100 Things About Me

FINALLY! This list has taken me several months to write, seriously. So I hope it is greatly appreciated and read with intense attention to detail! Waaaaaahahahahaha! I have tried to keep the list in some form of a chronological order too. Mommy darling- if you have time to read it at all- I suggest you stop reading when you get about halfway, ok?
1. I was born on December 28th 1973.
2. It was a Friday, 10h30 in the morning.
3. I weighed 3.26kg (7 pounds 2 ounces) at birth.
4. I was sitting at five months.
5. My mom says I could recite nursery rhymes when I was one… I (of course) think I am a genius!
6. Kidding! No really… actually the last time I checked I had an IQ of 136… which is only 4 points below gifted you know!
7. Scary shit people… I do like being smart though!
8. I can draw- and since I was little I have drawn on any piece of paper I can get my hands on.
9. I can teach (and have taught) myself to do anything I put my mind to- including programming. I hate admitting that I don’t know something!
10. I am an excellent public speaker; and I can teach and train other people.
11. I can speak backwards- phonetically, fluently and fast.
12. Apparently I refused to continue wearing nappies when my mom came home with sister B when I was fourteen months old… so whatever sister B did in hers must’a scared the bejeebers outta me!
13. I am the eldest of four children- I have two sisters (B and C) and a brother (G).
14. The same GP delivered all four of us in the same hospital!
15. My parents “had” to get married in June 1973 ‘coz I was on the way- and that’s what you did back then, but it never even registered with me until my mom asked me if I’d noticed the timing between their anniversary and my birthday, and that if I had I must know I was never not wanted or regretted, etc. We were hanging bathroom curtains at that moment- and honestly, it had never even occurred to me before then! I never did the math!
16. Since then I quite liked the idea that I was at their wedding too!
17. One thing I wish I could do is go back and re-photograph my parents wedding for them. They have pictures, but they were taken by a friend of theirs- not a pro- they have none of the classic wedding pictures that one should have.
18. My parents were high school sweethearts and are still happily married after thirty plus years.
19. My parents always liked my name and both my sisters have two names from famous women, none of us sisters have family names.
20. Coincidentally- my dad has the same name as my mom’s dad- and his own dad’s name for a second name, and my brother has both as a second and third name! Still with me? Many of the men in our family have my dad’s (which was also my maternal granddad’s) name as a second name- including my Damien.
21. My parents were parents four times over before my mom was twenty seven!
22. My mom’s parents were married almost sixty years when my granddad caught his last first class flight home to heaven.
23. My dad’s dad died about fifteen years ago of cancer, and my dad’s mom (apart from lots of annoying and strange things she did) was one of those women you want to be like when you get to eighty! She was totally independent- and until the last year of her life she still drove herself around and lived alone. You had to make an appointment to visit ‘coz she was so busy. I love her and I miss her lots.
24. My grade one teacher went to school with my dad and she was taught by my dad’s aunt!
25. My siblings and I all went to the same primary school my dad went to.
26. When I was in grade one the school wanted me to skip grade 2 and go straight to standard 1, my parents thought it was a bad idea and refused… I sometimes wonder how different my life would have been if they’d said yes.
27. My siblings and I all went to the same high school my parents went to.
28. At school I wanted to be a fashion designer- then when I realised there were twenty other aspirant fashion designers in my class,
29. I decided to become an archaeologist instead.
30. My high school art major was supposed to be photography, but I met Damien’s father before I could get that far…
31. I could have done a lot better at school if I had actually studied. I never prepared for one test or exam and maintained a “C” average (which in South Africa is still acceptable BTW)… my English and Afrikaans essays and my Art marks especially pulled me through.
32. Early in standard eight, I was invited to take part in the English Olympiad at the school which would result in much bigger and better things as well as a trip to the Grahamstown Festival. I decided to spend time with my new friends in stead (see #47).
33. I never told my parents what I wanted to “be”- my dad grew up with an abusive alcoholic father and was never very supportive of career choices that couldn’t make money.
34. My mom allowed all four of us children to find out who we were rather than trying to push a round peg into a square hole.
