Things About Me

I know, I should have done this a long time ago. I was going to just put it in my sidebar, but the only way I know how to publish this so I can put it there is to first make it a normal post. Its a work in progress.

Things About Me (updated March 2007)

1. I am the youngest of four children.
2. All four of us have first names that start with D and have 5 letters. My brothers were fraternal twins.
3. My husband is the youngest child of 3, and they all have first names that start with D and have 5 letters. Weird, huh?
4. My parents divorced when I was in my late 20’s.
5. I have a teen-age half-brother.
6. I got married at 24 and divorced at 30. Re-married at 36 in 2000 (I think I got it right this time).
7. One of my brothers has been divorced 3 times, the other 2, and me once. My sister is the only one who made a good decision out of the gate.
8. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Vancouver, British Columbia.
9. I’ve lived in the Bay Area of California since July 1988.
10. I am still a Canadian citizen.
11. I drive a 2001 VW Jetta.
12. I also own a 1993 Ranger pick-up and a 1996 Sea-Doo jet ski.
13. I cannot read music, play a musical instrument or sing (in key).
14. I seldom go anywhere without my iPod.
15. I have a gym membership and actually use it, even though I hate working out.
16. I’ve been involved in drum & bugle corps since I was 11.
17. I’ve been to 40+ of the 50 United States, but only 4 of the Canadian Provinces.
18. I've traveled to Belize, the UK and France. I have many more places I'd love to visit.
19. I love my dogs without reason.
20. I have friends I’ve known since elementary school.
21. I love to read.
22. I was on the Pill for over 15 years (see #24).
23. I love TV.
24. My favorite TV show was Alias, now its Grey's Anatomy or Lost.
25. I’m not a very good cook, but I have mastered a couple of good dishes.
26. I never wanted children until I met my current husband.
27. We tried for a long time and I was never able to conceive. We have decided to remain childless (see #57).
28. My maternal great-grandmother was a gypsy.
29. I took 6 years of French but cannot speak or read it for crap.
30. I never went to college.
31. When I was in high school I wanted to be a lawyer -- now I just work with them.
32. We live in a great house on 2 undeveloped acres in an unincorporated part of my county.
33. I hate flying.
34. I like brussel sprouts.
35. I was diagnosed with endometriosis at 20.
36. I started going gray at 30.
37. I’ve been dying my hair for over 10 years. I've had long hair for most of my life, it's one of my security blankets. I have great hair.
38. I’ve worn glasses since I was 3 (I now wear contacts).
39. I hate housework but have a low tolerance for clutter, dust and dirty dishes.
40. I’ve been involved with securities/equity/stock options since my first job in 1984.
41. I have a very strained relationship with my Mother, I talk to her a couple times a year and send flowers for her birthday and a centerpiece at Christmas.
42. I have a much better relationship with my Dad now than when I was growing up.
43. I’ve met Mikhail Baryshnikov -- he’s shorter than me, but gorgeous.
44. I love historical fiction and period movies (Amadeus, Dangerous Liaisons, The Count of Monte Cristo).
45. I have a very weak stomach. I once got sea-sick in a canoe. On a lake.
46. My half-brother is the same age as my oldest nephew.
47. My Dad's common-law wife (the mother of my half-brother) is his first cousin. Their mothers were sisters. She lived for most of her adult life as a lesbian. Yeah, we're not the Cleavers.
48. I love flowers and plants but don’t have much of a green thumb.
49. I am a whiz at Scrabble and crossword puzzles.
50. Ice cream is my favorite food.
51. I believe in therapy and have been in and out since 1994 (currently out).
52. I've done a total of 6 years of therapy, almost all of it dealing with my incest and abuse issues.
53. My brother abused me from the age of 3 to the age of 11. I was also raped by a friend of his at the age of 12.
54. That brother died in a car accident in 2005. I did not attend the funeral (although I did attend a family gathering in his honor).
55. I love photography and hope to go on an African safari sometime in my life.
56. I have a brother and a brother-in-law with the same name (spelt differently).
57. I’ve never had a bikini wax.
58. Our dogs sleep on the bed with us.
59. I don’t like math, even though I have to deal with numbers a lot for my job.
60. I need a calculator to do even the simplest calculations.
61. I love the internet (thanks Al Gore!).
62. I have a grown step-son (born in 1982) and a toddler step-grandson (born in 2003), I met them both for the first time in early 2006.
63. I've been a consultant since 2003. I like it much better than being an employee. Update: I'm now an employee, but of a consulting company, so I'm sort of a hybrid at this point.
64. I started English riding lessons in June 2006, my teacher says I am a natural. I look good in a classic black velvet riding helmet.
65. I am a weather wimp. My comfort zone is the 20 degrees between 65 and 85. Anything colder or hotter than that and I am uncomfortable. I believe the temperature outside should NEVER be more than your internal body temperature. That's just wrong.
66. I can type really fast. I used to be a whiz at 10-key too but I'm out of practice.
67. I am an unabashed liberal, way too liberal to be a Democrat -- I can't vote but I do have a lot of political opinions.
68. My husband is a card-carrying NRA member. We don't discuss this.
69. I don't eat seafood of any kind, except for the occasional plate of fish and chips (you can make almost anything edible if its covered in enough batter and fried).
70. My Dad was a part-time commercial fisherman when I was a kid (see #69).
71. On January 21, 2007 I became the owner of a gorgeous 7 year-old thoroughbred mare named Missy (show name is Mystere).

I'll add more as I think of things.