50 Things About Me

My daughter Melanie came up with the "50 Things About Me" entry, so I thought that I could do it too.

I also thought it would take me a few days to come up with 50 different traits, but I did it in about two hours. These are totally random things I thought about.

50 Things About Me

1. I love anything sweet - candy, cake, pie, cheesecake, etc.

2. I am very claustrophobic. Elevators, planes, tunnels, etc. will elicit this feeling.

3. I need a certain amount of quiet, alone time every day.

4. If I had it do to all over again, I probably wouldn't become an English teacher (this ties in with #3 above)

5. I love to read. If I am into a good book, I won't leave it alone until it's finished. I will stay up half the night to finish it.

6. I belong to two book clubs. The Butler Book Club (women who all taught at Butler Middle School) has been meeting for 25 years.

7. I have no athletic ability. In school, kids didn't want to pick me for their team because I played so awful.

8. I am fairly good at ping-pong. My family used to play ping-pong in the recreation room downstairs when I was growing up.

9. I don't like radishes.

10. I eat a very small amount of meat because I just don't like it that much.

11. Salmon and halibut are fish I really like to eat.

12. I don't use any color on my hair. It has very little grey in it. My mother, her sisters, and my grandmother all had this same genetic disposition.

13. I love to go to plays--the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, the Pioneer Theater, etc.

14. Any kind of ball game is extremely boring to watch--whether on TV or in the stadium. It feels like I am sitting in a dark closet for several hours. It is that BORING!!!!

15. I have a special affection for our grandchildren. I love spending time with them.

16. There is nothing more relaxing than a pedicure and foot massage. It is heaven.

17. I really miss my mother. Sometimes I will think, "Oh, I can tell this to Mother," only to remember that she is gone.

18. My favorite hobby is scrapbooking. Since Paul and I have been married, I have filled 36 scrapbooks.

19. It bugs me when people write the incorrect form of the homonyms "your" and "you're".

20. I have never kept a journal or diary until a year ago when I started doing this blog.

21. I really dislike arrogant people.

22. The last 11 years have been some of the happiest years of my life (married to Paul).

23. I was a polio pioneer. While in grade school, I remember standing in a line to wait my turn for the first polio vaccine. It was in the form of a sugar cube with the vaccine dropped into it. We each received a special card saying "polio pioneer". I still wish I had that card.

24. I hate to fly. I do it anyway, but I don't like it.

25 My favorite flowers are tulips.

26. I can't speak French, even though I minored in French at BYU, and I also lived in France for five months.

27. I adore my father.

28. Air conditioning is a wonderful thing. I would hate to live without it (like I did as a child and also as a teacher).

29. I have exceptionally nice step-children. Their spouses are equally nice.

30. I miss my little dog Chimi who passed away seven years ago. I was very attached to her. I must say, though, that most people didn't like her at all.

31. As a teenager, I had acne. A dermatologist gave my brother Kent and I radiation teatments to cure our acne. As a result, Kent and I have had skin cancer tumors on our faces. I have also had tumors on my thyroid, shoulders, and eyelid. These were all caused from the treatments from the dermatologist.

32. I love to eat. I wish I didn't, but I do.

33. I like to play the piano to entertain myself.

34. I enjoy teaching piano lessons because I can work with one student at a time. Also, it is a big reinforcement to me to hear my students play well at the yearly recital.

35. My brothers both have made A LOT more money in their careers than I have. I am a bit jealous of that.

36. I have two Master's Degrees. One is in education, and the other is in school counseling.

37. When I was in my 40's and went to graduate school, taking tests was harder than when I took tests for my bachelor's degree in 1967. Writing papers in my 40's was easier, however.

38. My two duaghters have brought me great joy in life. I love them dearly.

39. I am not an early morning person. I am not cheerful in the morning.

40. I make friends easily.

41. I don't know if I am right-brained or left-brained, but I have the brain that is not creative.

42. Blowing wind is really annoying to me.

43. I don't like confrontation. I will avoid an argument if I can.

44. I was really shy when I was young.

45. I hate to stand up in front of a group of people and talk.

46. I am dependable. If I say I will do something, then I will for sure do it.

47. I received the "fastest typist in the school" award when I was a senior in high school. (That was in 1963.)

48. My lowest grade at BYU was a "C-" in tennis class. The teacher said that I failed every skills test, but my exam score and composition kep me from failing the class.

49. My AP English teacher in high school (Douglas Spainhower) inspired me to major in English at BYU.

50. I think that I am a patient person. One of my fellow teachers at Alta High School told me I was extremely patient in dealing with my sophomore English classes. (She could hear me teach through the thin walls separating us.)