35. It’s thanx to my mom that I can honestly say I like who I am now.
36. I got my artistic talent from my mom- she writes poetry too, and she can sing.
37. I like to think I can carry a tune- but I leave that to sister B and my brother.
38. Both my sisters write poetry so I leave that alone too!
39. My mom and dad both taught me integrity and loyalty, so now no matter whom I work for or how much I dislike the job or the people, I give 150% until the day I leave.
40. My dad is a book lover and turned me into one too.
41. It’s thanx to my dad that I love Asterix comics.
42. My dad has an unbelievable wealth of general knowledge and he is an incredible photographer, he’s been doing wedding photography for well over twenty years. I’m convinced that if he’d had the opportunity, he could have turned pro.
43. My dad taught us that punctuality is important- even now I loathe being late for anything and I’m usually a little early.
44. Our whole family enjoys fishing- my sister B and her husband even went fly fishing for their honeymoon! My sister C, my SIL A, and I are the only two yet to actually catch a fish. My brother G even belongs to a club.
45. Growing up we lived in lots of flats and houses- all rented- and all inside a roughly 20km stretch of our beautiful country.
46. My parents bought their first house when I was fourteen- it was our tenth move!
47. It was close to everything and we rode our bikes to school.
48. Most of my life I shared a bedroom with my sister “B”.
49. I have spent some time pondering what could have been different about mois if my parents had pushed me juuuuust a little harder… it’s not entirely their responsibility I know, but I do wonder.
50. I got my first real French kiss when I was thirteen.
51. I started smoking when I was fourteen.
52. I got drunk for the first time when I was fourteen- haven’t been able to touch tequila since BTW.
53. I met my son’s father when I was fifteen; he had the most incredible eyes and dimples…
54. I lost my virginity to him when I was fifteen.
55. He was three years older than me, and he allowed me to decide that I wanted to sleep with him.
56. I think it’s thanx to him that I enjoy sex as much as I do- I had a REALLY good teacher.
57. I was pregnant at sixteen. Waaaaaahahahahaha!
58. Damien’s father and I split up when we had been together for a year and nine days- I was three months pregnant.
59. His family had gone for some kind of family counseling and decided their relationships were strained enough without an illegitimate child to deal with too.
60. Damien was born on Friday April 5th 1991 at 02h47 after about four hours of labour
61. I was seventeen at the time.
62. It was two years after Damien was born before I had another relationship- it lasted about five months.
63. About two years after that I met another man and we lived together for nearly three years. That relationship ended VERY badly and I swore off men for good!
64. Then two years later I met another man. We worked for the same company but far apart- and I fell for him REALLY hard. He was a singer and poet. He made me feel like I looked like a super model. He was separated but not divorced- with two children he adored- and after six months he went back to them. That was nearly five years ago. He was the first of my boyfriends who made Damien heart sore when he left. I decided once and for all after he left that that was the LAST time I would allow myself and Damien to hurt like we did.
65. I had a two year long- purely sexual- relationship with a man who was very, very sweet. We agreed that we both wanted this kind of relationship and when we were together (always and only at his house) it was fabulous!
66. My son inherited my artistic talent and his paternal family’s gymnastic ability. He is incredibly artistic and creative- the drawings he does freehand and out of his head are quite fantastic- a budding H.R. Geiger maybe…
67. I collect dragons. My house is full of them! They’re everywhere- wind chimes, fridge magnets, statuettes, pill boxes, lighters, a tea tin, a spoon, a bottle opener, pictures, books, incense holders, picture frames, money boxes, a clock, a ring, a t-shirt, a sarong and candle holders. I even have a small silver one hanging from my rear view mirror. I have a few from overseas too- Australia, Wales and London.
68. My first car was a light blue, second hand, Mazda 323. It worked very hard, got broken into several times until the only way in was through the boot, and then it got stolen.
69. My second car was a light blue Ford XR3. It went like a rocket and it had a noisy free-flow exhaust. It gave me lots of grief though. . . the exhaust fell off four times- I had tyre trouble- gearbox trouble- I couldn’t wait to get rid of it!
70. My current car is an Aquamarine Opel Corsa 160iS (1600 fuel injected sport for those who can’t decode it) three door hatchback with three spoke mags, roof spoiler, bee-sting aerial and a standard fit radio. I love it to death- I drove it off the showroom floor with 27km on the clock.
