25 things about myself

I was sent this on face book and thought I would do it here. I'm supposed to write 25 things about myself and then send this to 25 people and have them do the same. Here goes...

1. I miss reading terribly but still don't do much of it. I used to be an avid reader. I would always have more than one book started and read every day. I use my kids as an excuse (a good one at times) but I could curl up with a book at the end of the day as easily as turning on the TV. TV has just become an end of the day habit to me and I need to break it. I still always have several books started at once but I almost never finish any of them!

2. I am sitting in a cabin in the woods. My family and I are spending a few days at our family cabin and going to work and school from here instead of home. Its cozy warm with the wood stove going but there is not running water so I have to limit how much coffee I drink or I will have to go out into the snow to pee. Brrrrrr.

3. I stopped spanking my kids as a New Years Resolution this year. I haven't noticed a huge difference in anything but I just can't justify doing it anymore when my belief is that there are other ways to discipline. Spanking is easier sometimes and definitely gets their attention but does it accomplish anything...I don't think so.

4. I love the outdoors but spend most of my time inside. Three kids 4 and under are just complicated to get outside and once I get them out there sometimes I think, what is the point. Plus I have so many unfinished chores inside at all times I feel obligated to go inside and work on them. Hopefully when this winter weather breaks and Molly is a little bigger it will be easier to get outdoors again.

5. I miss having non children related things going on in my life. I still do some other things but 90% of what goes through my brain (except for work) is child related and it tends to drown out the Angie that had the kids originally. She'll be back, I just miss her sometimes.

6. I have been a board member of the Friends of Sugar Creek for 8 years.

7. I cloth diapered my first two kids and have just switched back to cloth with my third. I'm just so tired of spending money on diapers...we will see how long this lasts.

8. My biggest pet peeve is when someone says "I need to talk to you" and then they don't tell me what it is about. I go crazy with ideas of what it could be; something I did that made them hate me; something I forgot to do; something bad; something very very bad...maybe I'm paranoid.

9. I took Suzuki violin lessons from second grade to sixth. Now, I could probably play twinkle twinkle little star on a violin but not much else.

10. When I was little, I truly believed I could be an Olympic gymnast if my parents would just sign me up for lessons. I took a few but was in ten thousand other activities also. I joined the HS gymnastics team and did pretty well and still at that stage believed it was my parent's fault that I was not an Olympic gold medalist.

11. I love gardening and eating fresh garden produce.

12. I do not love butchering chickens but we raise meat chickens and I love having them in my freezer...wow I'm sounding a little crunchy.

13. With all the crunchy things I do, recycling more often than not, does not happen at my house...bad bad Angie. No curbside pickup in the country.

14. My dog cut his ear and bled all over my house. I keep finding spots on random walls, toys, beds, floors and furniture where he shook his head and splattered blood. He is stuck on the back porch until he recovers fully.

15. I relate to my oldest daughter often because I have two younger brothers and am just as bossy as she is.

16. I like to go canoeing but have not been in a canoe for over a year. Maybe this spring I can change that.

17. We heat with wood at our house. We have an outdoor wood furnace. It eats a lot of wood but it beats having a gas bill. My husband works his butt off cutting wood for us all winter. Again, once the kids are a little bigger we can help him.

18. I'm not a big fan of tomatoes. They gross me out when I cut them up. I like garden tomatoes with certain things but I have to work hard not to be grossed out by them. Once they are in food I'm fine with them.

19. I wish my kids could go to the school I went to and I am concerned about the school district we live in. The thought of it makes me cringe.

20. I like all types of music but am stuck in a rut of music that was produced before 1995. Does that make me old? I just don't know a lot of new stuff. I probably know more than I think.

21. I lived in Oregon. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I would move there again if it was an hour drive from my parent's house.

22. I have never been to Europe but my youngest brother lives in England so hopefully that will change soon.

23. I used to know most of the constellations, I worked in a nature center with daily planetarium shows. I miss knowing what is going on in the night sky...planets, seasonal constellations, meteor showers etc.

24. The greatest job I ever had was working as a seasonal naturalist at Turkey Run State Park. It was seasonal so I didn't get to work through the winter and it paid less than 10 dollars/hour so it wasn't something I could do for life but I LOVED it.

25. These words are not allowed in my house; hate, stupid; butt; fart; crap; poop (only in the bathroom) and the obvious other four letter ones that I wont list.