8 things

Buzzardbilly and Muze Euterpe both tagged me for the 8 things meme. It's pretty simple -- I list 8 random things about myself and then tag other people to do the same. This works really well, because I'm away from home and forgot to bring my card reader, so no photos until I get home.

Hmmm... this is surprisingly difficult. Let's see how it goes:

1. I wasn't actually supposed to live. I was born prematurely, and had the whole incompatible RH blood thing going on, to boot. My parents were told that I wouldn't make it. So, really, I have always been the kind of person who, when you tell me I can't do something, has to prove you wrong.

2. When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be "an artist or a teacher." How about both?

3. I don't like coffee. Not straight-up anyway. I love the occasional mocha, but coffee out of the pot, not so much.

4. My Great-Grandfather was from a poor, small fishing village in Italy called Pescara. He died when I was very young, but I still remember the scent of the sweet cherry tobacco he used to smoke. I loathe tobacco smoke, but whenever I catch a whiff of someone smoking that kind, I smile and think of him.

5. I took piano lessons for 11 years, and my parents recently gave me the piano I learned on a a gift. I still play from time to time, but I'm kind of rusty. I'm getting back into it, though. I want to teach my kids... at least until I find a better piano teacher. :)

6. Some items on my "things to do before I die" list: land a part in a community theater play, learn to kayak, learn to speak Italian, learn how to make stained glass windows, visit Italy, visit the British Isles (more geneology study), visit every major musem in America (I'm well on my way to that one), visit the Ghost Ranch, and see Casa Azul in Mexico City. This is a very small sampling of this list.

7. I was in labor with my first child for 37 1/2 hours. It was not pleasant. It was at that point that I decided that the unmedicated, all-natural childbirth is really not my thing.

8. My oldest child is now bigger than me. I find this oddly unsettling. I am not prepared for my kids to grow up, even though that's kind of the point of parenting. I need to work on that.

I did it! That was hard. Okay, watch out ... I just might tag you!