100 Things

I once read there was an unwritten blogging rule, that when you reach your 100th post, you are to post a list of 100 truthful items that pertain to yourself. Well as the self proclaimed queen of non compliance, I just can’t follow some expected rule, so I publish my list early on August 10, 2008.  Four months later when I reached my 100th post I published a second set of 100 Things.

Somewhere between the two 100 Things posts I discovered something called the I meme.  It is a tag meme and consisted of a list of questions to be completed, published and then a certain number of other bloggers were to be tagged (challenged) to do the same.  I decided I wanted to answer the questions but, being my usual non-conformist self I did not wait to be tagged by anyone else and I did not tag anyone.  I also added a few (a lot really) extra questions and omitted those I did not want to answer.  You will find those questions here as well.  

The Old Salt feels that between all three lists, I have given all of you good folks, way too much information about me. So enjoy these lists because I promised him I would not do another one.  But, that was four years ago and a girl has the right to change her mind so I just may have to ask him to reconsider this contract, because my 700th post is quickly approaching. I wonder "do I have another list in me?" 

100 things you may wish you never learned about me.

1. I am the oldest of thirteen.
2. I have nine brothers
3. I have three sisters
4. I am afraid of heights.
5. I have been to the top of the Empire State Building, the Vulcan and the Sears tower.
6. I once spent a whole night at the top of a Ferris wheel (with a guy).
7. I believe in love at first sight
8. The most terrifying event of my childhood was a cross country train trip at the age of 7. Just me and my little brother and we had to change trains once and keep from losing our luggage.
9. I was named as next of kin by a soldier who committed suicide by jumping from a parachuting practice platform.
10. I once had dinner with John Hartford. A musician/composer best known for writing the country-pop standard "Gentle on My Mind,”
11. I have been written about in medical journals twice.
12. I have read every book written by Victoria Holt, Catherine Cookson and Lawrence Sanders.
13. I have never been a bridesmaid.
14. I once owned a full service restaurant. (served 120)
15. I have two brothers who are priests.
16. My first husband was my Uncle’s brother.
17. I met my second husband on the internet
18. In the ninth grade, I won third place in a school writing contest. The first and second place entries were also written by me. All three were disqualified once the principle learned I had ghost written the other two.
19. I probably took my driving test more times than anyone else in the country.
20. Once during a driving test, I drove my car down the front steps of the courthouse.
21. During my lifetime I have lost the same 50lbs. enough times to create 2 average size adults. Even worse is that I need to do it all over again now.
22. A fork was thrown with such force at me that it was embedded in my wrist up to the shank and had to be surgically removed.
23. I, like Humpty Dumpy, have broken my crown. When I was a child I was pushed off a bluff and landed on a railroad track cutting a large hole in my forehead.  Update: When I lost my hair, after chemo,  I learned from the scars on my head that I had actually had a skull fracture in addition to the hole in my forehead.  There is a sunken spot with radiating fractures in many directions.
24. I prevented two elderly men from dying of heatstroke during one of the hottest summers in Missouri history. I had a premonition at work and left in the middle of my shift. I arrived at the house where the men lived with only minutes to spare according to the paramedics.
25. I used to collect owls until they took over my whole house. I only have 30 now and display perhaps a dozen.
26. I like to collect photos of windows and doors.
27. I like my hot tea sweet and my iced tea unsweetened.
28. I can drink hot tea that gets cold but I cannot drink iced tea that gets warm.
29. Procrastination is my middle name.
30. I sleep with a c-pap machine.
31. I always have a book with me for when I have to wait.
32. I do marathon reading sessions when I’m depressed.
33. I rarely carry a purse.
34. I am a diabetic.
35. I am the self professed “Queen of non-compliance” when it comes to following what I call “dumb rules”. We can talk about who decides which rules are dumb some other time.
36. A waiter once dumped and entire tray full of drinks on me in a 5 star restaurant. He got so upset he ran out the back door and never came back.
37. I once belonged to a social club where all the women were married to men with the same first name.
38. I did it first. Long before Zsa Zsa I slapped a cop. . .in the face . . hard. And didn't get arrested.
39. I purchased a wedding gown on sale that was six sizes too small but lost so much weight it was a size too large on my wedding day.
40. I don’t like roses, diamonds, or coffee.
41. I once lost a ring but saw it on a lady’s finger two years later and actually convinced her to give it back to me.  Read that post here.  
