 3 semesters.
23. I have not had 8 contiguous hours of sleep since May of 2006. I have probably slept 8 contiguous hours only 50 times since August of 2001. This has made me weird.
24. I once cast the Mother of all Love Spells. It worked.
25. I worked at a mortuary for several summers and a year after college. I was a floral designer and a Death Clerk. I met a great friend there. Otherwise, it sucked.
and one to grow on?
26. I once won a science fair competition with my astronomy project tracking the Dog Star. I was awarded a year’s membership in the Sacramento Astronomical Society. So, that was weird.
January 26, 2009 at 4:32 pm
#8- Although I’ve never heard you play the flute, I have heard you sing and I think you have a beautiful voice.
# You and me both, babe.
#13- I’ve done that too. They are just so tempting, but I’ve totally eaten enough that I’ve thrown up afterwards more than once.
#23 – Understandably weird. I’m sorry that you’re not getting enough sleep, all I know is that it will happen someday, I promise.
#5- Um, I confess, that was me! Well, not really but I would’ve if we were in the same class.
January 27, 2009 at 10:52 am
I love these lists. There’s something weird and wonderful about a range of intense experiences all stacked together like this.
(and if you’re ever interested in casting anutha mutha love spell, I could use the help xo)