100 Things

1. I will be 54 June 1st.
2. I never thought I’d be so old.
3. I remember being a kid and figuring out how old I’d be in the year 2000, and was shocked that I would be 44.
4. 44 sounds young now.
5. I have one son and he will be 24 June 5th. 
6. I’m almost exactly 30 years older than he is.
7. He’s a red-head.
8. With a temper to go with it. (He also has a knock-you-to-your-knees sense of humor).
9. He is in the Navy, studying to be a sonar technician/operator (STG). He signed up for six years.
10. I’ve been married to JDub for nearly 11 years, together for 13.
11. I was divorced from my son’s dad for 8 years before remarrying.
12. That marriage ended because I just couldn’t get along with his girlfriend.
13. (I was the one who hired her to replace me at work while I was on maternity leave).
14. Ha!  Replace?
15. She finally dumped him, 2 kids later.
16. I’d long since made lemonade.
17. I’ve worked in the engineering/architectural field since 1980.
18. Started out as administrative, then moved into marketing over 20 years ago.
19. A/E marketing is really my niche because I love to write and I also love desktop publishing.
20. It’s also very stressful and deadline driven.
21. Plus, engineers are very difficult to work with.  I’m right-brained, they are not.
22. Currently (2010) I am unemployed and hoping to get on board with freelancing.
23. I've been enjoying doing some stained glass projects since I actually have the time and energy.
24. I really don’t watch much TV these days because I hate the commercials.  But I do love "Dexter."
25. "Glee” is also pretty good.
26. I hate so-called Reality TV.
27. I love to read fiction.  Always have.  Always will.
28. I also love to write.
29. I’ve had several poems published in small press literary journals and magazines.
30. Also a couple of articles.
31. My English teachers loved me.
32. My biggest regret was that I didn’t go to college.
33. Took some journalism and writing classes, but that’s it.
34. I’ve often thought if I won the lottery I would get my degree.
35. Probably in print journalism. (Which wouldn't be such a good thing these days).
36. People do it, but I just never thought I was capable of juggling single-momhood, and a full-time-job with school. (And be competent at all three).
37. I’ve noticed that there is a lot more respect for people with college degrees.
38. Sometimes, I think those people don’t deserve that respect.
39. And sometimes, I think I deserve more respect in spite of not having that degree.
40. Also, if I won the lottery, I’d have me a mini submarine.
41. I’m curious to see Dungeness crab (etc.) on the bottom of the Puget Sound without the possibility of being pinched or bitten.
42. Saltwater beaches always smell like summer.
43. Agates might as well be diamonds.
44. Well, sorta.
45. I have one brother, that’s it for siblings.
46. He is 4 years younger than me, and as kids we couldn’t stand each other.
47. Had absolutely nothing in common.
48. Now we get along really well, except for politics.
49. He finally married and had a baby at the age of 40.
50. I have a 10-year-old niece who I just adore.
51. She’s going to be TALL.  Dad is 6'4”, Mom is 5’10”.
52. My mom died in 2006, on her 70th birthday – which was also Mother’s Day.
53. My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary the year before Mom died.
54. They had retired on Camano Island, in a nice/modest home they had built in the early ‘90s.The property used to belong to my maternal grandparents.  Dad lives there alone now, except when he’s in Yuma during the winter.
55. In 1954 my grandparents paid $3,500 for that property on Camano.
    It’s now probably worth $500,000.
56. But who cares what its worth?  It’s heaven on earth!
57. John and I bought some saltwater property on Harstine Island so we can guarantee that we’ll retire on salt water.  We LOVE it there.
58. I played the clarinet and the saxophone throughout school.
59. I loved the baritone sax.  It made my body vibrate when I played it.
60. Band was my high school social life.
61. I never had a date in high school.
62. Served punch at the senior ball.
63. But I’m not bitter.
64. I just bloomed a little later than most people.
65. I’ve always been pretty smart.
66. Got good grades in school, but I worked hard for them.
67. I had a group of girlfriends that quit speaking to me.
68. I got tired of all their constant pot-smoking.
69. It had become a priority in their lives.
70. I expressed my opinion about it.
71. I guess they decided I no longer belonged in their group.
72. After knowing most of them for close to 25 years.
73. It doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it might.
74. They must have never been true friends.
75. Like Helen is. We’ve known each other since the third grade.
76. And Margaret.  We’ve known each other since the seventh grade.
77. I’ve been told by co-workers that I’m too nice.
78. Conversely, I’ve been told by supervisors that I can be “prickly”.
79. I’ve got a great sense of humor.
80. The people I appreciate the most are those who are funny and sarcastic.
81. I’m really not “funny”, but I know how to laugh.
82. I like white zin.
83. Also Manhattans.  Up. (Not too often, though).
84. I lived in Maine for the first semester of my senior year of high school.
85. I hated it there, except for meeting Ellen, my best Maine friend.
86. We kept in touch by letters for over 20 years.
87. She died at the age of 40 of a brain tumor.
88. I still miss her.
89. I absolutely, totally hate peas.
90. I grew up with dachshunds.
91. They are the best type of dog in the whole wide world.
92. They tickle the funny bone.
93. But they are difficult to housebreak.
94. I started using a computer in 1980.  An Apple.
95. I’ve been smitten ever since.  Don't use Apples anymore, though.
96. I have a bright blue 2001 New Beetle.
97. I appreciate Led Zeppelin more now than I did in the '70s.
98. I highly recommend Pat Conroy’s “Prince of Tides”.  So incredibly written.  (Forget the movie).
99. My favorite color is blue.  Like the sky.  Like the salt water.
100. I hate yellow.  Makes me think of squashed baby chicks.