42. I am a nudist at heart.
43. I prefer a 100 degree day over a snow day anytime.
44. I don’t like cats, but they are growing on me now that we have two of them.  Update:  That count is now three. 
45. I dislike eating in restaurants that put butcher paper on the tables.
46. If I get really tickled, I forget to breathe.
47. I love plants but I can walk into a room and see some of them die.
48. My favorite color is purple (in all it’s shades)
49. I would prefer to live where I can go barefoot all the time.
50. I have a short square foot with stubby toes. A perfect fit is a 6EEE.
51. I still wish on stars.
52. Every time I hear the siren of an emergency vehicle I pray for the people involved.
53. I make the sign of the cross each time I pass a church or hospital.
54. I once drove a company car. A Tupperware Ford.
55. I watched the last section of the St. Louis Arch being placed.
56. I cannot give blood.
57. I have a condition that has changed names three times since I was first diagnosed. It is now called fibromyalgia.
58. I learned to drive in a 1946 Studebaker truck.
59. I lost my crinolines in the middle of the dance floor at homecoming.
60. The first time I got carded for liquor I was in my forties.
61. I like to give theme parties.
62. I cannot sing. In fact, I was promised a passing grade in chorus if I would lip sync the vocals in high school.
63. I once considered becoming a nun.
64. I came close to drowning in 3 feet of water at the bottom of a water slide. I was rescued by two 8yr. old kids.
65. It took the gift of a ruby ring to get me to quit biting my fingernails. I was seventeen.   
66. I have been to a Worlds Fair.
67. I have been to a Broadway show.
68. I was 60 when I took my first airplane ride.
69. I have wanted to go to Maine since I was 12. I never have.
70. I have been a guest on the radio.
71. I have appeared on television.
72. I won first place for my biscuits at the county fair.
73. My float “The three little kittens”(with live kittens) won 2nd place for my age group in the coaster wagon division of the City's Founder's Day Parade when I was 13
74. I served as a Girl Scout leader.
75. I spend too much time on the computer.
76. My favorite season is Spring
77. I am a night person. Don’t expect me to be up and sensible before noon.
78. I hate unfinished projects but I am learning to overlook them.
79. I use to be a organizational fanatic now I am just moderately nuts.
80. I have to be desperate before I will ask someone for help.
81. I used to never cry. Now I am a blubbering fountain.
82. I will not watch sci-fi or horror movies.
83. I prefer comedies or chick flicks.
84. I own 20 pairs of black slacks.
85. I never wear anything that is all white.
86. If I want to have a meal and a clean shirt I have to wear a bib. I spill things on my shirt—a lot.
87. I own over 100 tee-shirts and I only have about a dozen that I actually wear.
88. I am going to have my first yard sale next month. See #87 and #84.
89. I prefer antique dishes and old oak furniture.
90. I love peanut butter. Sometimes when the jar is getting low I will stir in some grape jelly and sit and eat it right out of the jar. My second favorite sandwich is peanut butter and banana.
91. My favorite sandwich is Tuna. I have been know to eat nothing else for weeks.
92. The only thing that affects my choice of a Mexican restaurant is the salsa. We have three Mexican restaurants in my town and they all have terrible salsa. I will drive 50 miles to one that has great salsa and chips.
93. I once worked all winter for a company that sold flood damaged merchandise out of an old building that had no heat.
94. I have a thing for a man that wears a hat. Nothing is sexier to me than a man in a great hat.  See the slideshow "Parade of Hats" on my sidebar. 
95. I hate, despise and detest baseball caps.
96. It takes all I can do to keep from snatching baseball caps off the heads of men that do not take them off in restaurants, church etc.
97. My all time favorite male actor is and always will be James Gardner.
98. I would cut almost everything else from my budget before cutting out my acrylic fingernails.  Update:  The old Salt hated my nails so I gave them up several years ago.  
99. I have been addicted to soap operas, Pac-man and slot machines. I will no longer go near any of them.
100. And last on the list but most important of all, I thank the Lord everyday for bringing my dear Frank into my life. Without him I would not have a life worth living. I love you Frank.

100 things you may wish you never learned about me.

Second time around.  

So, this is my second set of 100 things. 

1. I took swimming lessons at the Y for two winters and never learned to swim.See #64 on my first list.

2. A guy and I once met, fell in love, and split up during a Greyhound bus trip. I was nineteen.

3. I have always worked with numbers but, I never learned my multiplication tables past six. I do the others by a series of addition.

4. I can do math in my head faster than most people can do it on a calculator.  Strange considering that I have trouble with multiplication.

