Ten Crazy Things About Me

Okay, blame this post on Celeste Behe at Perpetual Jubilee, who blamed hers on Danielle Bean at Faith and Family, who recommended this writer's exercise. And I'm just in the mood! Check it out: Ten Crazy Things About Me.

1. I grew up on a dairy goat farm that my mom owned and operated for about a dozen years. It was called Colanuka Farms, home to G.G.'s Goat Herd.  (Colanuka was the name of the creek that ran through the property. And G.G. is what we called our Great-Grandfather, at his insistence. "No need to waste time over the phone calling me Great-Grandpop," he said. "Wastes money!") I sometimes helped bottle-feed the thirty or so kids. One bottle in the left hand. One in the right. And two stacked between my knees.

2. I was a nut for Little House On the Prairie, and I watched it well into my twenties. My mom even purchased the complete video collection for me. I just now donated it to Goodwill.

3. I have been and always will be a slow reader. In elementary school, I struggled with reading comprehension, barely pulling a C. My former teachers would probably faint if I went back and told them that I became a book editor and writer.

4. Since I was a slow reader, I found TV much more interesting and watched it without ceasing. When my dad left the house in the morning, he would pull the cable connection at the box outside the house. But I found a way around it; ABC TV was at the end of the radio dial. This also meant that I didn't read children's literature. I learned who C.S. Lewis was only about ten years ago....and I have a degree in English literature! (I'm still catching up on all those years away from books...and loving it!)

5. I started college as an engineering major, even studied an engineering curriculum in high school for two years. It was Sister Aloysius O'Keeffe, of the Sisters of Charity, who changed my mind. I fell in love with literature in her world lit class, which all students were required to take. Who knew?

6. My first writing teacher told me to go back to engineering. My last writing teacher wouldn't grade my papers. Told me they weren't worth the ink he would use to grade them. Fooled both of them! My first job out of school? Editorial assistant at Times Books/Random House in Manhattan. I remember my first week on the job. Carol Schneider, director of publicity, introduced herself and said, "Welcome to the big time, kid!" That afternoon, Tip O'Neill stood right next to my desk. Then there was Robert Reich (I know, I know...), Lawrence Taylor, Joe Paterno, Mel Gibson, Jonathan Winters, and Latoya Jackson...to name a few. Oooo. I feel a blog post coming on here!

7. There lurks in my brain a dead spot for foreign languages, but I'm teaching my kids Latin. Go figure. Hey, for the first time I get it.

8. I am a lousy public speaker, but get me one-on-one, and I won't stop talking. My family complained for years that I talked way too much. I knew Roger was really in love with me when he told me that he actually liked listening to me yammer. First time I ever heard that!

9. My husband and I eloped. Ask me about it sometime. If you want the short version, ask me in public. But if you want all the details, get me alone, because...you know...I can't stop talki....

10. I took cello lessons for three years, as an adult. I learned something new. I found out that I could... sing. Whatdaya know?! After three years with the bow in my hand, I could play only a few scales and the opening measures of The Swan from The Carnival of Animals. But I still love that cello.

God bless!