Eight More Random Things About Me

I've been tagged again! I participated in this fun exercise at getting to know each other back in July, and I've been tagged for it several times since then, including this time by Lisa at Greenbow. I decided to go ahead and do it again, although I will have to turn my brain inside out to think of eight more things to share.

Here goes:

1. If I could, I would live in my pajamas. It's nothing to see me walk to the mailbox in my PJs at 1:00 in the afternoon or crouching to pull a weed from a flower bed at midday in my Karen Neubergers. That doesn't mean I've been lolling about up until that point, it just means I love my pajamas. A lot. And I have a lot of them. When out shopping with the girls, if we get within sight of that department in a store, they will grab my arm and walk quickly past it with me in tow. "Mom, you don't need any more pajamas!" I don't need any more plants either, but that hasn't stopped me from buying more.

2. Along with my mom, my grandma, my two girls, and my dad (!), I was in a book that was published two years ago. It's called A Day In the Life of the American Woman and the day the photographer from National Geographic spent with our family shooting a gazillion photos was one of the most fun days I've ever had.

It made me feel good to see my mom having such a good time and that she was getting recognition for being the amazing person I've always known her to be. The icing on the cake was the photo Sarah Leen took at the end of the day of my mom in the bathtub. They didn't use it in the book, but it's priceless.


We're on page 146. It's not the most flattering picture of any of us, but that's okay.

3. I don't drink any hot drinks. Not coffee, tea, or even hot chocolate. I'm a Pepsi One gal and I drink it first thing in the morning and late into the night. I have just not ever found a hot drink that sits well in my stomach, even if I like the taste of it. I detest coffee, even the smell of it, and while cinnamon teas smell good to me, I don't really like the taste of most of them. I will drink wassail-types, but I can only handle a few sips at a time. I don't know what it is about drinking hot liquids, but there's something unpleasant about it for me.

4. Before I started gardening, my favorite flower was the white daisy. While they still bring a huge smile to my face when I see them, especially a large vase of them or a drift in a garden, I've seen so many gorgeous flowers in the last few years that I've been actively growing them that now I'd be hard pressed to pick just one. If you ask me what my favorite flower is, I'll still say white daisies though because it's easier, and I do still love them.

5. My favorite author is Elizabeth Berg. While shopping in an outlet book store in Florida several years ago, I found The Pull of the Moon and bought it for a couple of dollars. I enjoyed it so much that I sought out her other books and have read all 15 or so that she's written. I missed a chance to meet her in person in 1998 and have never had the opportunity since.

I love her writing style. I doubt that she's experienced everything the main characters in her books have, but she makes you think she has because of her intuitive way of spilling their emotions onto the page. What she expresses is real life and I can relate to a great deal of it.

6. In 1990, Romie and I rode our bicycles in GOBA (The Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure). My mom rode it, too. Their website says:

GOBA has been described as "an adventure on two wheels with 2,999 of your closest friends." Each year the GOBA route features a different part of Ohio, traveling through peaceful countryside and stopping at exciting tourist destinations; click here to see the towns visited by GOBA over the years. The week-long adventure offers fun, Ohio town hospitality, and the challenge of your life.

Around 3,000 cyclists from all across the country (and from outside the U.S.) participate each year, riding a 50-mile (average) route each day through some of Ohio's most scenic areas. GOBA is a tour, not a race; most riders find plenty of time during the day for sightseeing, snoozing on the grass, and enjoying food along the way.

It was one of those things that we wanted to do once, just to do it. We're not avid cyclists by any means nor are we campers - tents or otherwise - and it was a challenge. We encountered 35 mph headwinds the second day, along with 90° temperatures. Many riders dropped out at the end of that day. We forged ahead and it was an experience we'll never forget.

7. I never ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (that I can remember) until after I was married. I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICHES! I put honey on mine, too, and eat them on a regular basis. I don't like crunchy peanut butter, Peter Pan Creamy is my favorite, and for as much as I love peanut butter, I don't like to eat peanuts.

8. I have straddled the equator. Twice. We had an exchange student from Ecuador in 1993-94 and I have been to her home in Quito in 1994 and 2003. Standing with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern gives you a strange yet exhilarating feeling that I find hard to describe. The first time I even got choked up as we approached the beautiful monument just north of Quito. I never thought I'd ever visit a place like that.

September 4, 2003

Interesting fact: The true equatorial line is not the one demarcated at the monument site. It's a short distance away though. I imagine pre-existing infrastructure may have had something to do with it.


Now I get to tag other bloggers. It will be a challenge to find someone who hasn't participated in this, but I'm tagging:

Connie at Notes From a Cottage Garden in Idaho
Sisah at Flieβtalleben (Life in Flieβtal) in Germany
Barbara at Abenteuer Garten (Adventure Garden) in Switzerland
Veronique at Au Fil du Jardin (Garden Wire) in France
Bonnie at Kiss of Sun in Texas