Foto Friday

Coming soon: An explanation of why I stopped blogging for New Year's and why, for Lent (and beyond), I've decided to start blogging again.

Monday Meme

Yes, I'm alive (thanks, Tom, for asking)! I have a blog post about my blogging absence which I'll post soon. Until then, this is a meme that has taken facebook by storm:

25 Random Things Meme

1) I owe my family to the gal who tagged me for this meme, Charlene. She was supposed to embark on the Carnival cruise ship Sensation as the Production Singer but got cast in the National Tour of Miss Saigon and told Carnival I was available to take her place. I flew out to the Sensation less than a week later then after 3 months there was transferred to the Carnival Fantasy where I met Dan who was the orchestra pianist. Thanks, Charlene!

2) I am a die hard Washington Redskins and NFL football fan. I can hold my own against any guy when discussing football. My parents recently sent me my 37-year old, size 2T, Redskins coat that Ittyboy will be sporting next season.

3) Dan is a Green Bay Packers fan. Had he been a Cowboys fan we would probably not be married. I hate the Cowboys that much.

4) Dan is the 2nd of 14 children (12 boys, 2 girls). He was the first of his siblings to get married. No pressure there.

5) I'm seriously thinking of giving up facebook for Lent. I may be addicted.

6) I suffer from panic attacks. So far I've been able to control them without meds. Stress and clutter will trigger them.

7) I've traveled down the Amazon River in a canoe.

8) The first apartment Dan and I lived in caught on fire. (Just 2 months after getting married.) Miraculously, even though the 4 apartments behind us and the 2 next to us were destroyed, ours suffered only minor smoke damage.

9) For years after that fire I slept in sweats with my shoes and a flashlight under my bed. (The fire occurred in the middle of the night.)

10) Bittyman's middle name is Michael. Ittyboy's is Gabriel. Archangels are awesome.

11) Dan is a type 1 (juvenile) diabetic. Dan has only had one life-threatening diabetic episode in his life. It occurred when I was 8 months pregnant with Bittyman. I fully believe Dan's Guardian Angel woke me up out of a dead sleep to find Dan lying comatose next to me due to a dangerously low blood sugar. I was able to flip Dan over and administer a glucose shot before the paramedics arrived.

The only permanent damage from that incident affected the part of Dan's brain that reminds him to check the pockets of all pants before putting them in the washer. Thus why we will all be sporting M&M chocolate-stained clothing as of today. (Ittyboy likes M&M's and, apparently, saves them in his pockets.)

12) I always unload my grocery cart by where it does in my house - fridge stuff, freezer stuff, pantry stuff, household stuff - so the checker is forced to bag those items together, thus making it easier for me to unload when I get home.

13) Counting babies currently in utero, I have 23 nieces and nephews. I keep track of them with an Excel spreadsheet.

14) I really want to get a tattoo but I'm terrified of needles.

15) When I was in 2nd grade I wanted to be an oceanographer.

16) I will not wear open-toed shoes unless I've had a pedicure.

17) I make jewelry and have sold several of my pieces.

18) Often when I'm sleeping I will put one arm straight up in the air and then rub it with my other hand. It must be genetic - both Bittyman and Ittyboy do the same thing while sleeping.

19) I'd love to go to cooking school so I could cook like the contestants on Top Chef. I'm still in awe over a Quick Fire challenge in season 2: "Create an amuse bouche dish using $10 of ingredients from a vending machine." Genius! Most nights I struggle to come up with a meal using all the ingredients in my kitchen!

20) I can still do the splits.

21) I have dark brown eyes and dark brown hair but both of my boys are blond with blue eyes (like Dan as a child). I had a stranger tell me I was doing Bittyman a disservice by not admitting he was adopted.

22) I got 3 crowns over the summer. Paying for them was much more painful then getting them.

23) My confirmation saint is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

24) My little brother named one of his daughters Victoria. Her nickname is 'Tori' which is much cuter than 'Vicki'.

25) I used to be adamantly against cosmetic surgery. That was before 2 pregnancies, 2 C-sections and nursing for 45 months (and still counting). I'm back to my pre-Bittyman weight but if I had the $$$ and there was no risk, I'd get my pre-baby body back in time for my 40th birthday in June. (No amount of working out is going to lift everything back to where it started!) But I'd settle for ZOOM teeth whitening.

Consider yourself tagged if you haven't already done this on facebook!