20 Things You May Not Know About Me

My tattoo as designed by my daughter.

I am 5 ft 4 1/4 inches.  The 1/4 is very important.  My height places me smack dab between petite and average clothing.  Sometimes it's a pain.

My grandmother came to this country from Italy through Ellis Island.  So I am 1/4 Italian (told you the 1/4 was important).  The rest of my family were mutts - mostly from the Irish side of the world.

I have excellent penmanship.  I went to Catholic school until 6th grade and the nuns put a lot of emphasis on penmanship.  The problem is that I write very slowly since I'm concerned about it looking good.  I failed shorthand in high school...I blame the nuns.

I was married to my practice husband two weeks after graduation from high school.  It lasted a little over 2 years but felt like 30.  Next April I will be married 30 years...it feels like two.

At one time I could type 90 wpm with fewer than 3 errors.  Now?  Not so much.

I can roll my r's.

My favorite color is blue.  It used to be red and for awhile it was pink but really, when selecting colors of anything, I am always drawn to to the blue.  So Universe, I have officially given up...you win...my favorite color is blue, teal, aqua, turquoise, royal, baby, sky...whatever, so long as it's blue.

My favorite food is pizza.

I have only worked for 6 companies in all of my life.

I was baptized and raised Catholic.  My children were baptized and raised as Catholics. I have worshiped as a Methodist and Baptist as well.  In reality, I am most likely a Christian Buddhist.  I believe God sent many Buddah's prior to sending his Son.  For thousands of years before Christ, there were Buddah's who taught love, acceptance, and peace as the path to enlightenment or God.  Then I think He got fed up and said, "You all have one more shot.  I'm sending my Son and if you can't get it right this time then there will be hell to pay (literally!)"  I REALLY hope we can get it right this time.

I am a card carrying Republican but only in the fiscal sense.  Really I'm a member of the "let's just do what makes sense" party.  I'm sick of all the stuffed shirts in Washington and I'm a huge supporter of term limitations.  The Founding Fathers did not mean for people to enter Congress and be there forever.  If you were uneducated you were expected to serve in the military.  If you were an educated man, you were expected to serve in the Congress and then get the hell out and go back to your life and make room for someone else.  I would love to give Washington a lesson in Civics and Political Science.

I have raised or given birth and am raising a total of six children.  My niece and nephew from my drug addict, crazy sister who we raised and who think of my husband and I as their parents.  My step daughter who is actually my husband's step daughter.  But love doesn't care about sperm and egg doners and she's our daughter plain and simple.  Then my three boys.  I also have a grand niece and nephew, two granddaughters and one grandson...and a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeee.

I have two tattoos.  My sobriety date on my right wrist.  The OM symbol on my lower back (my root chakra) surrounded by six cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms because my hometown is Washington, DC. and one blossom for each of my kids.  My daughter designed the tattoo which makes it all the more special.  I'm getting a new one with my friend soon.  I figure that I'll be 51 this year and if I want to be tatted up then I will be!!!!  (But only where I can see it - I'm still a banker after all. ;-) )  I'm thinking "Follow the Breath" or something like that.

I loathe board games.  There's a reason they are called "bored" games.

I love cartoons.  I watched Saturday morning cartoons well into my twenties.  My boys love them too and so now I watch with them.

I love Lego's as much as I love Barbie's.  I once built a working fire truck and a space shuttle out of Lego's. 

I have no gray hair...yet. (I'm 50 until Wednesday.)

I love TV.  All kinds of TV.  I guess it's because I was a child when TV was still fairly new.  It is ALWAYS on in our home and we watch together most of the time.  I love reality TV, game shows, dramas, I even used to love soap operas.  Frisco and Felicia anyone?  And I LOVED Dark Shadows.  I wasn't supposed to watch it because it was too "dark" but I did anyway. 

I have only been truly in love once in my life...and I still am.

I am a recovering alcoholic and I thank God for pulling me out of that hell hole everyday.

People shop for a bathing suit with more care than they do a husband or wife. The rules are the same. Look for something you'll feel comfortable wearing. Allow for room to grow.                ~ Erma  Bombeck

Oh...and I adored (adore?) Erma Bombeck.