43 Things About Me, Me, Me!

Hey, where else but on my blog can I be so completely self-obsessed? Don’t feel bad if you don’t read it. I know I’ll have fun reading it in a few years. Or months. Or, heck, I might even enjoy reading it tomorrow to see what has changed! Since I celebrated my 43rd birthday on the 26th, it seemed like an appropriate number of “things.”

1. I was named after both of my grandmothers: Bettsi for Bette (maternal) and Dorise for Doris (paternal)
2. I often feel bad that I didn’t name any of my children after their grandparents.
3. I’m pretty sure Mom was disappointed too.
4. I have been married twice.
5. My mother was married five times and when I was a teenager I never wanted to get married!
6. I’ve been a widow once. Once is one time too many.
7. I think I’ve been a good parent in many ways that are NOT tangible, i.e. we laugh a lot at my house and I think my children are very empathetic people.
8. I think I’ve been a bad parent in many ways that ARE tangible, i.e. Carmen still needs braces.
9. I think the way we handle adversity is our truest measure of ourselves, but I can’t say I measure up all that well.
10. I’ve loved making things since I was very little.
11. I used to tear the end pages out of books and steal the sleeves out of albums to have drawing paper.
12. One of the best things I’ve done for my daughter has been to provide lots and lots of “clear paper” as she used to call it.
13. I loved my Barbies and used to make rooms for them out of cardboard boxes and make furniture and stuff for them.
14. Sometimes Ken and Barbie would sneak off and have sex. (shhh!)
15. I was sexually precocious, a thing about myself that I regret.
16. I have four kitties and one big ol’ lovin’ hound dog.
17. My hound dog Buddy is eleven, but we’ve only had him for two years. I’m going to be so sad when he dies.
18. My husband thinks he likes dogs, but he sure gets annoyed with Buddy.
19. LOL! Sometimes I hate Hillary and Amy and Alicia and Amanda for being so popular and cool and doing great things and then I wake up and remember that I’m not in junior high anymore!
20. I am still amazed at how much my crafting life has been enriched by my online experience.
21. During my darkest time after Jerry died, I stopped crafting.
22. I struggle with perfectionism.
23. My latest thing I want to be good at is karaoke.
24. I think this is because my husband enjoys bars and at some level, I feel a need to make the time worthwhile!
25. We have a date night every Friday night.
26. You can usually find us at the 7440 Club where I am wishing I had the nerve to sing!
27. I really love to sing and when I was little and sad, singing made me feel better.
28. I think I do a pretty good job singing Amazing Grace, but I don’t think the bar crowd wants to hear it!
29. Sometimes when my first husband Jerry, was feeling stressed he would ask me to sing Amazing Grace for him.
30. When my mother was dying, I was the only one with her. I sang. I hope she liked it.
31. I adore Johnny Cash and I think the movie I Walk The Line didn’t even scratch the surface of his deep personality.
32. I like to drive fast.
33. My first car was a 1971 mustard-colored Maverick and I thought it was the shizzle! (I think that’s a good thing, right?)
34. I love to hand sew in my bed, watching tv.
35. Friday nights are the best nights on tv because SciFi Channel has all of its best shows on- Heroes, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica.
36. Unfortunately, I have to record them because that’s date night.
37. My husband is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and I wish he valued himself more.
38. I didn’t have friends in grades one through four.
39. Now I know it’s probably because I had ADHD and nobody knew what that was way back when or what to make of me!
40. Sandra befriended my in the fifth grade and I’ve loved her ever since.
41. I hate confrontation and expend a lot of energy to avoid it.
42. I have a little brother who overcame drug and alcohol addictions and it was like a miracle to me to get my little brother back after losing him for twenty years.
43. I can’t believe I could think of this much stuff to say about myself!