All right, already.
Here's my meme.

Things you may not know about me
1. I broke a bone or sprained an ankle every year of elementary school and one year of high school. My teacher in sixth grade asked me if my initials, A.P., stood for accident-prone. I told her they did not.

2. I have a green dot on my left arm, called a blue nevis mole. When I was young, I got sick of kids asking me what it was, so I made up a story that I tripped on the vacuum cleaner and gave myself a hickey. Later I said it was a partial tattoo, partial because I chickened out and didn't get it completed. Later I looked up the medical definition of my special dot, and told people, truthfully, that it was "a conglomeration of blood vessels formed at the surface of the skin.” Shockingly, that brought about no reaction. Perfect.

3. I used to be a right-wing conservative, and then I went on a European study tour where I studied European politics, and became an extremely happy, I-finally-see-the-light liberal. My parents would say things like, “those Europeans brainwashed you,” but after 18 years of Rush Limbaugh, three months of the other side of the coin was enough for me.

4. My sister and brother are 16 and 18 years older than me, so for most of my childhood I just lived with my parents. It used to piss me off beyond reason when people would say, "oh, you are just like an only child" because my sister and brother were such huge influences on me. I credit my sister almost 100% with my positive self-esteem. She constantly told me how cool it was that my bright orange hair made me different. My brother is mostly responsible for helping me become a writer. He read my 4th grade novel like it was the best thing ever, told me which parts to work on and which parts showed potential.

5. I got my Master's Degree in Public Policy so that I could be a legislative analyst. Instead, I wipe noses and put people in time-outs all day. This blog is my adult time.

6. I used to be a cheerleader, and this is really embarassing to me because they represent the opposite of what I believe a woman should be. That said, I was a clutsy (see above), totally dorky 8th grader, and cheerleading was the very first thing I was ever decent at, and although I was shy, I loved performing. So it brought me out of my shell. Anytime I have a new group of friends or workmates, I work hard to make sure this fact does not come to light.

Things I want to do before I die
1. Go back to Europe, this time with my husband. I would love to revisit all the places I saw in 1996: Amsterdam, Krakow, Prague, Budapest, London, Berlin. I am not big on museums or famous landmarks (and don't ask me to name any of them), but I love windy roads, canals, coffeeshops, clubs, train stations, and for some reason, city buses and trains.

2. Live debt-free.

3. Watch my boys grow up, get married, and have kids. Man I hope they live near us. I cannot believe I just said that. What am I, sixty?

4. Move with Husband into a small bungalow-style house downtown. In a city. Either Seattle or Denver or somewhere else, depending on where our kids live.

5. Create something that will make us lots of money. I have an idea, but it's a secret.

Things I cannot do
1.Give up sugar completely

2.Be a saver (of money, calories, time, whatever). So boring.

3.Arrive on time anywhere

4.Go a day without watching TV

Things I can do
1. I am a great sleeper. I can sleep anytime of day, anywhere. I can sleep deeply for 5 minutes, hear a peep in the house, jump out of bed and yet, feel refreshed. I'm like a cat.

2. Snap a decent photograph.

3. Potty train children.

4. Raise kids to be nice to each other. :)

5. Love. I am a good lover. I love deeply.

Things that attract/ed me to hubby
This list would not be as interesting without first briefly telling the story of how we met. It was at Kinko's. I caught him peeking at me over the rim of the copier (no he is not 4' tall - these are the big copiers). The next day, same thing - this normally reserved guy checking me out somewhat boldly. A week or two went by and we had the Kinko's Christmas party - an extravagent bash held on a nice college campus and where, for some odd reason, all the employees brought their own flasks. Jerry and I were the only two who were like, what the hell? He sat next to me and we started talking. And as he talked, I remembered the many, many, many checklists I had made as a child titled something like Qualities My Future Husband Will Have, and I held my breath as I checked off one, then two, then three items. First the unimportant ones like blue eyes and cute and nice bod, and then the more important ones.

1. He writes (!!!!!)

2. He had interesting things to talk about

3. He was shy, understated, modest. I had a feeling we were in our own world.

4. He had a dry sense of humor and made me laugh

5. He made me feel attractive and cute and yet... he was not overbearing in any way.

Things I say most often (at this point in my life)
1. Get your finger out of your nose

2. Be nice!

3. Can you say that without whining?

4. 1, 2, 3....

5. Honey, when are you coming home?