101 things about me

101 things about me….

1. I am in my early 40s and I'm still trying to figure out how that can be...


2. If asked, I still think I'm about 28


3. But that is funny, because if you had asked me at 21 my age, I would have thought, about 28


4. I am the oldest of four children


5. My dear brother, who was 12 months younger than me, died a week after my fourth child was born ~ I'm still trying to come to terms with his death


6. Being a Mother has to be the greatest experience and calling of my life


7. I married my best friend and soul mate.


8. We are a part, more than we are together, that makes our relationship good as Im a very independent person and so is he.


9. I love pizza, I could eat pizza everyday of my life [with different toppings of coarse as to keep variety in my life]


10. I adore seafood and could eat fresh fish and shellfish daily


11. I love good, whole food


12. I love to create things


13. My favorite mediums are photography and pencil drawing


14. Someday I hope to be able to create a work of art everyday


15. I love to sew, but haven't in a while because my sewing machine is broken


16. No money for a new sewing machine because I'm saving for a good digital SLR camera, I like photography more than sewing


17. I like to knit and crochet, and pray I have many days of life when I'm older to just sit and knit and crochet and listen to music, my Nana from Sweden taught me needle work


18. I love music,,,all kinds, don't have a favorite, but I dislike rap.


19. My wedding song was a Reggae song by Bob Marley


20. I used to skydive, 268 times to be exact


21. My parachute was the colors of the rainbow


22. I used to rock climb and rappel..........I would prefer to climb first and rappel down, but most of my climbing was the other way around


23. I love the rain,,,,I love to watch it, hear it and I love the smell of the air when it is raining


24. I am………


25. The above statement refers to my spiritual beliefs…..I am, I believe that everything is possible, that all religious and spiritual beliefs are valid and to that extent, I am part of the whole.


26. I was raised Roman Catholic, but today am a member of four local churches and visit many more..........I love to attend churches and temples and see how others worship, although I can't define myself as any one religion.


27. My favorite place to pray and meditate is outside, in the gardens with my hands digging in the dirt, or in the early morning as the sun is beginning to dawn and the world is slowly waking up..........those are the times when I feel most connected to God.


28. I am Irish


29. I am Swedish


30. I am Cherokee Indian


31. I am human


32. I live in the country, in a valley called 'German Valley'.......and my favorite view is looking up the valley towards 'Schooly Mountain'


33. My home is my most comfortable place to be.........I like being home more than any place else in the world


34. I love to garden and grow things


35. I have over 23 verities of lavender growing and hope to continue to add to my collection


36. I love to grow herbs and perennial plants


37. I am not the best vegetable gardener, so mostly buy from the local farmers


38. I make a wicked apple pie


39. I am a good cook, and always try to improve


40. I lived in New York City for three years and absolutely love the city


41. I visit on occasion and it always brings back the New Yorker in me


42. I was a stockbroker for 9 years


43. I was a media relations specialist for 4 years


44. I worked in a high pace, cut-throat environment


45. I don’t want to work like that ever again


46. Right now I am a professional Mommy [I care for two other children besides my own four]


47. I had four distinctly different births


48. My first was overly medicated and controlled by the doctors without any due respect towards me ~ I was treated like a piece of meat


49. My second was absolutely perfect, beautiful and peaceful with a midwife


50. My third was my most difficult ~ as my son was breech and they turned him, first at 37 weeks and then again at 40 weeks and induced me........he was born direct OP and a lot of work to deliver


51. My last was my most ideal birth because she was born at home and I delivered her, but not as perfect as my second because this was not a planned homebirth and it happened so fast


52. I have nursed for a total time of 12 years and 8 months


53. You can just call me Bessie the cow! Lol!


54. I love water


55. I love taking hot, long baths with lavender in it [that is why I grow lavender]


56. I have had some powerful experiences in my life that first appeared to me in my dreams


57. I don't know what that means other than it can be quite freaky


58. I could get lost in a bookstore for hours and hours looking and reading,,,,,,


59. I love to read, when I was younger I would walk to the local library a few times a week and check out books to read and my house today is filled with books, and I collect children's books.


