Celebrate, Well, Me!

In honor of my upcoming birthday, I thought it would be fun to share some random facts about myself. I will be busy all day on my birthday, so now seemed as good a time as any.

1. First-- this is a little bit of a secret-- I still have all my journals from growing up. (I'm on about #16 now.) My oldest journal is from first grade. I was with two of my best friends this summer and they were saying what trash their journals were and how pointless they were. I think one of them had thrown away all their journals except the most recent ones. I held my tongue when I should have spoken up and not pretended to agree with them. Because the fact is, it's not that I think my journal from first grade is particularly profound, but the very idea of throwing away my journals makes me feel very sad. Never! I am a record keeper. Not a beautiful record keeper. Not a brilliant record keeper. But a record keeper nonetheless.

(Clearly, life's moments need to be captured: Cliff jumping in the Apostle Islands.)

2. I'm a little bit obsessive about names, specifically, my name. My first name is unusual. In the baby name books, you would find it under boys' names. It's Irish. It means "little fiery one" -- I liked to think of that meaning "passionate about life." My middle name is my great-grandfather's last name backwards. He used it as a pen name when publishing his poems in the local newspaper. My maiden name was an interjection-- how fun is that! And my married name is a noun. I have given a lot of thought to names over the years. One of the best things about writing when I was a kid was naming my characters. My parents even got me a baby name book when I was young, just because of that obsession.

(Little Fiery One, backwards surname, exclamation/noun!)

3. The (not super important but really intelligence-enhancing) gift I covet the most is a memory for facts. I fail at knowing trivia. I even fail at remembering things I'm really interested in-- like facts from books or history. Some friends recently introduced us to www.sporcle.com (it's highly addictive and time-wasting), and I have been disappointed to be reminded of this fault. Sometimes, it feels like such a waste of time to learn anything because I know that if I want to know it, I will have to learn it fifteen times before I know it . . . and then relearn it again after any time elapses. This, as you may be able to imagine, is highly aggravating. Probably this seems even more desirable because I know so many people who naturally have this gift-- one of my older brothers, my husband, my friend Kristi, and three of my sophomore roommates, to name just a few stellar examples of this.

(For example, Sporcle asked the name of this author. I have read this book in French and English, and I still couldn't remember!)

4. Along those lines, I always wanted to be one of those girls who was good at math and science. First, my dad loves math and science and he really did an awesome job of making them look cool and desirable. Second, when I got older, I began to realize that girls who liked reading and writing were a dime a dozen. Third, when I got even older, I began to notice scholarships for girls who were pursuing degrees in fields related to math and science. In every way, I just thought that was awesome. However, my gifts lie another direction. And I've accepted that, but I can't help but think my friend Libby is a genius-- with her master's in mathematics.

(Madame Curie-- way to go, woman!)

5. My inspiration growing up were fictional girls: Anne Shirley, Jo March, and Lizzy Bennett. Perhaps it's cliched and old-fashioned, but I adored every fiery, energetic, passionate one of them!

6. I admire my dad because he is a genuine lover of people and life. He loves all kinds of people. He loves to get out of his comfort zone and meet people and have interesting experiences. He loves to observe people. He is very easy to talk to, and he was my confidante when I was a kid. I remember slaying dragons with him while my mom was in a late-night meeting when I was a kid. He loves books. He read The Secret Garden and Tom's Secret Garden and later Dune with me. One daddy-daughter date with him included walking around Walmart telling outlandish stories about people we saw. Might make you a little uncomfortable next time you see people looking at you while you're at Walmart, but there you have it. Also, my dad is always striving to improve himself.

7. I admire my mom because she is whole-hearted. My mom is ablaze with passion for information. For a long time, different cultures were her thing-- she especially loved learning about Native Americans (and is very knowledgeable about Navajos especially) and about the Deaf Culture. When she learns something, she learns it through and through. Now, she is passionate about animals. She has a farm and can tell you the difference between Cockatoos and African Greys (both parrots but very different parrots); she can tell you about Parelli Natural Horsemanship; she can felt wool; she can give animals shots; she can bandage wounds; she can deliver animals; she can tell you about different kinds of hens. To me, my mom is a sort of renaissance woman. She's also whole-hearted in friendship. If she considers you her friend, she would be there for you 110%. She's also whole-hearted as my friend. I call her a lot. A lot. A LOT! And she talks to me a lot even though she has a lot of activities in her life.

8. My favorite color is blue. It has been for a long time. I have never been a big fan of pink.

9. As a mother of boys, I sometimes feel that boys get a bad rap. When I have girls, maybe I'll hear more negative things about girls. Recently though, I have just felt like I want to be surrounded by people who celebrate boys (not over girls or above girls, but as well as girls). I have wanted to say that boys have cute clothes. And boys are fun. And boys aren't necessarily harder to potty-train or teach to talk than girls. In fact, boys aren't necessarily harder than girls at all. And boys can grow up to love their mothers and mothers-in-law. And boys can grow up to be good husbands and fathers. I admit it, I really want to have a girl at some point. However, for now, I find absolute delight in my two beautiful, wonderful boys.

10. I hope that I will be excited about my birthday every year of my life for the rest of my life. It could be a little over the top. It could be a little silly. But it's one of those extravagances I hope my children remember fondly after I die. (My list of silly quirks they should remember is thus, so far: super enthusiastic about birthdays; lived off of anticipation of anything for several months in advance; set up the Christmas tree right after Halloween (yes, it's fake); rolled down hills and splashed in puddles; and showed off cool-looking dead bugs (though admittedly I'm really squeamish about live ones, especially if they're big).)