25 Random Things About ME

1. I LOVE rain!!! The absolutely 'pouring down in buckets' kind of rain. No wimpy "gentle mist" for me!! I also love the feel of the wind in my hair.

2. Closely related to #1----I love, love, love thunderstorms. No place does thunderstorms quite like eastern Kentucky, complete with fantastic lightning displays zig-zagging all across the sky. I used to really enjoy sitting on the porch on a sultry summer night, watching the show. AMAZING!!!

3. My most favorite fictional heroine of all time.....Elizabeth Bennet. Intelligent, down-to-earth, feisty, kind-hearted and truly genuine. What more could I aspire to be.

4. Favorite flower: Wild Roses----the kind that grow in the hedge-rows and smell so heavenly. Cultivated roses are just too perfect for me. Because I am SO not perfect, I like imperfection (and a little wildness) in other things, too. Imperfection gives character and creates interest.

5. One of my regrets-----not keeping my body in shape through the years. It's so much harder to lose weight at 43 than at 23. Oh, to have a great body again!!! I must keep at it.

6. In highschool, I had a few close "girl friends", but lots more "guy friends". I really don't know why. I think, sometimes, men can be less judgmental than many women.

7. I LOATHE drama. I strive to lead a drama-free life as much as possible. I like a quiet, simple life.

8. It has been a life-long dream of mine to visit Tuscany-----a long visit------okay, actually LIVE there, for a little while, at least. I am Italian and I firmly believe that we have a connection to our roots, however physically far removed we may be from them. How amazing it would be to walk the dusty village roads, get to know the local people, put my hands in the soil----in the same soil that my ancestors did, once upon a time.

9. Directly related to #8----a favorite movie of mine, yep, "Under the Tuscan Sun"!!!!

10. I might regret telling this one----I've been covering up the gray since I was in my mid-20s.

11. I have fibromyalgia.

12. I love biscotti, any flavor!

13. Another dream of mine, after living in Tuscany for a while, is to buy a piece of property in the mountains, away from the world, and live off-grid, off the land, in a cabin, surrounded by trees, a river and a lovely meadow nearby----with a garden and some chickens, a few goats, maybe. Pipe dream, I suppose, but at least I can dream.......

14. I adore cats! I can't imagine my life without them in it.

15. I am shamlessly domestic and a little old-fashioned. I enjoy cooking, hanging out my laundry and the general "art of home-making". Don't expect me to apologize for not being a "career-woman" because I won't.

16. I believe that people should SLOW DOWN and enjoy the beauty of doing....."NOTHING"......cloud-watching, front porch-swinging, day dreaming.

17. I love "treasure hunting" in thrift shops.

18. I was born in San Francisco, grew up in Humboldt County, lived in eastern Kentucky for 15 years, and moved back to Humboldt County 6 years ago.

19. I love wearing jeans, knitted sweaters and hats. I am mostly a cooler weather kind of girl, although, as I get older, my body definitely appreciates warmth.

20. I've never met my biological father.

21. I own a single square foot of land on a country estate in Scotland. Really....it's weird, but totally true!!!

22. I used to wear contact lenses, but I was so afraid to stick them on my eyeballs it would take me at least 30 minutes for each eye, so I finally gave up on them and went back to glasses.

23. I spent a week in Canada with my family enjoying Niagara Falls and other various points of interest in Ontario. On the way into the country, cars were randomly being searched and.....yep....our lucky day. We had to pull EVERYTHING out of our car, along with 3 kids and all their travel paraphernalia and stand away from the vehicle while the border patrol/customs people searched our car. Come on!! WHO, in their right mind, would travel to Canada, by car, with THREE tired and cranky kids just to...what....smuggle something illegal into the country???!!! REALLY!!!!!

24. I have spent more vacations in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee than I can count.

25. My oldest son, who is only 21, is an Iraq War veteran, my middle son graduates from high school this year, and I homeschool my youngest son.