40 Things Aout Me

30 Things about me:
1. I hate the rain so wonder why I live at the wetcoast of BC
2. I lived in Alberta as a child, maybe I should move back there
3. I am an only child
4. I am a very good organizer or should I say bossy? see#3.
5. I was in a snow mobile accident at age 23 and ended up in the hospital with 4 casts. It was New Year's eve, yes I was drinking but I wasn't driving. I was in a wheelchair for 3 mos. before there was wheelchair access to ANYTHING. I had a plate and pins in both legs. One leg is shorter than the other and I now have arthritis in that knee.
6. I love seafood and asian food. Dim Sum is my favorite.
7. I worked for the telephone co. for 31 years before early retirement in '07. I had about 10 different jobs in 4 different cities.
8. I haven't lived with a cat for five years for the first time in my life. I travel too much. Cats don't like car rides or sheepdog trials. Dogs do.
9. I did inhale but I outgrew it. So did my Mom. It was fun.
10. I love horses and had one from the time I was 13 til just a few years ago. The first time I was on a horse by myself I was two. I competed in horse shows in my teens and then rodeos in my 20s. When I was 16 I would win bets because I could jump on any horse bareback, no matter how tall. I didn't get my first saddle for the longest time because my Mom was afraid I would fall off and get my foot hung up and dragged to death. If she only knew the things we did bareback....
11. Phys Ed. and Art were my favorite classes in school. I was always involved in sports - track & field, volleyball, soccer. I played and then coached fastpitch softball for 20 yrs.
12. We lived in a logging camp the winter I was 6. I learned to ice skate on a frozen pond hanging onto a kitchen chair.
13. My parents were byb. We had an ugly little terrier mix of some sort named Cindy. She was supposed to be my dog but she was attached to my Dad. He bred her to a chihuahua to make money selling the puppies for several years. When he moved out we gave her to my aunt & uncle. I had a cat that got eaten by a dog up the street so my Mom let me pick any puppy I wanted. I chose a Samoyed because we had just been to see the movie, Nicky Sled Dog of the North. I got into obedience trials with her as a teenager. She lived to be 14.
14. I was a very shy & quiet child. Quit laughing.
15. When I was a kid in Edmonton we often played in our back alley. We had games like; jump off the roof of garages, steal apples from neighbors, have rock fights. Yes, we threw rocks at each other. I tried to introduce it at school and was quite surprised that the teachers frowned upon my idea.
16. When I was a kid, nobody's parents picked them up at school. We would have been horrified. We rode our bikes to school. We rode them everywhere - searching for pop bottles to make money to buy candy or to the swimming pool. There was no such thing as a 'mall'.
17. No I am not 96, I am only 56. At least for another 36 days.
18. I was conceived on a commercial fishing boat off the west coast of Vancouver Island. The boat, Foamcrest is still an active vessel moored in Ucluelet.
19. I love the water and boats. see #18. Had a cool little 22' motoryacht while I was married and sailed every weekend all around the Gulf & San Juan Islands.
20. I always have a book on the go. Usually a dozen or so checked out from the library.
21. My Mom used to read to me at bedtime. I always begged for just one more page. She finally just handed me the book and said 'Learn to read it yourself'. I forget how old I was, but pretty young. She & I used to take the bus downtown every Sat. morning to go to my hated tap dance lessons and then to the library. I would check out the 4 books allowed on my child's card then pick 6 more to go on her card.
22. In grade four my teacher accused me of lying when I listed about 40 or 50 books on my reading list. My Mom had a chat with her. I've read every horse book in the library. My favorites were the Black Stallion & the Silver Brumby series.
23. My Mom is the person I most admire in the world. She is 93 and lives on her own. And drives a sporty '90 Honda Prelude. She dragged me to peace marches and was the treasurer of the Green Party of BC until just a few years ago.
24. My dad left when I was 12. He spoiled me so it was a good thing he left when he did or I would have turned out way worse. He did most of the cooking. I was a picky eater and hated vegetables. They tried to make me stay at the table until I ate my peas. I outlasted them. Cindy got the peas.
25. I don't believe in organized religion. When I was 12 my Mom took me to a different church every Sunday so I could decide which one I liked for myself. I picked the holy-roller Baptist with all the singing and crying out 'Yay Lord' which I thought was very entertaining. She picked the Unitarian which is where we went from then on.
26. I don't own a dress. The last one I wore was a wedding dress in 1979.
27. I can't sing. Tone deaf. But I could play piano by ear. Which was more lessons I was forced to take because it was good for me.
28. Robbie Burns is my favorite poet. I once memorized Ode to a Louse for a school project.
29. My first job was teaching riding. My first real job was in a margarine factory. I couldn't believe that some of my co-workers had been there for TEN years!! It was mind numbing assembly line work but the pay was awesome for that time. $2.35/hour.
30. My first car was a VW bug. Now I drive a Dodge Ram 4x with an 8-hole dog topper.