Friday, January 25, 2008

Well, actually Norm, it's a little-known fact . . .

I am bored. I'm at school for parent/teacher conferences, but I'm not getting any visitors. Nobody loves me. Nobody hates me. They're all indifferent. *sigh* So I'm bored. I don't really have anything to do except hang out on the internet. Well, the sites that aren't blocked by the school district's filter, that is.

In an attempt to be part of the "in" crowd I'm stealing a blogging idea from Tiffany, one of the coolest gals I know. I used to go to a writing group at Tiffany's house. I keep meaning to steal her writing group ideas and start one here. Check back with me in a couple of years on that one. Anyhow, the idea is to share one hundred tidbits of information about myself. Here is goes.

  1. I'm breaking my zero-calorie soda rule today by drinking a Mountain Dew.
  2. I usually drink Diet Coke.
  3. I should drink water.
  4. I have a small bladder.
  5. I like to read books intended for adolescents. Especially Newbery Award winners.
  6. Writing poetry is my greatest talent.
  7. My hair is my best physical feature.
  8. Or maybe my smile.
  9. Or perhaps my eyes.
  10. Definitely not my butt or breasts.
  11. I love my second-hand store clothes. They help make my style unique.
  12. I wonder if I'll ever grow up.
  13. I worry that I'll never find complete peace.
  14. I'm smarter than I give myself credit for being.
  15. I'm not as smart as my students think I am.
  16. I'm afraid of sleeping in my house all alone.
  17. I hope my children will make it through their adolescence unscathed.
  18. I'm sure they won't.
  19. I'm worried that part of their scathing will come from me doing and saying the wrong things.
  20. My marriage is really important to me.
  21. I love my job.
  22. I love my house.
  23. I don't want to live there forever.
  24. Unless we get a second bathroom.
  25. And a better heating system.
  26. I really like to eat.
  27. I want to be a real runner again.
  28. I miss having a best girlfriend living in the same town.
  29. I have an incredible family (Mom, Dad and sibs).
  30. I couldn't have hoped for better in-laws.
  31. I think my piano is ruined, and it makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.
  32. I don't mind driving if I have mood-appropriate cds to listen to.
  33. My cd player in my car is broken.
  34. I love to be in the mountains.
  35. The mountains across the street from my house are just as beautiful as any I saw in Switzerland.
  36. I hitch-hiked on the autobahn through East Germany (in December, 1989) because I wanted to go to Berlin and hack out a graffiti-covered piece of the Berlin Wall.
  37. It was a lot harder to break than I thought it would be.
  38. I got pretty fat during the three months I spent in London.
  39. I love all the snow we're getting this winter.
  40. One time I said a swear word in the temple. I didn't mean to. I felt really bad about it.
  41. One time I said a swear word in class. I said it very quietly. I didn't feel bad about it at all.
  42. My husband's looks make me swoon.
  43. He might even be better looking with short hair than he was with long.
  44. I still want him to grow his hair out again.
  45. I liked riding on the coattails of his long-haired non-conformity.
  46. I think the little girl who gets a wig made from his hair is very lucky.
  47. I hope it sparks her spunk when she wears it.
  48. This is kind of hard.
  49. I adore my children.
  50. I want to help them to become strong women.
  51. I am saddened by the lack of positive strong female role models in our Utah society.
  52. I'm a little intimidated by the English department chair in my school.
  53. I don't read every word of every paper my students turn in.
  54. I have occasionally thrown out entire assignments because I just don't have time to grade them.
  55. Still, I am still a pretty darn good teacher.
  56. One of my favorite students was in a lock-down school before he was enrolled here.
  57. I was a little scared of him when I first heard about him.
  58. I feel silly about it all now.
  59. I get chapped lips in the winter.
  60. My face turns red easily.
  61. I am the third of four kids in my family.
  62. I met my husband on the internet.
  63. I dated far more as an adult than I dated as a teenager.
  64. I was an awkward teenager.
  65. I still feel awkward at times.
  66. I'm a democrat.
  67. I love the color red.
  68. My mom is a very classy lady.
  69. I have been a homebody since I married my husband.
  70. I used to hate to be home.
  71. I wish I had more friends.
  72. I wish I had fewer enemies.
  73. I rarely watch TV. I'm really proud of that.
  74. I am transitioning from silly morning radio shows to NPR morning news.
  75. It's about time!
  76. I also like Prairie Home Companion, Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me, and Cartalk. That NPR is good stuff.
  77. I dream of publishing my poetry one day.
  78. I'm not doing much to make that happen.
  79. I love Billy Collins.
  80. I love Crest White Strips.
  81. I really need to get some . . .
  82. I love dark chocolate.
  83. I waste too much time on the internet.
  84. But not as much as I used to.
  85. I need more closet space.
  86. I hope that some day I will be satisfied with my body the way it is.
  87. I admire my husband's unique way of thinking.
  88. I would like to express my gratitude to those I love more frequently.
  89. I would like to compliment others more freely.
  90. I would like to be less critical.
  91. The New Era paid me $10 for one of my poems when I was 16.
  92. I don't think they ever published it.
  93. It was pretty stupid.
  94. Sometimes I can act like a real know-it-all.
  95. As a rule, know-it-all people really bug me.
  96. I really like buttered movie popcorn.
  97. I rarely shave my legs in the winter.
  98. I wax my sideburns.
  99. Once I plucked my sideburns to see if it hurt less than waxing.
  100. It hurt more.

