About ME

I was tagged to write this by my friend Wendy. They are are hosting a Ukranian orphan in their home, so had to go through lots of paperwork and fill out lots of personal information. She found several of the tasks to be very introspective. After she completed hers, she tagged a few people to do it too... so here goes.

"Give a description of yourself including physical appearance (height, weight etc.), personality, likes/dislikes etc."

I have brown hair with red highlights (my fall hair!) and I'm 5'7". I'm not going to include my weight because it is not even close to where I'd like it to be. But Ryan did persuade me to go to a 5:45am spinning class this morning, so hopefully I'll be reporting some positive changes in that area.

I think that I'm easy-going and fun-loving, but Ryan always tells me I'm too intense and that I can scare people with my directness. What? I'm that way on purpose with the kids, but to other adults I'm supposed to be footloose and fancy free. At least I can imagine myself that way. Remember the fad of taking the 'color' test to define your personality? Well, I was about 90% red and the rest was pink. I think Ryan might be right. I also took a few of those career exploration tests during my early college days. I remember being shocked when one of the results read, "You think people are evil and should be punished." I have tried to alter that attitude in the past years. I think having children has definitely made me more tolerant, but I'm still working on it.

I like to read a great book and ignore all the other things I should be doing. I love to cook, but I hate making dinner. I'm looking forward to when my kids want something besides plain noodles and ketchup on everything. I especially love cooking with Ryan. I love hanging out with other women and getting their perspectives on the same issues I deal with every day. I enjoy spending time with my family and love to be planning activities with them. I like being productive at work and talking to other adults. I like learning new things, especially when they surprise me. I've really enjoyed blogging and reading others' blogs. I have learned a lot about people I thought I knew well. I like having a clean house, but don't necessarily enjoy maintaining it that way. I like to call my mom and have a chat about whatever is going on in our day. I love the few minutes when the kids get home from school and can't wait to tell me all the good and bad aspects of their day. I worry about the years to come that they won't want to do that. I love it when my kids tell me I've done a good job on something. I really hate being late, even to church. I don't like whining or my kids handing me all of their various junk to hold onto when we're out somewhere. I hate scary movies and haunted houses. I don't like to see people riding mechanized vehicles without a helmet (dorky, but true). The neighbor kids all groan when they see me coming because they know I'll mention their unprotected brain! One of my pet peeves is when people clip their fingernails in a restaurant- that is just gross. I don't like being sick. The only foods I really can't stand are lima beans and yogurt drinks. I don't like to mess up or get embarrassed (but who does, really?). I hate getting over the awkward phase after getting in an argument with somebody. I love to be on calm water in a canoe or kayak. It's about the most relaxing thing I can think of, but getting six people ready and transported to do that activity sometimes cancels out the relaxation I feel when on the water. I love being at my parents' cabin and going on hikes with the kids. And I LOVE square ice-cream cones that we always get when we're at the cabin- licorice is the best flavor.

This is definitely not a complete list, but it's a glimpse. I'm going to continue the tag to Jenny, Janet, and Carol.