5. I was widowed after 37 years of marriage.

6. I was pregnant five times.

7. I have one living child.

8. I have one grandchild.

9. I believe there is a God and he does answer prayers.

10. I have seen a ghost.

11. I have worn glasses since high school.

12. I have lived in more houses than I have fingers to count.

13. I am starting to believe I should add blogging to my addiction list and find a blogaholic’s meeting near me. See #99 on my first list

14. I used to keep a perfect house and no one cared. Now I don’t care if my house is perfect and that upsets my second husband.

15. I was once a passenger in a car caught in a flash flood. Water was up to the dashboard by the time we were rescued by the local fire department.

16. I have lived within 75 miles of St. Louis since I was five.

17. I once held the tip of my brothers finger in place until we could get him to the hospital in town. He caught it between the screen door and the door jam.

18. I can’t whistle.

19. I never learned to dance.

20. My ears are double pierced.

21. I dislike most sports.

22. I’m not an animal person but most animals seem to like me.

23. I consider myself a spiritual person.

24. I believe a person’s spirituality is private, that is part of why I have not been a regular church member since leaving home.

25. Attending parochial school planted the seeds of my disinterest in church attendance. See # 35 on the first list.

26. I am somewhat obsessive, stubborn, over-sensitive and sometimes lazy.

27. I am also kind, smart, imaginative, empathetic, practical, creative, loving, conscientious, and optimistic.

28. I am a true auctioneer’s daughter. I love looking for treasures among other people’s discards at flea markets, antique shops, junk stores, or yard sales.

29. Estate sale and auction bargains make me ridiculously happy.

30. I loathe and despise modern décor.

31. I prefer what I call “bargain antique” for my decorating style.

32. If my weight and blood sugar could stand it, I’d eat donuts seven days a week.

33. My second choice for food would be all other types of pastry.

34. I can make a meal out of crackers and cheese.

35. I tend to be a wallflower at bars and parties.

36. I think kissing is the most intimate physical act.

37. I am a packrat.

38. I usually know where to find most things though.

39. I always want to get the story or history behind things.

40. I am good at finding the best bargains when shopping.

41. I can judge the ability of a retail clerk with one glance.

42. I share my birthday with a sister.

43. I have not had my own birthday cake in ………. Like forever.

44. I have never had a passport .

45. If I were a smell I would have to be the scent of lilacs on a summer breeze just before a slow rain.

46. I am a list maker.

47. I once had journals full of lists. See that post here.  

48. I don’t think I am a good writer, but I would like to be.

49. I like capturing my thoughts and ideas.

50. I want to take a tour of lighthouses around the country.

51. I would like to live in a castle.

52. I once pretended to swallow my register key to keep my till from being stolen.

53.The cash office I worked in was robbed twice while I was there.

54. I once saw a lady fall out of a fitting room naked with a swim suit around her ankles.

55. I once caught my boss and a stock clerk having sex in a fitting   room.

56. I have worked in a lot of retail stores.

57. I have worked in a lot of restaurants.

58. If the choice were left up to me there would be no paper products in my kitchen.

59. I quit wearing makeup when I was thirty.

60. I am a good painter…of walls not canvas.

61. If I had to be a sound I would be the clanging of the last bell of the school day.

62. The computer and Internet have changed and improved my life forever.

63. I have had the same basic hair cut for over thirty years.

64. I never had acne.

65. I fell off a bicycle and broke my front tooth when I was eight.

66. To win a wager I might make the climb to the top of a water tower but it would require being unconscious to get me back down.

67. I won a blue ribbon for my fried chicken at the county fair when I was in 4-H.

68. Also in 4H. I went to the state competition in public speaking with a speech on littering.

69. I use to sew and made all of my maternity cloths, curtains, you name it.

70. I have not touched a sewing machine in years.

71. My husband gave me a new sewing machine last year but I still haven’t used it.  Update:  It's now four years and the machine is still in the box. 

72. I love to iron on rainy days.

73. I see myself as a chameleon made up of tiny bits of Annie Oakley, Margaret Houlihan, and Julia Sugarbaker, with a sprinkling of Harriet Olson, and a whole lot of Jessica Fletcher.

74. I have trouble being vulnerable.

75. My husband is the perfect balance for me.

76. I really try to listen, but I can’t help interrupting when I have an idea

77. At another time in history I would have, without question, donned a prairie bonnet, and walked from Missouri to Montana behind a Conestoga wagon.