So there you have it. I don't think many of you, my meager following, are bloggers, so how about if you just leave me a comment with your top ten or twenty tidbits of information. Come on, crawl out of your shells. I know you want to. I might even have a little cookie for y'all once you come out. What do ya say?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi, I'm a WBWG alum and I loved your list. And Utah DEFINITELY needs more female role models. But I must point out a good one - the chief justice of the Utah supreme court!

Tiffany said...

This made me smile so broadly, I had to read it twice!

A few thoughts:

Your poetry floors me. Truly.

I wish I could have had you for my english teacher.

Swearing rocks. (Just kidding.)

I'm a democrat, too!

PHC and Car Talk are two of my all-time favorites.

I absolutely think you should start a writing group!!! You owe it to your neighborhood. You're too great not to share yourself.

And, finally, the title of this post is timeless.

lizzie said...

great list! hopefully i will post mine soon...miss you and your girls, especially jane!

Unknown said...

O.K. Shan, I did 50 - that was kind of fun, I can't tell you the last time I did free writing...it was freeing! :) Jeri

1.I grew up in a small town in Idaho called Weiser
2.People like to make fun of that name
3.It was a one horse town…and it was MINE!
4.People think my maiden name, “Grunke” is funny too
5.That’s what my friends in California call me
6.I worry too much
7.I speak before thinking
8.I am empathetic and sometimes pathetic
9.I love to travel
10.I love doing new things
11.I don’t want to get old even when I am old
12.I plan to win a marathon in my age bracket when I am in my 70’s
13.I can’t beat the competition today, but give me 30 years and their toast
14.I like toast with peanut butter
15.My son Colton likes peanut butter, but my other son Jameson hates it
16.I always thought I would have a girl
17.I don’t think that is going to happen, but never say never…until it is too late
18.I am not sure that I am mature enough to be a mother
19.I am not sure I am mature enough to be a good daughter
20.Why is it that when I am around my parents, I regress to my teenage years
21.I love how innocent I was as a teenager
22.When I thought kissing was a HUGE deal
23.And French kissing would mean I was one step away from sex
24.I didn’t know that people in high school were having sex
25.I miss being naïve and yet so sure of myself
26.my values, my principles, my morals and my goals
27.Now I feel a bit jaded, but still hopeful
28.I hope I can learn how to let go of anger, hurt and guilt
29.Why do I still have the “I hate you” note I got from Jahna Skorus my sophomore year of high school
30.I think I should find it and throw it away
31.Maybe I should write down every hurtful thing that is weighing me down and throw them away
32.I wonder if that would work, would it lighten my load and brighten my soul
33.I like to make people laugh
34.I like to be goofy and the center of attention
35.But I don’t want to fight for the stage
36.I am quiet in large groups of people, especially if I don’t know them
37.Yet, I speak in front of hundreds of people I don’t know as a Weight Watchers leader each week
38.I like spending time with my girl friends in small groups
39.I laugh at myself and love to tell funny stories
40.I have gray hair at my temple but only on one side of my head
41.What’s up with that?
42.I need to get my hair cut and colored, it has been over 6 months
43.I am worried about my half marathon this Sunday in San Francisco
44.It is suppose to be flat, but hello, it’s in San Francisco
45.I hope I don’t come in last place
46.I hope I can do it with minimal pain
47.I need to buy some shot blocks, those help
48.I am not a pet person
49.I don’t want a dog, but my husband and boys do
50.We’ll probably get one, I didn’t want a Wii either, but we have one

Unknown said...

Great list, Jeri! It's kind of cathartic, isn't it?

And Jahna, Schmahna. I can't think of her without thinking, "Hey Fatty, can't you ruuuun?" :)