500th Post - 100 Random Things About Me

I made it to my goal of 500 posts by the last day of the year. This post was started on May 27th, 2007.

100 Random Things About Me

1. I believe Jesus died for my sins, he was buried and rose from the dead.
2. I'm a "Grace Believer".
   
3. I've been married twice - to the same man.
4. We have two sons together.
   
5. My oldest son has Down Syndrome and was born in 1987.
6. My youngest son was born in 1989.
7. I tandem nursed my children.
8. We have homeschooled since 1992.
9. We don't believe in vaccinating, although our oldest got a few vaccines until he was 18 months old.
10. I look younger than my true age.
11. I swore all my life I'd NEVER own a "pitbull" but that all changed once LJ came into my life.
12. I've been trying to get organized since 1990. Mostly using The Sidetracked Home Executives file card system.
13. I've tried FlyLady a few times, and it finally seems to be having some effect in 2007.
14. I have finally learned that I love having my clothes folded and put away, instead of digging through piles that the cats have been laying on for days.
15. I love having enough undergarments to wash them once a week, yet still have enough for daily or multiple daily changes.
16. I love the color pink.
    
17. I also love purple. I go back and forth between having the two for my favorite color.
18. I am quite good at home repair and remodeling type work. I was the handyman of our household when I was a young girl.
19. I had an evil stepfather.
20. My mother married him when I was nine.
21. I am the oldest of 6. Actually 7, but my sisters fuss at me when I count our stepbrother.
22. My father abandoned us when I was five, leaving my pregnant mother with 4 year old me and my 2yo sister.
23. I was naturally slender, weighing between 120-125 until I was 23 when I became pregnant with my first child.
    
24. I dieted for the first time in my life when I was 29. I lost 20 pounds.
25. I was on the Montel Williams show with Joyce Vedral in 1993. I contacted her near the beginning of starting my diet using her books and she eventually asked me to be on the television show with her. She would be appalled with me now.
    
26. I started not dieting in 1997.
27. I've gained 10-12 pounds almost every year since then. I don't actually know what I weigh now.
28. I was a stay at home mom for twelve years.
    
29. They were the poorest, but best years of my adult life.
    
30. I have managed to keep a high credit rating my entire adult life.
31. I wracked up $6000 in credit card debt by 1996, joined a consumer credit counseling group and paid off that debt within 52 months.
32. We didn't have a car for three years since there wasn't enough money to maintain a vehicle (most of the credit card debt was accrued keeping the last car running).
    
33. We're in debt again, but paying it down as quickly as we can.
34. I volunteered for one year at my job before I was hired.
35. I'm currently working four days a week on a special project; I hope we can afford for me to go back to three days eventually.
36. My mother taught me to crochet when I was five years old.
37. I taught myself to knit in winter of 2004.
38. I wish I had more time to knit.
    
39. I want to knit myself a pair of socks.
    
40. Before moving to the country, I used to watch 13 hours of television every week. Now I watch only bits and pieces here and there.
41. I'm reading the Bible and actually retaining what I'm reading for the first time in my life.
    
42. We found a church to attend for the first time in twenty years.
43. I own a t-shirt design business at Cafe Press, but I don't have enough time to advertise it.
44. I have lots of "side jobs". Probably too many.
45. I love my mother with all my heart.
46. I love my mother-in-law as much as if she were my own mother.
47. I don't talk to my father anymore. He's messed up in the head. He couldn't stop harrassing me about my weight, so I cut him off. It's been over a year since I've had any contact from him. I put his email address into my kill file.
48. My evil stepfather died in 2006. I was glad. Especially for my mom, who gets survivor's benefits. My mother had mixed feelings, since her three oldest children were glad, but her three youngest children (his offspring) were sad.
    
49. I was glad when my sister's evil husband died, too.
    
50. I wish I had more time to spend with my sisters and nieces and nephews.
    
51. I love my LJ like those goofy people I said I'd never be one of.
52. My cell phone is a Nokia. I've always had Samsungs before.
53. My hair is dark brown and I keep it long. I usually wear it in a bun, like my mother has always done.
54. I finally mastered the art of putting my hair into a French twist.
    
55. I needed glasses from the time I was 9 years old, but didn't get glasses until I was 14 years old. I was in a church that prayed for me and said I wouldn't accept my healing. Finally my mom got glasses for me, through the local Lions Club.
    
56. I have only worn contacts once in my life, for about three months, then I became pregnant with my first son and my eyes couldn't take wearing contacts.
57. I used to get perms to make my straight hair wavy or curly, until I became pregnant with my first son. Then I learned to embrace my long straight hair.
58. I have always loved computers.
59. I started working when I was 17 and lied about my age so I could be bonded. I even took a lie detector test and passed.
60. My first full time job was as a mall maid.
61. I was a hotel maid for a short time and hated it.
    
62. I have worked as an accounts receivables bookkeeper in an office supply store.
63. I drove a forklift and worked in a warehouse in my twenties
64. At my current job, I mostly work with my computer. I love my computer.
    
65. It's an hour drive to my job.
    
66. My least favorite jobs in no specific order: fast food clerk, teacher, or school bus driver (to quantify - when I was growing up, I felt sorry for teachers and school bus drivers, because the children were always so disruptive and hard to control).
67. I have always wanted to keep a diary, but have failed miserably, until blogging came along.
68. We own dairy goats.
69. I know how to milk them.
70. I drink the milk raw.
71. I know how to make cheese from their milk.
    
72. I make my own kefir.
73. We own five cats.
74. We own four dogs, we had five; our alpha passed away in November.
    
75. I prefer vanilla over chocolate.
76. My favorite holidays are New Year's and Fourth of July.
77. I love to read.
78. I love to play with Photoshop.
79. I'm a recovering packrat.
80. I keep my nails cut short.
81. I can't play video games which is a recurring source of frustration between my youngest son and I. Even ds1 who has Down Syndrome can play better than me.
82. I somehow possess the ability to make food taste better, even when following the same recipe as any other person in my household (or are they just saying that because they don't want to cook? Hmmmm...)
83. I love our well water, I avoid city water as much as possible.
84. I love to garden, but haven't had a garden in more than a year now.
85. I love crunching numbers.
86. I can guess most movie plots and book plots not too far into the story, it's hard to totally surprise me.
87. My favorite soda is Dr. Pepper, but I don't drink it very often.
    
88. I love taking photos.
89. I love eating from oval plates and bowls.
90. I have a knack for picking out clothing that flatters my plus size body.
91. I enjoy sewing. I wish I had more practice at it so it wasn't such a challenge.
    
92. I wear size 8.5 shoes. My favorite brand are Aerosoles. I can actually wear heels when they are Aerosoles.
93. I wore a white wedding gown at my second marriage; it cost $25 from Goodwill.
94. I want to write books.
95. I love pens and paper.
96. I prefer the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
97. I prefer typing on a standard keyboard as opposed to a laptop keyboard.
98. I would rather be the passenger than the driver.
99. I am such a homebody that I could stay home for months on end and never experience "cabin fever".
100. I have no desire to travel to other countries, or states, for that matter.

Until next time.