Ten More Things About Me

April 14, 2008

Paula from Rock the Cradle reached out and touched me for this meme.

Here are the VIR (very important rules):

  • Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

  • Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. Then,
    share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.

  • Tag a minimum of five random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

So, here we go:

Random and/or Weird Facts about FOM:

1. My nickname in college was “Beaker”, and not because I was a science-experiment geek.

It was for this:

2. I once stood on stage with my sister at a Southern Culture on the Skids show, dancing and throwing fried chicken at people.

3. I hate my teeth and would love to have them whitened but all the products I’ve tried so far are murder on my sensitive teeth.

4. I can’t do a cartwheel. This is no small regret; I feel it is a major goal I have never achieved.

5. I have to sleep with at least a sheet on me and my feet must be covered all the time. I blame Amelia from Trilogy of Terror which I secretly watched from the staircase of our apartment in Illinois. It seriously freaked me out and caused me to never, ever dangle my feet over the edge of the bed in the night. Just rereading the plot is enough to give me the willies.
Places I’d like to visit/revisit:

1. Heaven, or whatever there is for us in the ‘afterlife’. But, could I come back afterward to tell everyone?

2. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I would be a bad, bad girl and stick my entire head into the chocolate river.


3. Japan, so I can stock up on egg molds and other oddities.

4. A deserted beach somewhere in the South Pacific, with Fairly Odd Father by my side to spread the sunblock and feed me slushy drinks.

5. A college campus, although I don’t even want to think about taking classes until the kids are much, MUCH older (and self-sufficient). What would I study? Probably literature, philosophy and creative writing.

Now. . .who to tag, who to tag?

Let’s see if Another Mom Creation, Organized Chaos, Whirlwind, Nuttnbunny and Jenny’s Journal want to play.

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If you live in Massachusetts, come check out the new law affecting kids.

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Filed Under: Blog Love, Fairly Odd Me, My-Not-So-Sordid Past, New England Mamas 6 Comments

My Lovely Lady Lumps

April 9, 2008

Last September, it was the butt. Today, it was the boobs.

In less than a year’s time, I’ve hit two milestones of female aging: the colonoscopy and the mammogram.

I’ve written about my colonoscopy experience a few times already. Today, I will relay my mammogram experience to those who have not yet gone on that ride.

Unlike the colonoscopy, getting ready for a mammogram is a picnic. I did nothing special beforehand except to shave (to keep the distractions to a minimum) and apply some Tom’s of Maine deodorant. This deodorant had to be wiped off in the exam room (thanks, Mammo-Wipes)!

Good news? The exam was super fast and did not cause any bruising (which is truly amazing when you consider what these puppies went through!).

Less-than-thrilling news? Your boobs are going to be flatter than a pancake for a few teeth-gritting (oops, no, RELAX!) seconds. Don’t forget to hold your breath! And do not whimper when they come back in and say that they need to redo your right side because you flexed a muscle in your arm (although, it made me the teeniest bit proud that there IS a muscle in my arm, considering the little exercise I’ve done this winter).

So, now I wait for results. I’m not the praying sort, but I will send one up to the heavens as I open that envelope for the test results.

In the meantime, I will urge my female friends and bloggy visitors to get this exam regularly and to give thanks for the mammories we have.

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Filed Under: Fairly Odd Me, Health n Food Talk 12 Comments

Hot For Teaching*

April 7, 2008

For someone who never wanted to be a teacher, I’ve been doing quite a bit of it lately. Along with this whole homeschooling gig, I am also teaching a class in science for our homeschooling coop, and am a Religious Education teacher for our church.

That last one makes me giggle slightly hysterically. Religious Education? Me? I was the Catholic who never understood what the heck the “Trinity” was. But, now I’ve gone and joined our local Unitarian Universalist church and decided to take a stab at teaching RE to a bunch of 1st and 2nd graders.

For the past few months, we’ve been preparing for “THE PLAY”. This is a big deal in our church and includes all the children, from the Pre-K group to the Senior class. The theme was ‘heroes’ and our group decided to focus on ‘animal heroes”, like Balto the sled dog and Binti Jua the gorilla.

While doing this, I expected to sometimes enjoy the process and sometimes be incredibly frustrated by the distractible nature of seven-year-olds. I knew there would be times I’d think it would never come together. I also knew that I liked these little buggers an awful lot and would be thrilled to see them on stage.

The reaction I received from the parents was awesome too. One sent me an email that said the following,

J. is very excited and it’s so good to see him energized by the idea of being in a play. It’s a side of him I haven’t seen before and it’s been great to learn new things about my own child. I’m really looking forward to the 6th!

Another parent hugged me after it was all done; their family has had a helluva couple of years and this gesture touched me.

Admittedly, I can use the title ‘teacher’ only loosely. I do not have to stand in front of a class of 30 kids every day of the week. I do not have to deal with apathetic parents who expect the school system to raise their child. I do not have standardized tests, progress reports, or a bell ringing to end class in the middle of my sentence. But it has been interesting to see how much I enjoy working with kids, watching their eyes light up when they are interested in their project, coaxing them out of their fragile shell.

I can see why someone would fall in love with teaching.

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*I know my sister is groaning at this title, but, as she has been told, I will proclaim my love for David Lee Roth from the highest mountain until the day I die. So there.

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Filed Under: Fairly Odd Me, Homeschooling 7 Comments
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