Wednesday, November 19, 2008

100 Random Things

I saw this on Linnea's blog at http://neabear.blogspot.com/ and thought I'd give it a go, I hope I can come up with 100. Why don't you try it next? I love reading these!
1. I was born in, I believe, Washington, D.C. in August 1962.
2. I say "I believe" because I was given up to social services at birth.
3. I was placed at three days' old into a foster home in Frederick, MD
4. I was adopted by this same family, officially, when I was 7 years old.
5. I didn't have any idea I was adopted until much later.
6. I figured out I was adopted because I don't look like the members of my (adoptive) family
7. I told my sister, Connie that I don't look like anyone in the family.
8. She told my mother who then told me I was adopted.
9. I didn't have any strong feelings about being adopted really, good or bad.
10. I have some information on my birth parents, the original birth certificate was accidentally sent to my adoptive mother who copied it down and kept it for me for later.
11. yes, I did search a bit in my early 20's, but hit a brick wall, and I don't have an overwhelming desire, and it was emotionally draining, so I stopped searching.
12. I was the number 8 child in my adoptive family, and the only child that wasn't biological.
13. I had lots of sisters, 5 of them, and then two boys, and me in the family.
14. Four of my sisters were old enough when I joined the family that they could have been my mother too.
15. I had lots of mothers and attention due to this.
16. My mother (which I find weird to call my "adoptive mother", so now just "mother) took in foster children all the while as I grew up.
17. My (again, adoptive) father smoked and developed lung cancer and died when I was turning 13.
18. This left my mother alone to finish raising the kids left at home, 3 of us, my sister Connie, my brother Billy and me.
19. I was a TERRIBLE teenager.
20. Don't know if I should go into just how terrible, it might shock you!
21. Well, ok, I liked boys more than anything as a teenager, there's one trouble spot, right?!
22. moving back in time again, I met my BFF when I was five years old.
23. Her name was and is Kathie.
24. She moved in next door to us.
25. We used to ride bicycles around the neighborhood in our pajamas until the street lights came on, which is the signal to go home, we were probably 8, 9 years old!
26. There were no child abductors back then that anyone knew of.
27. I thought Kathie was so lucky because she had a mom that worked outside the house.
28. Her mom was the first Mom I had ever met that worked (outside the house, that is!).
29. Kathie and I are still best friends today though she still lives in Frederick, MD
30. Kathie is my firstborn's Godmother.
31. I'm starting to feel blank on what to write next already! AH!
32. Jumping around in time again, I took piano lessons and violin lessons when I was in elementary school.
33. I dropped out of violin after one year (fifth grade)
34. I begged for piano lessons, I took those for probably two or three years.
35. I can't play the piano anymore, I've forgotten how.
36. I dropped out of lessons for piano because I got mad that my mother made me practice instead of going to Catoctin Falls in MD one beautiful summer day, so I said that's it I quit!
37. Told you I was bad!
38. I also wanted to be a Girl Scout.
39. My parents got me the whole outfit, and then I wanted to quit very soon after.
40. I was a quitter with organized events a lot growing up.
41. I figured out why though...
42. I really don't like organized sports, groups, etc. I'm better at spontaneity than organized.
43. Must be where the creative side of me is located, not organized but spontaneous!
44. I love to read!
45. When I was young, I'd fantasize about being at home reading a "little house on the prairie" book instead of being anywhere else!
46. I also love libraries!
47. I love the smell, the silence, it's almost a spiritual experience to me!
48. I didn't get my driver's license until I was married!
49. I couldn't pass the driver's test because I couldn't parallel park.
50. Old boy crazy me got married at 18.
51. I met my (now) husband when I was 17.
52. He was a blind date set up by my sister Ann.
53. He was 22 when we dated and in the Army.
54. My sister didn't like the boys I dated, so she set me up with this Army boy.
55. My husband Michael was getting out of the Army about the time we got engaged.
56. We've been married now for 28 years.
57. It lasted for me, but I don't recommend getting married at 18.
58. I have four children.
59. they are Megan, 27, Daniel, 26, Ben, 25 and Katie 20
60. Yes, three children in three years.
61. And then a break for almost five years and then Katie.
62. I lived in Indiana and Ohio before Texas.
63. My husband's hometown was in Indiana.
64. And we moved to Ohio for his work and lived there 10 years.
65. I was basically a stay-at-home mom and loved it!
66. I worked part time when the kids were little at a grocery store and then at the YMCA in Ohio.
67. I loved my job at the YMCA.
68. At the YMCA I taught swim lessons and had to become a certified lifeguard for that job.
69. I was 30 years old when I became a lifeguard, no, REALLY!
70. One instructor who taught lifeguarding was in college and tried to get me to quit by swimming me until you thought you'd drown.
71. I would never let a college kid get me to quit anything!
72. I became a lifeguard and then later an aerobics instructor.
73. I was obsessed with exercising during those years.
74. We lived in an old farmhouse in Ohio, without enough money to fix it up, surrounded by two acres and cornfields.
75. No, it's not romantic at all living in an old house if you don't have money to fix it up!
76. I did love though that the kids were in the country atmosphere.
77. We moved to Texas, again, for my husband's job.
78. I worked a bit at a YMCA here, but I didn't fit in like in Ohio.
79. In Ohio, see, lots of Moms worked at the Y teaching swim lessons.
80. In Texas, hardly any did....
81. So, I decided to look for a new path.
82. I read an article once in"Dallas Woman" about the career of court reporting.
83. They said you could set your own hours and make lots of cash,
84. I thought, Hmm, I like setting my own hours, and I like cash!
85. i checked out local Dallas Court Reporting Schools.
86. I thought, How hard can it be, no one's sweating in those rooms typing on those little machines.
87. I became a certified court reporter after 4 years of hard, hard work, and unfortunately, gained weight from sitting and typing on the stenography machine for hours on end!
88. But I really didn't want to be a "court reporter" because there were new fields expanding for my skills.
89. So I used my skills as a CART writer (communication access real-time translation) for Deaf and HOH students in the Plano School system here in TX
90. I was the first full-time CART writer in TX in a public school system (elementary to high school).
91. I loved it, I provided for a student what was being said in the classroom by teachers and students on a laptop that I sat on their desks.
92. I loved the kids in the Deaf Ed program, and still talk to a couple now, plus I learned a bit of sign language too!
93. After my original student graduated and went off to college, I decided to become a real-time captioner for television.
94. I took a job at the National Captioning Institute and worked hard to improve my skills to be air worthy.
95. I later decided to become an IC from home as a captioner, I love being home
96. I now caption live programs on TV from home in my office/craft space. I've been captioning now for I don't know 7, 8 years.
97. I love being home too so I can be here with my wonderful dogs, Cody and Bailey, they are purebred English Springer Spaniels, the best dogs in the world!
98. My oldest daughter Megan is going to make me a grandmother in April.
99. All my kids are great, they gave me heck growing up, but these more "adult" years are wonderful
100. Thanks for sticking with me, It's been exhausting trying to do this! Smiles, Suzie

2 comments:

  1. You did a great job coming up with 100 things. Plus I learned more about you. So you were a terrible teenager? I am glad you outgrew that. Have a great day!

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  2. Well, I really enjoyed reading this and learning more about you. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Have a nice day! Twyla

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