Now it is My Turn - 62 things you may or may not know about me

I like making these lists.

I like remembering all the fun stuff.

I am guessing no one else will be making a list for me, which is fine because I understand that not everyone in my family would enjoy this, so I am going to make my own list.

I am actually going to enjoy this.

So, here goes:

1.  I have backed through our garage door on two different occasions.  Now I am very, very careful and always check a few times to make sure the garage door is open.
2.   I am blind as a bat (are they actually blind) in my right eye.  I had a detached retina in 1979 and the experts at University Hospital in Madison did not know how to fix it correctly.  I was told by an ophthalmologist here in Watertown that I had a great lawsuit, but that was years later and it wouldn't have changed anything, well, except I would have been richer.
3. I had just found out I was pregnant with Alissa when they tried to fix that retina.  My grandma had always believed the old wives tale about if anything happens to a pregnant woman, her baby will have that same problem.  She must have worried about Alissa's eyes for my whole pregnancy.  Her first question after Alissa's birth, was,"What color are her eyes?"  I think she wanted to ask, does she have eyes.  
4. I cried a lot in Kindergarten.  I hated the old Douglas school where I had to go.  I don't think I ever went in the bathroom, I was too scared.  I do remember that the girls had to play in a kitchen area and the boys had to play with blocks.
5. I had to get glasses in second grade.  They were as thick as coke bottles.  I could not see a thing before those glasses, but I didn't know that.  I came home sporting my new glasses and said, "Wow, the clock has numbers."  I got contacts in college.
6. My greatest accomplishment in life is my two daughters.  I would have had more children, but John was very happy with two, so he was the one to do something about it.  
7. I feel like I missed a lot of my high school life because I dated one boy the whole time.  I have reconnected with many friends on FB and I find that I don't remember much about lots of them.  I wish I had gotten to know more people.
8. John and I moved to Elkhorn, WI when he got his first job there.  I loved living there and discovering our new city.  Both our girls were born in Elkhorn.  We owned a home (actually a double wide modular) there.  We thought we would stay there forever, but that was not in the big picture.
9.  John and I own a piece of the Pack.  We are Green Bay Packer Shareholders.  And, we are going to a game next season as a gift from our daughters and husbands.
10. I went to St. John's Lutheran School from grades 1 - 8.  My daughters also attended St. John's from grades K - 8.  I taught Kindergarten at St. John's in 1975 - 1977 and I am back at St. John's teaching PreK.  John and I were married at St. John's as were my parents and I am guessing I will be buried from St. John's. 
11. I am deathly scared of snakes.  Yes, even garter snakes, actually even long worms.
12. I am addicted to Candy Crush.  It is my addiction at this time, I have had many addictions to computer games.  At one point I was playing Farm Town like my life depended on it.  I was as tired as any real farmer would be.  I panicked if I had to go on vacation.  Finally I had to let my farm go.  There was a time when the girls were in grade school that I would get up every morning and play a trivia game to try and win prizes.  Of course, I never won a thing.
13. I have one brother.  Kevin is 6 years younger than I am.  I wanted a sister so badly and begged my parents to name him Cindy even if he was a boy.  We are closer now, as adults, than we were as kids.
14. I skied once in High School.  It was a evening trip to Alpine Valley.  I figured it would be a piece of cake, WRONG.  I could not even get up or down the bunny hill.  It was a nightmare.  I spent lots of time in the clubhouse.
15. I took figure skating lessons when I was 8.  The lessons were right down on the Rock River behind my house.  Now they won't even let you skate on that river for safely reasons.  I did not learn anything at those lessons but I loved ice skating.  My favorite game was crack the whip as long as I was not on the end of the whip.  I remember boys taking our scarves and hats and just having so much fun.  We skated until our we couldn't feel our toes anymore and then we skated some more.  We were tough back then.
16. Speaking of boys, I was boy crazy at a very young age.  Thankfully neither of my girls inherited that trait.
17. My best friend in grade school was from a divorced family and my parents didn't want me to hang out with her for that reason.  Things were different back then, I guess.
18. I have been out of the country four times.  Three times to Canada and once to Mexico.
