84 Things about ME

One of my favorite Bloggers, Cathy from "YOOPER YARNS   ",

did a fun blogpost

where she was challenged

to list
84 things about her

that we didn't know...

So, now, I am going to list MY

84 Things you may not know about me....

and

I challenge all of my readers to do the same.

I think it is a great way to learn more about each other.

So, here goes!:

1. I hate the taste of mint. This is problematic for toothpaste, so I usually get cinnamon flavored or orange-flavored toothpaste.

2. I love to have my feet rubbed.  Luckily, my husband massages me all the time when we watch TV. He rubs my feet, or neck or head when I am sitting next to him or on a pillow with my head on his lap. Am I lucky, or what?

3. I love to fish, especially along the shore of our lake in a boat. And, I am pretty good at it. I tease my kids that I am the "bass master". 

4. I hate any kind of nuts, including peanuts or peanut butter. People will make desserts and say there are no nuts in something or no peanut butter, and when I taste it, I can immediately tell and call them on it...then they admit they put "just a little" nuts in it.

5. I love the smell of newborn babies. I practically inhale them.

6. I used to be very shy as a child.

7. I am an Air Force brat. My dad was in the USAF for almost 30 years and we moved a lot. He didn't retire until I was a senior in high school. 

8. When I was a sophomore in high school, my dad got orders to go to Vietnam. We lived a year without him. Luckily, he came home in one piece.

9.  I am not a smoker and hate the smell of cigarette smoke intensely. I can smell it on anyone.

10. Worse than cigarette smoke is the smell of cigars.  If one is smoked near me, it immediately triggers a headache and nausea for  me.

11. I have two lovely daughters.  One is 35 and lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin and one is 32 and lives in Florida.

12. I have three grandchildren. Nathan in 8 years old, his sister Miranda is 3 and Nicholas is 4 months old.  I miss them terribly because we don't get to see them very often.

13. I get HUGE welts from any type of bug bites and itch for weeks after being bitten.

14. I have met Loretta Swit from MASH, have had dinner with her, have e-mailed back and forth and she gave me her personal cellphone number.

15. I recently realized I have been wearing too narrow of shoes, and should be wearing a wide width when I buy new shoes.

16. I used to be in choir when I was in school, but haven't been in another choir for years now.

17. I love the ocean.

18.  I have no pets at present, but I miss them.

19.  I didn't learn how to drive a stick shift car until I was married, and got in a fight with my hubby because he stopped in the middle of highway and wouldn't drive home, making me try the stick shift to get us home....that was the only way I learned because I refused to do it before then.

20. A week after I learned to drive a stick shift, we had a little two seater red Triumph convertable car and I was at a 4 way stop by myself in it. A policeman pulled up at one stop sign and waved me through. I got so nervous I accidentally popped the clutch and laid a HUGE, loud patch when pulling out of the intersection. He just laughed and shook his head. (Whew!)  

21. I love decorating houses and rooms of houses.  Especially organizing them.  My dream job would be to be paid to come in and clear everything out of a room and start fresh organizing and decorating it for someone.

22.  I had back surgery over 15 years ago. It helped for while, but I still have back pain now.

23.  My mom came to my home when she had inoperable cancer and we cared for her until she died a few months later.

24. My mom, my dad and my husband's mom and dad have all passed away, and I had the honor of holding each one of their hands as they passed away.

25. We once lived in haunted house where the entity made noises and moved furniture.

26. I met my husband on the 4th of July.

27. I am afraid of heights, but not flying in a big airplane.

28. I used to lift weights as exercise at a gym.

29.  I went back to college when my youngest child went into kindergarten and got a degree in nursing.

30. Right after high school, I went to college to become a teacher. There were no jobs in our area then, so I quit and got married and worked instead, not going back until my kids went to school.

31. I learned to drive in high school when I lived in Kansas, but didn't drive again until I got married.

32. I will never get a permanent in my hair again. Never. Too many bad perms experience.

33. I began to turn gray at around the age of 21. My brother's hair turned white by the time he was in his early 30's . Thus, I dye my hair and have done so since college.

34. I loved and excelled at creative writing in high school, and my English teacher encouraged me to become a writer.

35. I have had radial kerotonomy surgery on both eyes.

36. My first baby was over a month premature and weighed only 4 pounds when she was born. She is a healthy young lady now with two kids of her own.