71. I am a cat person in every clichéd sense of the word (yes, every sense- I talk about them, talk to them, spoil them, and carry their pictures with me) and I have two furry masters- Greebo & Taxi.
72. I have taught both Greebo and Taxi to sit, wave, sit up and walk on a leash with a harness. And they don’t go outside at all except on a leash or in their cat box. Yes- really.
73. I am a mommy blogger- and loving it! I wish I’d found these free web “hosts” years ago!
74. I love going barefoot- the first thing I do when I get home from work is take off my bra and my shoes.
75. I have long conversations and arguments in my head- quietly- but with all the accompanying head shakes and facial expressions.
76. I love to savour a good red wine, especially a Pinotage or Cabernet.
77. I adore make-up, I have too much of it to ever run out… but I keep buying more! And I love doing faces for fun!
78. I love magazines, but I have a particular fetish for wedding magazines and I spend a fortune on them whenever I can!
79. I have three tattoos… and I’m dying to get more!
80. I got my first one- a black dragon, about 5cm long and nicely stylized- on the top of my left arm just after my three year long relationship ended.
81. I got my second one- a small black tribal design that made me think of a dragon- at the top of my right arm about four years later.
82. My third tattoo was about three years after the second one- a beautiful full colour strawberry in the small of my back.
83. Why a strawberry tattoo? Because I wanted a tattoo that signified Damien. Still puzzled? I toyed with his name, his initials, even a picture of him… then I remembered calling him by the nickname “Strawbreez” until he was about 8 years old!
84. When I feel like a big change I either get a new tattoo or do something drastic to my hair. And I mean drastic- going blonde overnight (nothing gradual of course), or hacking off all my long hair to just below my ears or something!
85. I don’t have anything pierced… believe it or not- the thought of that piercing needle scares the bejeebers outta me!
86. I have four godchildren- and I take my job as godmother very seriously. My goddaughter is one of my littler cousins; my godsons are sister B’s eldest and my best friend’s two boys.
87. I, my siblings and our parents are very close, we visit each other a couple of times a month and we email, text and call each other several times a week.
88. We also have an annual Christmas Sibling Supper with just the four of us. We each have a turn to play host, we each supply a part of the meal, and we each buy one gift. The gift buying has turned into quite a competition- we start shopping months in advance- you see, we try to buy the ugliest, most impractical, kitschiest, kakkest, unlikeliest thing we can find- and then we exchange them. “It” then has to go on display in your house for one year… if it breaks you must fix it, and you can’t hide it away at all… we check on each other too!
89. I have been EXCEPTIONALLY blessed in my friends, and I thank God for them on a daily basis!
90. Most of my friends have children who are quite a bit younger than Damien.
91. Between my friends and my family- I have about sixteen children that I love to spoil and buy gifts for (including Damien… whom I spoil rotten of course) and I absolutely LOVE shopping for them for birthdays and Christmas!
92. I have known my bestest best (and oldest) friend for more than 23 years, and we intend throwing a massive party to celebrate our 30th anniversary!
93. I am a consultant by trade, and I think maybe I’m an archaeologist at heart…
94. When I have finished putting Damien through school and college (or varsity), I intend going back to school to study further.
95. One day, I would like to make a living from my writing or maybe even website design (still learning that though), or perhaps even teaching or training of some sort…
96. I love to help friends and family plan weddings and parties for fun- maybe I can even do that for a living one day.
97. I am a huge Terry Pratchett fan(atic?). I have most of the Discworld stories (in paperback- can’t afford the other kind) and one of my “dreams” is to attend Wadfest (think: a Pterry version of a Trekkie convention, or Woodstock for Pterry readers) in the UK one day.
98. I read admire Anne Rice as well- she wrote “Interview With A Vampire”, I have most of her books (in paperback- of course) too. I think she must be one of the most interesting people to talk to (apart from Pterry of course).
99. I love, love, love science fiction movies and vampire movies and I watch my favourite films over and over again.
100. I dream of lying in Matthew McConaughey’s lap and just listen to him speak to me in that soft southern drawl that is so uniquely his…