78. Mice cause me to climb on tables.

79. Horror movies give me nightmares.

80. I have found blogging more cathartic, cheaper and helpful than therapy.

81. As a young girl I enjoyed exploring my grandfather’s pockets. See that post here.   

82. One birthday, when I was pregnant, I awoke to find a birthday card standing on my stomach. See that post here.   

83. I once dated a man who invited me to lunch. He picked me up with a car load of yapping Pekinese in the back seat. He then took me through the drive thru at Taco Bell and we ate in the parking lot as the dogs ate from our laps. He choose that restaurant because it was the dogs’ favorite. That was our last date.  

84. I once attended a four room school house.

85. I went to grade school with a girl who claimed to be the niece of Dick Clark of American Bandstand fame.

86. I like to relax before bedtime by playing games on Pogo.

87. I love baskets, boxes and all types of decorative containers. I don’t think it is possible to have too many.

88. My favorite department in a store is the stationary department.

89. I got drunk for the first and last time when I was twenty. I have rarely had a drink since then.

90. I tried smoking one time as a teen. I have never smoked since.

91. The older I get the more I see other family members looking back at me in the mirror.  Especially my Aunt Ceal and sometimes my cousin Janet.

92. I have my mother’s hands.

93. I do not like my profile. I hate to see pictures of me in profile.

94. As a child I liked to play with the flab on my grandmother's arms. I’m surprised that she actually let me.

95. I am now starting to get my grandmother's arms.

96. I do not think of myself as old, but it is an old person who looks back at me from the mirror.

97. I would like to remove all the mirrors from my house.

98. I did not use to believe in soul mates. I do now since I found mine.

99. My husband wishes we had met when we were younger. I do not think he would have liked me back then. I only learned to like myself in the last six years.

100. I still thank the Lord every day for bringing my dear Frank into my life. He has brought peace, joy, wonder, fun into my life. He is also the best friend a gal could ever want. Frank, I love you more every day

The I Meme

I am: often invisible to those around me.
I live: in a small rural town that is rapidly becoming a city.
I laugh: until I pee my pants or stop breathing.
I think: I would have been happier as a member of my mother’s generation.
I know: I am one of the luckiest people on the planet.
I want: my life to be validated by something that will be remembered long after I am gone.
I have: more than I need and all that I could possibly hope for.
I wish: I could relive the last day of my first husband's life.
I hate: people who think they know it all and believe they are better than they actually are .
I hide: all of my written journals.
I pray: every day for health and happiness for those I love.
I burn: candles whenever I am home alone.
I rode: a ferry around Staten Island.
I sometimes: like to eat peanut butter from the jar.
I hurt: most when those I love are hurting.
I save: old greeting cards, useless CD’s, pens and pencils and dozens of other items.
I miss: my job but am thankful I do not have to go there ever again.
I fear: for the quality of the world that we will leave our grandchildren.
I applaud: all those who have the ability to put others first.
I wait: for the day when I can afford to travel the world, but, I know it will never come.
I need: to work harder at improving my spelling.
I made: my first plane trip at age 60.
I don’t: watch television news programs.
I take: life one day at a time.
I believe: in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and in all things magical.
I drive: my husband nuts with the amount of time I spend on the PC.
I forgive: my father for naming me Rita, but I still wish he had named me Betty.
I hope: I live long enough to see world peace.
I feel: each of us needs to take a greater part in helping to shape the lives of young people.
I hear: everything around me but I actually take in very little of what I hear.
I smell: roses and immediately get transported back to the capital building rose garden in Montgomery, Alabama.
I crave: donuts and chocolate.
I search: every store for all the bargains.
I wonder: when I will get my fifteen minutes of fame.
I regret: that I have let some very important people in my life slip away without telling them how I felt.
I love: to spend days seeking adventures with my dear Frank.
I ache: all over due to my fibromyalgia.
I am not: the person most people perceive me to be.
I imagine: the world would be a better place if we could all agree to disagree and respect that decision.
I believe: the world is teetering on the edge of no return.
I dance: only in my dreams.
I sing: only for infants.
I cry: at the drop of a feather.
I don’t always: do my dishes as soon as the meal is over.
I fight: tooth and nail for those I care about.
I write: because it keeps me sane.
I win: anytime I can avoid raising my voice in anger.
I lose: every time I let my temper get out of control.
I am never: going to cook fried chicken again.
I never: go swimming in the river.
I need: to learn to be more like my mother.
I cherish: Aunt Ceal’s ruby ring.
I expect: too much of myself.
I had: the security code for a bank vault.
I always: try to do the moral or Christian thing regardless of other’s opinions.
I confuse: my nephews Adam and Nathan.
I listen: to children at play.
I can: usually be found: sitting at my computer
I am scared: that I will have no one to care for me in my old age
I need: serenity and harmony in my life before all other things
I am happy: when Frank smiles at me.