Ten Random Facts about Meme

Because, as Ann said, who can say no to Alice? I mean, really. Being a devoted fan of Amy, Karen, and Margaret, I was already contemplating their open invitations to respond anyway. Alice just gave me the gentle nudge I needed.

1. I am the oldest of nine. Which makes me a bit bossy but fairly responsible. We were the Brady Bunch (3 girls/3 boys) for four years until the three Little Kids came along. At 27, 25, and 22, they are still (and forever will be) the three Little Kids. The youngest was born when I was a senior in high school. I loved being part of a big family, and we are all extremely close.

2. I grew up on a small lake in rural northeastern Ohio. When I say "on," I mean that the lake was our backyard. Fabulous. Waterskiing from a 1950s boat with a 35hp motor all summer and shoveling snow until you were too tired to actually skate all winter. It was the best.

3. As a child, I had an irrational fear of animals, especially dogs. When I was 16, we were visiting a family, and I actually leapt into my father's lap as he sat in their Lazy Boy recliner because I thought their German Shepherd was chasing me. I have since recovered and become a dog person, relatively speaking, but I am still afraid of all things rodent.

4. At the end of my junior year of high school, I was surprised to be chosen as the Prom Princess. oo...ah...I can tell you're impressed. My family then moved to a suburb of the booming metropolis of Youngstown, and I spent my senior year in a high school that was four times in size. If it had not been for my French 4 class, I would not have had a single friend there. No one knew that I was new, and I was extremely shy.

5. I was a Psychology major at Notre Dame. It was basically a waste of a good educational opportunity, but I wanted to be a social worker. Thankfully, I had the sense to get a minor in Theology, which, although a bit too liberal by my standards today, was intellectually excellent.

6. When I finally mustered the courage to have a friend ask this amazingly handsome guy to accompany me to a dance at my dorm, he turned me down, saying that he had to study. I was mortified. She responded that he was probably telling the truth since he was somewhat of a geek. When he approached me in the dining hall a few weeks later, I was mortified again. I was refilling the Salad Bar bowls, hair net firmly in place. He asked me to go to a play. And the rest is history. Well, sort of.

7. Way back at the beginning, when we were first dating, my husband and I both talked about wanting to adopt kids someday. But we never once thought about going international. Not until after ten years of infertility and failed domestic adoptions were our hearts ready for God to open that door.

8. My maternal grandmother had five daughters. My mother had five daughters. I have five daughters. Does this mean I may be done? Or does it mean that my future kids will all be boys? And why am I hoping to break the pattern?

9. Real random fact here. I once gave the sister of the first President Bush a ride home. As I was leaving our little parish in Lincoln, MA, she rapped on my window, opened the passenger door to my Chevette, and got in. How could I say no? Her husband's funeral had recently taken place at our church, and President Bush had attended (and we had the plaque on the pew to prove it). She was very pleasant and invited me to bring my husband back to tour her grounds any time. I never did.

10. I have traveled to China, Russia, 12 European countries, and all 48 states in the continental US, but my favorite place on Earth is still a little ole state park in western PA. We stay in rustic one room cabins without running water, and it is as close to Heaven as I have found. I've been going there since I was two months old.

Well, there you go. More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure. I have really enjoyed reading everyone else's lists---fascinating and very fun. As for tags, I'm fairly confident anyone reading this has already written theirs, but if not, please consider yourself tagged. :)