Wordsmoker

1. I am actively involved in my mid-life crisis… not sure who will come out of this alive… if anyone! Myself included. I am guessing I will make it through minus a gold band on my left hand, living about 2,600 miles from my current home, and alone… that all remains to be seen.

2. I have a passion for snow skiing and cringe now that summer is upon us! Something about the chill in the air, my hair blowing in the wind, and the mastery of the sport that means freedom to me.

3. I am an awesome cook! No one speciality, pretty much everything I cook seems to come out really good…

4. On that same note… I am a very picky eater! No fish, no seafood, no beans, no this, no that… but I am nice enough to cook that sort of thing for my family as they do enjoy it.

5. I was a ballet major in college, you’d never know it to look at me now, short and still a little pudgy… but I loved dancing – and if you catch me while I am alone, still dance in the kitchen all the time!

6. I also used to dance at clubs in my late teens and early twenties. I thought I was good and it seemed like a lot of people were always watching me. I met someone after I was married who said he remembered me from the clubs… he and his friends used to go to watch me, and he claimed they went because it was foreplay! So, now I am afraid to go dancing!

7. I hate TV. There are currently 5 TV’s plugged in at my house, and I don’t watch any of them. I hate paying my cable bill for a service I don’t use! (admittedly I do watch American Idol…)

8. I have two cats. They are both sweet, loving and soft and cuddly. They both annoy me by puking on the carpets all the time. There are tile floors, wood floors both hard and soft wood… yet they always get the carpets. Do they know how much harder that is for me to clean up? Yeah… I thought so!

9. I have an amazing daughter who is almost 20 years old. She is one thing I have done that I am really proud of. She is smart, beautiful, extremely kind, and responsible. I pat myself on the back for this.

10. I totally hate shopping. I know genetically I should live for this, but I would rather live a hungry, naked existence than have to shop ever again! Can’t someone read my mind and just bring the stuff I want to me??

11. I am oddly remembered by people and it makes me wonder sometimes if I am a freak. I can go to a bank once to ask their rates, and then go back 6 months later and they all remember my name. It happens to me all the time, pretty much wherever I go.

12. I love music, like most people… but my i-tunes playlist has about 200 songs on it, mostly from the 70’s and 80’s. I play those same songs over and over and over… my family would rather be shot than to hear any of those songs ever again. They tell me I should be sick of them, but I am not. I love those songs!

13. Like many others, I was sexually abused as a child. In my case it was an older brother who was trying to get into my panties. He was a year older, a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier. It was super scary being me for those years, but for a tiny thing, I kicked butt and he never got to where he was looking to go. He tried to get his friends after me as well. They lost too. It wasn’t until I was older that I was actually raped.

14. I still have 2 grandmothers who are living. One is 94, the other 90. I keep getting told I have great genes… I wish!

15. I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma 3.5 years ago, but have had it for 7. So much for the good genes. So far I have not had treatment as my kind has no cure, but can supposedly be managed. I like the way I am managing it right now!

16. When I was first diagnosed I had been dieting for 2 years and was within 10 pounds of my goal weight. I read the statistics for my type and it said I had 5-10 years left… I freaked out and within a few months gained 30 pounds! It left me feeling pretty bad having both lymphoma and being fat!

17. I have lost 32 pounds this year alone though! I have done it through exercise mostly. I jog in a big swim spa each day and have been doing 2.5-3 hours every day unless the weather does not cooperate. It has left me feeling strong and in much better health than I have been in since my 20’s!

18. I have not worked outside the home in years. We own a body shop and I do the business books, insurance crap, advertising, etc… I am told often that I don’t work… but that story should go in my next 20 things.

19. I just started seeing a therapist last week to help me deal with my midlife issue. I am not sure what it will really accomplish, but I did it to put my husband on notice that I really want to leave. I am not sure if this is a smart thing to do or not, but it eases my guilt a bit…

20. Yeah… I got to #20… If you got here without falling asleep then I want whatever drugs you are taking!!