19. John and I have love affairs with two places in the world.  One is St. George Island, Florida.  We have been there at least 20 times since we discovered it in 1998.  The other place is much closer, it is Door County and we love going there whenever we can get away. 
20. I have no desire to travel anywhere outside of the U.S.
21. My two granddaughters are adopted from Ethiopia.  I had to learn a lot about both adoption and Ethiopia during the process.  I went on an Ethiopian adoption forum and met another grandma of an Ethiopian.  What a blessing and a small world, since she lives in Hartford.  Sometime I hope to meet her.
22. On that same forum, I met a woman who had actually spent time with our grandson, Natnael before he died.  He never made it home to our family.  She has been a blessing to me.  Her adopted son, Tesh was Natnael's best buddy at the care center.  Maybe I will meet them someday, too.
23. I have a strong faith and believe that God has a plan for me and my life.
24. We took lots of family vacations when I was growing up and I continued that practice with  my girls.  I have the best memories from traveling with my mom, dad, and brother and I know my girls have great memories from our travels, too.
25. My dad died when he was 62.  Unexpected and sudden.  I am turning 62 and that freaks me out just a little.  It makes me realize how young he actually was when he died.
26. I don't like clutter, but dust does not bother me.
27.  I am a control freak.  I am very uncomfortable if I am not in control.
28. I absolutely love my job.  I feel that God has given all of us gifts and mine just happens to be teaching young children.  
29. I plan to retire in no less than four years.  I feel I still have lots to offer as a teacher.  I will retire sooner if I completely lose my patience or my mind.
30. I took guitar lessons when I was in 7th grade.  I wanted so badly to play an instrument, but I could  not sing so the guitar was not the best choice.  I should have chosen a horn of some type, then I would not have had to sing.
31. In second grade, my teacher, who by the way, hit kids with a belt, made me stay after school for many nights.  I had to stand with my ear by her piano and try to learn to sing.  It was awful and to this day, I do not think I can sing.  
32. My best friend in sixth grade was the daughter of a navy man.  She came to our school that year and she had lived all over the world.  I loved her stories and lived my life through her.  She moved in 8th grade and I lost track of her.  I would love to find Cathy Corbin again.
33. I hate surprises.  Anyone who has ever tried to surprise me has failed.  I always find out, but I will pretend I didn't know.  This has to do with the control issue.
34. When I was in High School, the girls had to wear skirts.  I wore them and I wore them short.  I would hike them up after I left the house.  A short skirt and knee socks, still one of my favorite looks.  To this day, my legs are one of my best features.
35. I had some really cool swim caps.  At our pool, the girls had to wear swim caps.  Something about our hair clogging up the drain, whatever.  Anyway one of my favorite caps was known as the Wonder Bread cap, it had colorful polka dots all over it.  The best caps, however, were very expensive (maybe $3.00) and had little petals all over them.  I was very envious of those caps.  I think I finally was able to get one at some point.
36. My first job was at the local theater.  I made $1.10 an hour.  I got the job on my 16th birthday.  My boss was made us do things that were definitely wrong.  We had to wash his car windows, fix his bullion, and sit alone with him up in his office to do our paperwork.  He was creepy, but I loved the job.  All the free movies for me and a guest.  Lots of free popcorn and candy.  It was the perfect first job except for the boss.
37. I did a lot of babysitting.  I started babysitting when I was 11.  I had two very faithful families who went our every Saturday night.  They stayed out until at least two in the morning.  The worst part was when the TV went off the air around one.  I did not like the quiet and I was always scared of things.  I did make $.50 an hour.
38. I had both of my girls without any drugs and I am very proud of that.  It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
39. One of my greatest joys, was when a dear old friend of mine and I reconnected.  Patti and I had met in Elkhorn and instantly bonded.  She and her husband moved back to Ohio, we moved to Watertown and that was that.  We kept in touch for awhile, but life happened and we lost touch.  A few  years ago, she found me through this blog and we have had some great get togethers since them. I am so thankful and lucky she found me.