60. My most favorite place to read was sitting on a rock over-looking the waterfall near our house


61. My friends and I used to jump off of this same waterfall


62. Today, I would have a nervous breakdown if I knew my own children would be jumping off this same waterfall ~~~funny how things change


63. My mother is from Ireland so I am first generation American on her side


64. My husbands father is from Germany so he is first generation American on his side


65. My dh travels the world over, I like to stay within 10 miles of home


66. I love to play backgammon and card games


67. I don't drink often, but if I do, I love Margarita's or a very good red wine [my hubby brings me wine home from all over the world]


68. I have never smoked, I hate cigarettes


69. I married a non-smoker, who now smokes? Still trying to figure that one out


70. I think that Amsterdam has the right idea about legalizing cannabis


71. I love rollercoaster's, and I am glad all four of my children do too, cause we have so much fun visiting amusement parks and going on all the rollercoasters


72. My one vice is coffee, I drink two cups a day [sometimes more]


73. But I have to get it at the coffee shop, as I just can't make a good cup at home


74. I think that it might be not just the coffee but the routine of going to the coffee shop that I really enjoy


75. I can't go into a local store without having to stop and chat and say hello to everyone I know,,,,this makes for long shopping trips


76. I hate nail polish and fake nails


77. I rarely wear make-up


78. My hair has always been long [past my waist] for most of my life


79. Right now it is long and I always wear it in a bunn


80. I'm thinking I need a change


81. I don't dye my hair, so it has a lot of gray in it


82. It is exciting to me to watch my children grow and learn and become their own unique selves


83. Sometimes it is scary to watch this process, especially since Katrina and Greta are teenagers now


84. I would love to be a grandmother and great-grandmother someday


85. The continuum of life fascinates me


86. I married my first true loves ~ best friend,,,,they are still best friends today


87. I love movies that are either funny or about relationships and love


88. I hate action movies and scary movies, can't/won't watch them


89. I love the discovery channel and the history channel


90. I faux finish and paint murals


91. I love to go to the theatre and at one point in my life, I had seen every play on and off Broadway


92. I used to eat at Windows on the World once a week


93. I was supposed to be at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, but because of my daughter Emma Sage being born with Down syndrome I chose to leave my job that would have brought me to the WTC that fateful day


94. I believe there is a reason for everything


95. I have never gotten a ticket while driving [knocking on wood right now]


96. I love animals and have 3 dogs and 3 cats and 3 goats


97. I don't know why I have 3 goats and they are living up the road at my neighbors farm right now


98. I hate to shop, but love to go to Home Depot and Lowes and look around


99. I Can't figure out why my daughters love to shop so much when I despise it.


100. I collect pigs, antique figurines and paintings


101. I have every letter and card ever sent to me in my life in a wooden box in the basement ~~~~sometimes I bring it upstairs and read though the different facets of my life that were sent to me by family, friends and lovers ~~~ I cherish the written word and it is such a treat to reminisce over cards, letters and poems

Militant Cult Member

I’m a militant cult member.

Yes, you heard me right.

I’m a militant cult member................sounds funny doesn't it.

Me, mild mannered, gentle soul, completely open-minded, Zen and Tao student, world religion researcher, Mothering, mother of four ~~~~ a militant cult member.

But it is true..................or it must be true because my Mothering style has been written in a book and my actions have labeled me a militant.

I'll bet you didn't even know there was such a thing. According to Peggy Robin in her book Bottlefeeding Without Guilt (now renamed When Breastfeeding is Not an Option) there is! If you're not sure about the status of your membership, consider these questions:

Do you nurse your babies past one year of age? [Yes]

Do you share your bed with your nursing baby? [Yes}

Do you believe that mothers and fathers have different roles to play in raising children? [Yes]

Do you believe that God provided women with breasts in order to feed their babies? [Yes, I believe breasts are for nursing first and foremost,,,what ever anyone else wants to with them other than that is fine by me]

Do you associate with other women who breastfeed their children or even--- gasp!---attend La Leche League meetings? [Yes, a former LLL leader here]

Do you sign your email messages with "Billy's mommy" or cutesy nicknames? [Yes,,,,usually sign it, Proud Momma to four amazing children]

This is an obvious sign that you are assuming a childlike, unquestioning, unintellectual role within the cult. [LOL!!!]

Do you follow the AAP guidelines of breastfeeding a baby exclusively for six months before introducing supplements or solids? (Presumably the AAP is part of the cult.) [Yes, and for those outside the U.S. the AAP is the American Academy of Pediatrics]

Do you believe that there are not only physical differences between men and women, but psychological and emotional differences as well? [Yes,,,and it is a delightful thing!]

Do you believe that motherhood is a noble calling and that mothers and babies belong together? Do you---gasp!---think that babies are better off if their mothers are home with them rather than pursuing careers? [Yes, I do]

Do you make your baby's food from wholesome, nourishing ingredients and avoid processed foods or additives? [Yes, I did,,,,and carry it over into their childhood/teen years]

Do you avoid pacifiers and artificial nipples? [Yes, but I have one thumb sucker]

"If you answered in the affirmative to any of these, let me warn you that Peggy Robin views these as characteristics of the militant cult lifestyle!"