37. I once lived in  Canada for a year as a child.

38. I played the Virgin Mary in a school play when I was in first grade.

39. I was the narrator in a school  play when I was in the fourth grade.

40. I cry at all sad movies and sad TV shows.

41. I have been a bridesmaid in over 4 weddings.

42. I made all the silk flower arrangements and bouquets for a friend's wedding.

43. I was the first woman President of our local Rotary club.

44. I received the "Woman of the Year" award from the local Zonta club one year.

45. I received the "Citizen of the Year" award from the local Chamber of Commerce one year.

46. At one time in my career, I was on over 14 Boards and community clubs.

47. I worked as a maid on Mackinac Island one summer while I was in high school.

48.  When my dad passed away, I saw a mist rise from his body, and rise to the corner of the room like a twister and then disappear.

49. My hair hardly grows anymore than an inch a year.

50.  I hate any movies with violence in it.  I love comedies.

51. One of my favorite books growing up was "Catcher in the Rye".

52. I LOVE jewelry.

53. I love raspberry pie, it is my favorite.

54. I cannot make meringue that turns out good for the life of me.

55. I only drink one-half a cup a coffee at a time. As soon as it gets semi-hot, I don't like it.  Normally, I have a half a cup of coffee (and that is all) every morning.

56. I love carbs.

57. I love hairy chests on men.  Not super hairy, but some hair.

58. I have a small tattoo on  my right ankle. It is a wreath of flowers.  I got it when I turned 50 to celebrate turning a half a century.

59. I plan on getting another small tattoo when I turn 60 to celebrate.

60.  My husband's parents knew my parents before I knew my husband.

61. My father spoke and wrote Finnish, and I regret never learning it from him.

62. My worse subject in school was history. I still  hate it and cannot remember dates  or historical events.

63. I once left a job because one of the Doctors I worked with treated all the nurses (including me)  so horribly.  Years later, we became friends and when he was dying of cancer, he called me to help him.

64. I have left three other jobs because the CEO's or Adminstrators were either unethical or treated people so horribly that I could not work for them any longer.  Each time I did this, I landed jobs that were better paid and/or better jobs.

65. There are very few pain pills that don't give me horrible side effects.

66. I find humorous people are the best people in the world to have as friends.

67. I have fibromyalagia and sometimes my pain can be pretty bad.

68. I am very romantic and like to hold hands and snuggle with my hubby a lot. Luckily, he likes to do the same.

69. Discovering photography and blogging has enriched my retirement life more than I could ever imagine it would.

70. I love chocolate milkshakes and banana milkshakes, but don't have them very often due to their high calories and the fact that I think I might be a little lactose intolerant.

71. I get sad every time we take our pontoon out of the lake each fall, because I know it is a sign of a long winter ahead of me.

72. I have never learned to ski, despite the fact that I live so far north and have so much snow here.

73. I made fun of the Twilight books and movies, and then read one and got hooked. I have now read all of the books and have seen the first movie.

74. I love American Idol but only watch it when they get down to the last 20 contestants. I do not like to watch the tryouts where people embarrass themselves.

75. I love all TV shows about the paranormal or UFO's.

76. I have never hitchhiked in my life.

77. I once tried hair extensions and didn't like them. I kept them only for one week.

78.  I have only had one pedicure in my life.  I will definitely have more in the future.

79.  I only have one sibling, a brother who is 3 1/2 years older than me.  One of my biggest fears is that I will outlive him and be the only one left in my family.  I have a premonition that this will occur.

80.  My biggest fear ever is to outlive my husband.  I really can't imagine life without him by my side.

81. My favorite color is red.

82. My favorite flower scent is lilacs. I deeply inhale them every spring.

83. I love the taste of champagne.

84. I hate beer and almost all alcoholic drinks except some that don't taste like alcohol (except Champagne) so if we go out I will order Amaretto and sour or Tom Collins or some fruity, girlie drinks and even then rarely can drink more than one or two glasses.

There!!

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about me...

NOW???

It's YOUR TURN!!

What 84 things can you tell me about YOU???

I really want to KNOW!!!