40. Another great joy was reconnecting with another wonderful friend.  Pam and I had been best friends as our daughters were growing up side by side.  We talked on the phone for hours on end every afternoon.  Again, life happened and we lost touch.  We reconnected through FB and our first visit was as if no time had passed.  Our friendship is strong and we both know we will not let life happen to us again.
41. I went to church camp only once, but it was the most fun I had ever had up until that time.
42. I am afraid to climb up into those big lookout towers.  My feet just will not move up the steps.  Although I did recently conquer the fear when  I climbed one in Door County.  I am not so sure I could climb another though.
43. I was the runner up in a city tennis tournament back in 7th grade.  I loved tennis in those days.  I took tennis lessons every summer mostly because of the cute male teachers.  I tried to share my love of tennis with John when we were dating, but he had too much power and always hit the ball out of the fence.
44. I never learned to dive.  I always wanted to dive, but could never do it.
45. I love fires, in our fireplace, that is.  I think it goes back to my dad and I making fires together on Saturday mornings when we burned the paper garbage.  I have lots of memories of that fireplace in our basement as I was growing up.
46. I once had to chase my mom's car down the street.  She had left it running or something, out in the street and it drove off.  Luckily it ran a curb before going through a stop sign and into a nursing home.
47. I grew up in a neighborhood filled with boys.  I learned to play baseball, kicker, and all other boy things very early on.  My boys were nice, though, on Sundays, they would let me choose the activites and it usually involved dolls.  One of our favorite summer evening activities was running through the mosquito fogger.  Now they have banned those cancer causing chemicals.  We all enjoyed that feeling of coming out of the fog.
48. My favorite doll growing up was a brown doll.  Was that a sign of things to come with my brown granddaughters, perhaps.  I also had a Patty Play Pal, which was a lifesize (to a six year old) doll.  I guess it was my substitute for the sister I did not have.
49. I have one and only one cousin.  For that reason, I don't get the whole cousin thing.
50. When I was growing up, we used to roller skate all around town on those roller skates with the keys.
51. I worked in a nursing home once, for a month, it was not a good fit.
52. My dad always dreamed that I would be a cheerleader..  I tried my best, but had to settle for the pom pom squad.  I always thought I disappointed him.
53. I knew from very young that I wanted to be a teacher.  I used to set up all my dolls and even a few of my mom's salt and pepper shakers on a table and they were my class.
54. I really want to write a children's book.  Maybe someday I will be inspired to do so.
55. I do not ever want to sky dive or ride in a hot air balloon.
56. I am so proud of the lives that my daughters have.  I love their husbands.  I love how they used their college degrees to find careers.  I love where they chose to go to college.  I love how they include their dad and I in so many activities.  I love how happy they both are.  God has blessed our family indeed.
57. Speaking of my daughters, one of the things I love about them is how they are such good friends.  Always were and always will be.  They never, and I really do mean never, fought.  I only remember one time when they were both in college when they went for three days without speaking.  The disagreement was over a boyfriend of Courtney's who Alissa did not like.  The worst part of that fight was that they were the manager and head guard at the pool that year and it was hard to do those jobs when you aren't speaking.  I never had a sister (I wanted one though, did I mention that?) but if I had one, I would have wanted a relationship like my daughter's have.
58. I was a gestapo parent.  I read diaries and notes. I snooped in bedrooms.  I listened in on calls and I read emails.  Part of being a control freak  We also had a strict curfew for the girls and I could never sleep until they were safely in the house.
59. I have never broken a bone.
60. John and I moved into my childhood home about 14 years ago.  My mom still lives here.  I love it and am so happy to be surrounded by so many happy memories.  I also like that my daughters are coming to visit in a home that they loved so much as they were growing up.  It is full of my dad, too.
61. I dye my hair regularly.  Well, I don't dye it, I have it dyed.  I don't know what color it would be without the dye and I am not going to find out anytime soon.
62. I could not get by without my Diet Coke.  Do not try and take it away from me.

Well, there you have it.
I am looking forward to 62 and all the things it will bring.
Thanks for coming by and reading.