I recently joined Facebook (go figure - something I never thought I'd do) and it's been a kick to get reconnected with people from the past. I keep receiving notes from people about their "25 Random Things About Me". I finally broke down and wrote a list . . .
1. I cringe when I receive emails, or in this case Facebook solicitations, for a list of 25 random things about yourself, yet I want to be gracious and figure that if someone is going to take the time to come up with 25 things to say about themselves then I should appeal to their plea and follow suit. Maybe it’s also because I’m afraid what I say will prove that I’m a bit dull.
2. I’m not good about responding to personal emails – after being on a computer for most of the work day the last thing I want to do with my free time is write and respond to emails. I find the whole thing a bit impersonal. However, I hate it when you take the time and send an email or Facebook comment/note and then you never hear back from the person.
3. I love to put peanut sauce in my homemade cheese and turkey panni’s. Yum.
4. I’m addicted to the dark chocolate covered ginger “pieces” from Trader Joe’s after dinner – with another glass of red wine, of course.
5. We’re weird about our wine consumption – we tend to buy a lot of wine when we go out wine tasting yet feel like we have to save it for a special occasion. So we drink a lot of table wine (i.e. cheap wine) during the week and the good stuff just sits there! Same with candles, why don’t I burn then on a regular basis instead of hardly ever?
6. I’m really spoiled because my husband likes to cook – he puts together our morning smoothies, our lunch and makes dinner on most nights. Rough!
7. I am trying to cook one new dish a week – currently working through the Martha Stewart Cooking School Cookbook to help strengthen my skills.
8. I don’t like to shop and the Amazon Prime membership, with free shipping, has revolutionalized my online shopping habits.
9. I absolutely hate to shop at IKEA – the one way in, one way out, maze makes me anxious and tense. Yet the Swedish meatballs at the beginning of the trek are good.
10. We do almost all of our grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and Corti Brothers. I haven’t been to a traditional supermarket in months.
11. I love riding my purple Cruiser Bike (it’s an Electra Karma – with a wicker basket too) to Trader Joe’s, the library and out to breakfast or lunch on the weekend. Between the two of us, with our collection of bike baskets, we can fit all our groceries, books, etc. in one trip.
12. I finally like my hair even after all those early years of being called names like “Hedge Head” and hearing statements like “what’d you do, stick your fingers in a light socket?” To this day I still don’t like the Solvang boys from high school very much.
13. It is my life’s ambition to never live in the suburbs in a house that looks like everyone else’s. It’s either the city or the country for me. Give me character and mature trees vs. the new and a big garage as the front of the house any day. However, the lack of electrical outlets in our nearly 100 year-old, character-filled (yeah right) house is quite frustrating. And I’m always cold.
14. I’m not very good with the technical side of life – ever since we put in a silly home theater system I still get confused about turning on the TV and how to switch to the DVR or DVD functions. I’ve only had a cell phone for about 5 years and a personal laptop just a couple of years ago (got tired of lugging my work laptop home every night). Funny thing is, I work on technical project teams at work, as a business analyst. Half the time I don’t even understand what the techie guys are saying and I glaze over when they try to mentor me.
15. Ross and I have never had a fight, or even an argument, yet it sometimes gets tense when we’re driving in the car. I think it’s a control thing – and you see things differently when you’re in the passenger seat, yes?
16. I’ve also learned how to compromise – I hate talk radio so we listen to NPR or nothing for our daily commute and then books on tape or music from a CD for the long drives.
17. I would be extremely happy if I never had to drive to Rancho Cordova again. Not a pretty place. I wish we worked downtown, close to home.
18. It scares me to think that I may never leave my current employer and the whole Corporate America thing. I’d love a change yet I don’t want to go somewhere else to do the same basic thing.
19. I dread Mondays and enjoy Fridays. I love the weekends. Yet I am thankful that we have jobs and that we “get to go to work”.
20. I’d love to be one of those people that could say that I love what I do and it doesn’t feel like work yet I think that’s really called Retirement.
21. Retirement scares me because my husband gets to retire way before me – what’s it going to be like having to go to work when he isn’t? Our dream is to be able to retire at the same time.
22. What I really want to do is start my flower farm – I’ve got the whole thing planned out in my head, down to the street I want the thing to be on. Of course I need lots of money so it’s an “if we win the lottery kind of deal”.
23. I also daydream about our dream house a whole lot. The floor plan, the furnishings, the garden. It’s amazing how much time I spend thinking and talking about it. I’m really convinced that we will actually win the lottery one day.
24. I love, love, love having my feet rubbed.
25. My husband and I consistently snuggle together every morning and again at night – it’s my favorite time of the day. Yet we can’t sleep if our bodies are touching (yet we do keep trying).
26. I like the at home version of myself so much more than the work “Karen”. I was recently off of work on medical leave for two months and got more in touch with the serene and calm side of my nature – felt more creative as well. I could totally do the Domestic Goddess thing.
27. I feel very blessed.
