Bingo!

So, this is my 100th post and you know what that means? Party time! Come for coffee and dessert and settle back as you find out everything you ever wanted to know about me. Just think of this post as an invitation to your old friend's house to see the slides from her extensive 60-day trip around the world. You don't want to disappoint her--you know how she can get--but this could go on for hours. You might want to call the babysitter.

Let me fill up your cup, have another piece of pie and read on.

(hint: there are only 50 instead of the obligatory 100 'things about me.' whew!)

1. I was born in a town called Pocatello, and raised in another called Blackfoot. Both in Idaho.

2. My grandmother called me Noni but I never found out why.

3. I was on a bowling league when I was pregnant.

4. I look like I could be Native American, but I’m not. If I were I’d be called ‘Long Raven Feather.’
5. I love dogs.
6. My first real job was cleaning motel rooms.
7. I’ve always wanted a vintage VW beetle.
8. I love slapstick, stand-up comedy and comic strips.
9. Knitting is my favorite craft activity but only seasonally.
10. I still have my sled, which is now over 50 years old.

11. I am a child abuse survivor.
12. Snakes scare me.

13. Fresh scones make me smile. Donuts too.
14. I watch art films. [La di dah]

15. I’ve had two close calls: one from an angry mother and one from Junior Mints.

16. I taught myself to cook.

17. The underdog is whom I root for.
18. I have a secret crush on Hugh Grant.

19. I was baptized twice before I was 5, once Methodist and once Catholic, so I'm good.
20. Once I met John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful and Rosie Greer of the L.A. Rams.

21. I’ve been a legal secretary, teacher’s aide, h.r. assistant, and worked on a potato harvest.
22. I do all of my own stunts.
23. I might forget your name but I’ll never forget your face and would always be able to pick you out in a crowd, or lineup.
24. I enjoy riding on motorcycles.
25. I met my husband when I was 16 in McCall, Idaho at a state Young Democrats’ convention.

26. I have had two c-section deliveries resulting in two wonderful daughters and a great scar.
27. A titanium rod as a result of a spectacular fall down the stairs holds my right leg and ankle together. (see #22 above)
28. Music of most any kind makes me very happy.
29. When I was eight I decided I wanted to marry Charles, Prince of Wales. Glad that didn’t work out.
30. I have a huge sweet tooth. (see #13)

31. I’m a loner by habit but also a loyal friend.
32. Libraries have always been my favorite places to hang out, work in and to take my children.
33. I once spent a year on a farm where I ‘owned’ a sheep named Toby and rode a horse named Paint.

34. Nostalgic and sappy, I collect small pitchers, old photographs, china cups and saucers, blue depression glass, buttons, and so on.
35. I’ve lived in seven states: Idaho, Washington, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Minnesota.

36. I’m a big coffee drinker (see #13).

37. Baseball has always been dear to my heart. [My uncle played in the minors with the DiMaggio bros. I could hit a softball out of the playground.]

38. I used to ice skate on frozen cranberry bogs in Massachusetts.

39. In seventh grade I recited the Gettysburg Address from memory over the intercom at school. I’m still a little embarrassed. . .

40. I love to shop in ethnic and neighborhood groceries and bakeries.

41. I still have a sense of humor.
42. Growing flowers come naturally to me, passed down from my mother’s family.
43. Knowing as much about a topic is always my goal.
44. I am a people watcher and eavesdropper.

45. I do crosswords with a goal to just once finish the Friday New York Times.

46. I taught an‘art-goes-to-school’ program for elementary students where I introduced them to art history – fun for them, fun for me.

47. I’ve always worn my hair long.
48. I’m a dreamer—and usually have to scheme and think about something a long time before I do it, then ending up taking a nap first. Is that called ‘lazy’?
49.I am a reader and a writer.

50. I love ice cream.