Twenty Things Tag Tuesday

Gerrie tagged me to do the 20 things meme.... so here's a few facts about me:

1. I grew up the only girl in the family with 3 brothers: Mike, Mark and Kevin.

2. I am almost the ultimate middle child. Mike is 1 year 6 days older than I; Mark is 1 year 26 days younger. Kevin is 6 years younger than I. The birthdays in our family also ran from oldest to youngest... Dad in April, Mom in May, Mike and I in June, Mark in July and Kevin and August. My first 2 SILs fit in, too.

3. I was in the test group for New Math in the '60s. The joke about this is, I understand set theory but can't divide. Really. I can't divide.

4. I was also in the test group for language by TV. For 3 years in grade school, we "learned" Spanish with Senor Luente(?) on the TV. About 3 times a week. They followed up then through high school and were shocked at what they discovered: more of us took language classes... and we took more language classes than previous classes.... often 4 years. However, NONE of us took any more Spanish.

5. From 6th through 8th grade, I was 60 inches tall and 58 pounds (I didn't gain a pound for 5 years). Then, in the spring of that year, I gained 40 pounds in 6 weeks. Talk about strange metabolism!!

6. I LOVE Baseball. (well maybe you knew that!) I started paying attention to the sport in the early '60s. I studied the rules changes when the AL established very different rules (including the DH). I saw Luis Tiant strike out 18 batters in 21 innings (I think...) at a night game one summer. Saw Dennis Eckersley as a rookie when everyone thought he'd blow his arm in a year or two. I drifted away during my college years, but came back to the game in the late 70s. I love baseball.

7. When I was 35, I had my first lipid profile done. I was 3times+ risk of heart disease. However, the minimun dose of cholesterol meds gets me into the half normal risk group. Without these meds, I'd probably be dead by now. (diet and exercise did nothing to improve my numbers).

8. In theory, I would love to be a vegatarian. Except that I love meat and dislike most vegetables. I said it was in theory.

9. I designed the last house we lived in. Watching it being built was breath-taking as my vision materialized.

10. Steve and I met in Finance 501. I saw his feet as he walked by me and knew we'd know each other better. The first test drove the whole class to drink and we sat next to each other. He pretty much matched my checklist of potential date material. That was the fall of 1982. We were married in the fall of 83. Although my brothers (their wives and kids) are all still around, Steve is like my only family.

11. I am a bit psychic but can't control it at all.

12. I edited a book used as the text in several Urban Studies programs in Ohio, although I never studied Urban Studies.

13. I machine sewed my first quilt while watching the coverage of the first Gulf War. Before that point, I'd done everything quilt-related by hand. The sewing machine scared me.

14. I have: sold t-shirts; bought steel; sold educational workbooks; given marketing surveys in shopping malls; helped run a non-profit that supplied assistance for Russian refusniks; delivered phone books; substitute taught, handed out samples in grocery stores, hawked other people's wares at fairs. I'm not sure I've actually used anything I have a degree in.

15. I have always been able to read text that is upside down and backward.

16. I have a wierd math disability: if it's not written down, I have a floating decimal point. Can't necessarily remember if a number is 10,000 or 100,000....or maybe .00001.

17. I have white water rafted the Cheat, New, and Gauley Rivers in WV and the Yough in PA. (class 3 to 5 rapids). Only got hurt eating lunch.

18. I bought a brand new stick shift car so I would be forced to learn how to drive it.

19. I'm a good navigator but I have trouble knowing the compass directions if there isn't a large body of water nearby (a great lake or the ocean). When we moved from Cleveland (water to the north) to the Bay area (water to the west), my internal compass was off by 90 degrees for about 6 months.

20. I can run a lot of electronic equipment without reading a manual. I have ALWAYS been able to program any VCR I've met.

Ok, I'm NOT formally tagging anyone... but if you'd like to share 20 things about yourself.. and you occasionally or frequently read this blog but maybe fear that "nobody likes you" because you haven't been tagged, consider yourself tagged. Just leave a comment letting me know you're doing it, so I can link to you.