100 things about me

Well, almost 100...

1. I was born on February 19, 1968 in Hayward, CA.
2. I was named after my grandmothers, Cecily and Ann, and St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
3. I have blue eyes, and freckles.
4. I grew up in Castro Valley and Hayward.
5. I have a B.A. in Psychology from U.C. Santa Cruz.
6. I loved being in college.
7. I hated being in high school. I felt like a social outcast.
8. I have 2 brothers.
9. One is 16 months older than me, the other is 16 months younger.
10. I am very happily married to the man of my dreams, Pete.
11. We were married on June 19, 1999 in Healdsburg, CA. It was an amazing day.
12. We honeymooned in Fiji. It was, predictably, very romantic.
13. I have two stepdaughters who are 23 & 27.
14. I have no children of my own. Lately I feel sad about that.
15. I have an incredibly boring government job.
16. I would love to have a job that had more meaning to me, but I don’t know what that is yet.
17. I am envious of people who have careers that they love, or even care about.
18. I am struggling with turning 39. This is unusual for me.
19. I normally love birthdays.
20. I feel like I should accomplish a lot more before I turn 40.
21. My dad died in 1995. I was 27.
22. I still miss him so much it makes me cry.
23. My mom is an amazing, strong woman – a nurse, an activist, a super compassionate person.
24. I hate caraway seeds, green olives and dill pickles.
25. I love pizza, tri-tip, chocolate, and sweet pickles.
26. I was a vegetarian for many years.
27. Now I love meat.
28. When I was 14 I broke my collarbone by falling out of a window onto my bedroom floor.
29. I live on a breathtakingly beautiful semi-rural property.
30. I love to be at home.
31. I walk 3-5 miles most days.
32. I prefer walking to driving most of the time.
33. I carpool with my husband to work most days.
34. I drive a 1993 Geo Prism, but not often. It is more than adequate to meet my driving needs.
35. I am obsessed with knitting.
36. My mom's mom, Grandma Lennon taught me to knit when I was a child.
37. A few years ago I re-learned by reading various knitting web sites.
38. My favorite TV shows are: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Office and Grey’s Anatomy.
39. My husband reads to me in bed every night while I knit.
40. I have almost completely stopped reading since I started knitting.
41. I do listen to books on my ipod and books read to me by my husband.
42. I went to Catholic schools from 2nd grade through high school.
43. My parents were devoted Catholics.
44. My father was even a priest before getting married.
45. The Catholic/Christian beliefs didn’t really take with me.
46. I attended the Center for Spiritual Living for a few years, but have lately been “taking a break”.
47. I don’t know that I believe in God. But I am not ready to rule out the possibility either.
48. I think I would like to be a writer, or an artist, but I don’t have much confidence in my abilities or potential.
49. I was overweight for most of my life and still struggle with my weight.
50. I believe in Weight Watchers. It works for me.
51. I have two charmingly neurotic dogs.
52. My younger brother and his wife live in Venezuela.
53. We visit them there in 2005. It was a fabulous adventure.
54. I love to travel.
55. I want to go to Europe with Pete – to Ireland, Italy and France.
56. There are a million places I want to go to Pete – both near and far.
57. One of my very favorite things to do is sit by the fire and knit while Pete plays his guitar and sings to me.
58. Also to hike with the dogs.
59. I used to love to go to concerts when I was younger. Now the crowds stress me out.
60. I was a huge U2 fan in high school/college. I still like them a lot.
61. My musical taste has mellowed. I now like a lot of folk and acoustic music.
62. Musicians I dig: Lyle Lovett, Cheryl Wheeler, Mark Knopfler, John Hiatt, Indigo Girls, Paul Simon.
63. I listen to a lot of knitting podcasts.
64. I have been blessed with some very dear long-time friends.
65. I do not find it easy to make new friends though.
66. I think of myself as a very shy person.
67. I wish I were more social.
68. I like monkeys and have a festive collection of stuffed monkeys at work.
69. I eat the same breakfast nearly every day – Organic Morning Light and Kashi GoLean with Silk.
70. Most of my relatives live in Ontario, Canada.
71. I have only met most of them a few times in my life.
72. I wish I had more family nearby.
73. I buy lottery tickets regularly.
74. If I won I would quit my job in a heartbeat.
75. I wouldn’t want to move though.
76. I am a liberal.
77. I despise George Bush.
78. I also loathe raccoons.
79. I had 2 chickens until recently, when they were killed by raccoons.
80. I get terrible motion sickness – more so than anyone I know.
81. My fingers go numb when I am cold or anxious.
82. I believe in love. (What else is there?)
83. Yosemite is one of my favorite places in the world.
84. Sometimes violent films make me throw up – in the theater.
85. Sometimes they make me faint.
86. I don’t generally care for violent films.
87. I did like Pulp Fiction though. And Fargo.
88. The Sound of Music is one of my all-time favorite movies.
89. I am deathly afraid of public speaking.
90. My favorite childhood story was Heidi, which my dad used to read to me.
91. When I was a child, a horse once stepped on - and broke - my foot.
92. I love the outdoors.
93. But I don’t so much like tent camping. (I prefer a real bed and a bathroom.)
94. I usually go to bed at 9:30 pm. I don’t like to stay up late.
95. I am a morning person.