25 Random Things About Cindy

25 random things you probably don't know about me (unless you're a stalker or related to me)

1. I love football. Not pro so much but college, especially if the team wears purple and plays in BSFS. The only time I can remember not liking it so much was when my sons played in high school. I spent the game making sure they got up after every play. The times when they didn't almost weaned me off the sport but they survived and so did I.

2. I do not watch TV. Ever. Sometimes it is on when I am in the room but I am not watching it. I don't even like watching football on TV ( See #1). I prefer to listen on the radio.

3. I dislike snikeys. No, that's too mild. I hate them. I am positively phobic about them. Btw, snikeys are those little gray rodents I have nightmares about. My son made up the term snikey so I don't actually have to say the M word. And that thing attached to my computer - that's called a "button."

4. Back in the days when I used to watch TV some (see #2) I was a Trekie. Yep. Star Trek TNG was my favorite. I knew every episode by heart. I haven't watched it in years but Will Riker still makes me sigh...

5. When I was in grade school I had a goal of reading every book in the entire school library. No, I didn't accomplish it but I made a gigantic dent in it. And then I discovered the public library - no more measly little school library for me. Playing with the big girls now.

6. I am slightly addicted to Diet Pepsi. I'm also partial to iced tea - the unsweet variety. I never get very far away from my purple cup and liquid refreshment.

7. I wrote my first story in second grade. I didn't know how to spell "supposed" and didn't want to ask. That would ruin how proud I was of myself. So, instead of Joe telling his dog "you are supposed to fetch the stick" I wrote "You are to fetch the stick."  My first lesson in eliminating wordiness. By third grade I was writing "plays" my friends performed before our classmates. I began writing my first real book at age twelve. When I finished it (sometime in high school) I had 400 some long hand pages on notebook paper. I got rid of it for fear someone would read it.

8. My very favorite food is Mexican. Morning noon or night. My worst is Chinese. I can't even stand to smell it. Some of the weirder things I really like are onions, garlic, fried okra, and stuffing.

9. My favorite holiday is Valentine's Day.

10. When I was in kindergarten I had lots of warts. They were mostly on my left hand and my left knee. When I learned how to tell my right hand from my left, I did it by knowing my warts were on the left side. To this day I have to glance at my hands before I can say left or right.

11. I love teddy bears and stuffed animals. I slept with my Rabby until he fell apart. (I might have been in jr. high). When my first baby was on the way we papered the room in teddy bear print and I stocked up on teddy bear clothes, blankets and the furry critters themselves. Alas, none of my children were into teddy bears. All three of them ripped the wall paper off the walls as soon as they could stand up in the crib.

12. For the most part I don't eat sweets. That's because I don't really care for sweet things. The one possible exception is fake sweet (see #6). But I'd rather have another piece of bread than dessert. Horror of horrors - call me un-American if you must - I don't even like ice cream.

13. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. My favorite movie is Pride and Prejudice. But let it be said here that I will always choose a book over a movie. You go Jane Austen!

14. Two of my sons are named after characters in Louis L'Amour books. Both named by their dad. I did get to choose the middle names which isn't quite as big a deal. But that's OK. I like the Sacketts too.

15. I am deathly afraid of heights. Ask my parents or siblings about an incident on KT mountain. They have spent over 30 years remembering every vivid detail and telling it to whoever will listen.

16. I do not like to travel, Sam I am. I especially hate flying. Given my choice of where to go on a vacation I would always pick "home."

17. My first real job at age 14 was knocking eggs in a feed store/hatchery. Even the internet doesn't seem to know what that is as I tried to look it up. Knocking eggs was when I tapped two eggs together and listened to the sound it made. A sharp click meant neither egg was cracked. A low thud meant an often invisible hairline crack. No point in putting that cracked egg in an incubator. It would never hatch a chick. Weird as this sounds - I was pretty good at it.

18. I have an agriculture (animal science) degree from KSU. Well, I have a business degree too but I'm not nearly as proud of that as I am of my agriculture diploma.

19. My favorite daydream is to be locked in a hotel room by myself for a month with nothing to do but read and write. Oh, and sleep. How cool would that be?

20. In kindergarten, i think I injured my finger requiring several stitches and big bandage that went all the way to my wrist. I proudly told anyone who asked that i stuck my finger in a mole trap.

21. As a child I collected rocks and napkins. I kept my rocks in a Barbie doll case and my napkins in a Russell Stover chocolates box. Wonder what ever happened to that stuff?

22. Without stopping to think about it first, I cannot properly pronounce the word "Envelope."
It comes out something like "em-ba-blope."

23. My favorite thing to cook is gravy. I never knew how to make gravy until I got married and my husband insisted I learn as it was one of his favorites. Now I am so proud of myself every time I am successful in making a pan of gravy, I do it often.

24. I attended first grade in Manhattan. We lived in Jardine apartments. Every morning I walked across an empty field to get to school. That field is now the very place where Bill Snyder Family Stadium stands. Who knew?

25. In high school my favorite activities were rifle squad, football manager and English class.

Tag - you're it. Tell me 25 random things about you that I probably don't know.