Things About Me

This was originally posted over on the Older Parent Adoption blog, where I blogged for Adoption.com for a year. It’s been edited and revised a bit.

1. I’m an older mom

2. I’m an ex- foster mom with 10 ex-foster kids - all reunited with bio-family.

3. My garden has a love hate relationship with me. I try to love it back unconditionally, especially the flowers and worms.

4. My business expertise was narrowly focused in the EAV world for years.

5. Now I’m incorporating all that I learned about Holistic Medicine into the business world.

6. My desk is full of homeopathy which I also give my animals.

7. I took three years of private acting lessons

8. My restaurant, The Tao Café, served mostly vegetarian and healthy items

9. I was president of a bio-medical manufacturing company for seven years

10. My first business was at age 10 selling home-made wire necklaces

11. I’m a Van Morrison fanatic

12. For the first time in my life, I don’t own a business. …Oh wait, Yes I do own one. It just feels like fun.

13. I need lots of quiet, down-time

14. I love to speak in public

15. I’ve been to a nude beach. Several times

16. Dessert is wasted unless chocolate is involved

17. Chocolate Malted Milk Balls are yummy

18. In my twenties I was a roofer

19. And a waitress

20. And a computer business owner

21. At nineteen I left home to travel across the USA.

22. I lived in England at the time

23. I flunked school

24. I’ve been in a TV commercial

25. I’ve been in a very bad feature movie

26. I have a degree in Holistic Theology making me a D.D., Doctor of Divinity

27. Bikram yoga is my favorite

28. but I practice Ashtanga

29. My movie, Woman As Butterfly, was screened at several national film festivals

30. The artist in the movie does Butoh dancing - I’ve never tried it – and won’t

31. I think I know the words to every Beatles song

32. But I liked Traffic and Led Zeppelin better

33. I’ve traveled through a lot of Central America

34. But I’ve never been to South America – Yet

35. Hubby and I took off seven weeks in the 90’s and drove the Alaskan Highway

36. It rained a lot, but we saw lots of bears. GRIZZLYS!

37. We canoed out to the middle of a lake to avoid a bear

38. There isn’t anywhere to paddle around here

39. My favorite hike is in the San Juan Mountains

40. I’m saving for a trip to Bali and New Zealand

41. I’m the oldest of three girls

42. My parents owned a restaurant/bar/hotel when I was growing up

43. I’d hide underneath the bar while my dad bartended

44. He’d sneak me Coca Colas

45. My first car was an Opal

46. Now I drive a beige mini van

47. In between I had cool red sports cars. Sigh

48. I’m a techno nerd and used to know Unix

49. I took my first plane ride at age ten - over the ocean with my dad to visit my
grandmother

50. Did I mention I love being a mom?

51. I played Glockenspiel in a middle school band.

52. I took drum lessons as a child in Massachusetts

53. We moved to Old Bosham, England when I was twelve.

54. I went to Quaker boarding school in England

55. As an adult I took guitar lessons

56. And piano lessons

57. and singing lessons

58. I don’t play an instrument

59. After 911, I had shows of my commemorative flag paintings.

60. I come from a family of writers on my mother’s side.

61. My mom is a terrific writer.

62. It hasn’t helped my writing at all.

63. I secretly watch Dog the Bounty Hunter on TV

64. I try to watch Larry King Live every night

65. Vanity Fair is my favorite magazine

66. My favorite authors are Anne Lammott, David Sedaris, Sarah Vaughn.

67. If I could, I’d download This American Life as a podcast every week.

68. The last movie I saw was Jesus Camp.

69. One of my favorite movies is Magnolia. Another is Fargo.

70. I can cook, but don’t - Home made exceptions: Macaroni and Cheese, Spagetti
sauce, Chili Rellenos

71. I was a pretty mean mountain biker once, but I went over my handlebars a few too
many times. Now I do chiropractic.

72. I love solitude… and wild dancing parties!

73. I was born fifteen minutes into Capricorn. My Moon is Taurus and I have an
Aquarius Rising with a Scorpio MidHeaven

74. In my twenties I was very sick and used homeopathy, EAV, and energetic medicine to heal myself. As a result I spent ten years making my living in holistic medicine.

75. Hubby and I got dropped off in the back roads of Costa Rica once without transportation or a way to get to the hotel at Monteverde. An ancient US school bus, painted lime green, finally came by and we loaded up our backpacks and sat on the floor with chickens and pigs and children and moms. It was my best vacation ever.

76. I dream of living in Manhattan for a year. Or Paris. Or both. And a Spanish Speaking country. Pick any one.

77. I lived in Houston for six weeks in 1980. I hated it. (sorry Jenny at mamadrama)

78. I speak a smattering of French and a larger smatter of Spanish. I understand a smidgen more of each.

79. I’ll never sky dive, bungee jump or eat cockroaches.

80. But I’d still love to be on the Amazing Race.

81. My astro-cartography reading says Iran would be a great place for me to find
love.

82. Good thing I’m happily married. (Twenty five years!)

83. A few years ago, in Venice, my dad talked a produce vender into renting us his
gondola and we pushed the boat the wrong way down a canal. Italians were swearing at us, but we just waved and smiled.

84. It is one of my favorite Dad memories.

85. In the 70’s I once waited on Ron Stewart. It is true. He has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.

86. I’m not particularly a Rod Stewart Fan.

87. I’ve visited every Hot Springs in Colorado.

88. Two of my dogs were named after the mountain we live under: Zeb and Pike.

89. Willow my cat came to us after a friend was moving and couldn’t bring her cat with her. She lived five hours drive away, but I said I’d take Willow if she could find a way to get to me. That night I talked to Willow in my dreams. Find a way, find a way. The next day another friend called and mentioned he was going right through Willow’s town. He picked the cat up and met me on the highway a mile from my house. Welcome Willow!

90. I’d rather travel than buy a couch.

91. Oh, I make a mean fondue as well.

92. And Tofu Enchiladas. I guess I do cook!

93. I’d invite Nikola Tessla, Jimmy Carter, Bono, Leonardo Da Vinci and Jon Stewart to my dinner party. (and my family of course)

94. Or I’d invite Art Bell, Jon Edward, John Lennon, Richard Feynman, Edcar Cayce.

95. I’d choose flying over being invisible. Really

96. Right now the adult books on my nightstand are:
· If you want to write - Brenda Ueland (excellent!)
· The War of Art - Steven Pressfield (Excellent!)
· Escaping into the open, the art of writing true - Elizabeth Berg (great)
· The General in his Labyrinth - Gabriel Carcia Marquez (re-reading soon, the first time I thought it was great)
· America - Jon Stewart (I just love him – see my dinner guests)
· Financial Peace University (yea, its good too)

97. The CD’s in my car include
· Signing Time Volume I and II
· Nursery Rhymes I,
· MusikGarten
AND,
· Tony Bennett, Maci Grey, Santana, David Grey, Norah Jones, Burt Bacharach, Greg Brown, Amos Lee, Josh Groban.

98. My Ipod has
· Jamie Cullum, Aimee Mann, Bird York, Eva Cassidy, Jonnie Cash, Michael Buble’, Los Lonely Boys,
· and of course Van Morrison.

99. and a bunch of NPR stuff downloaded every morning. And Hay House Radio
and lastly…….

100. ….Did I mention I love being a mom?