100 Things

1. I'm a mom.
2. To a girl and two boys.
3. And I'm a wife.
4. For the past 17 years, exactly.
5. We had a kitty for 12 1/2 years - she was our first baby, and the most awesome cat ever.
6. She died suddenly in Feb 2007 and we haven't gotten a new cat.
7. We're just not ready yet.
8. My dad was in the Air Force so I never lived anywhere for longer than 3 years.
9. When I graduated high school my dad retired from the AF and my parents moved to Colorado.
10. I went to college in Georgia, and spent summers and Christmas breaks in Colorado.
11. Even though I never lived there full-time, I still think of it as "home."
12. Maybe because the best summers of my life were spent out there.
13. When I was in college, I thought I'd get married at 25 and have my first child at 30. I have no idea where I got that idea.
14. But then I fell in love at 20 and decided I didn't want to wait 5 years to get married.
15. So I got married when I was 22 (almost 23).
16. But we did wait to start our family and I was 30 when we had our first child.
17. I was friends with my husband for several years before we figured out that we were perfect for each other.
18. We both agree that it was a blessing because we probably wouldn't be together now if we'd dated as college freshmen.
19. We now live about 2 hours from where we both went to college.
20. It only took us 8 years and 2 cross-country moves to get here.
21. My first job out of college was at Walt Disney World.
22. I loved working there, and discovered that the hospitality business was a good fit for me.
23. Aside from the hours and low pay, that is.
24. Ever since, I have high expecations for guest/customer service.
25. And I get really annoyed when I get bad service.
26. Although I almost never complain when I do.
27. I hate to make a fuss.
28. Five years out of college, my husband went back to school to study engineering.
29. We lived in Miami while he was in school so he could work for his dad's engineering firm.
30. While we were there we renovated a 40-year-old house that had been damaged by Hurricane Andrew.
31. While we lived in it.
32. And while we both worked and he went to school.
33. It was a lot of fun. Sometimes.
34. It was definitely a lot of work.
35. But I learned a lot about construction and how to build a house.
36. And I think it's probably the most valuable skill I've learned as an adult.
37. My husband received his Engineering degree in less time than it took for his Communications degree - and with a much higher GPA. It's amazing what being married will do to one's study habits. ;)
38. I've been to most of the United States.
39. I've always wanted to go to Europe.
40. We went to Ireland before we got pregnant with our first child.
41. It's a start.
42. But we loved it so much, I'm tempted to go back before going anywhere else.
43. When we landed at Shannon, it felt like a homecoming. I have no idea why.
44. My birthday is in December.
45. I both love and dislike that.
46. My first child was due on my birthday.
47. We all (my doctor included) thought he'd be late.
48. I didn't want him to have to share his birthday with me or Jesus.
49. So I prayed for him to be born in November.
50. And he was.
51. Except that he arrived in the beginning of the month, not the end, like I wanted.
52. So he spent 10 days in the NICU while his lungs grew.
53. I learned to be careful what you pray for - you just may get it.
54. It was the scariest time of our life.
55. I forget about it until I see photos, and then the anxiety grabs me all over again.
56. When he was 4, my son told me that God came to him in a dream and told him He wanted him to have a baby brother.
57. We laughed and told him that things were good with two parents and two kids.
58. Baby brother arrived 4 days after his 5th birthday.
59. We learned to never laugh at a child's revelations.
60. My daughter looks exactly like my mom.
61. She always has.
62. Their personalities are very similar as well.
63. I'm glad on both counts.
64. My mom passed away in February 2008 from pancreatic cancer.
65. In October 2007 she was admitted into the hospital because they thought she had gallstones.
66. We would have preferred gallstones to the tumor on her pancreas.
67. It was the second scariest time of my life.
68. I learned a lot about myself during her illness.
69. I'm stronger than I thought.
70. Or at least I fake it better than I thought I could.
71. And I have amazing friends and family.
72. That wasn't a surprise, but it was proven in a thousand ways.
73. My faith grew stronger.
74. My worst fear was that I wouldn't be able to be there for my mom at the end.
75. I worried about it a lot.
76. The day before she died I committed my most selfish act ever.
77. I asked her to hold off on the extra pain meds until I arrived.
78. It was a very long 5 hour drive.
79. But we knew that once she took the meds she'd be out of it, and I needed her to be awake when I arrived.
80. She waited. I'd do the same thing for my kids.
81. Watching my mom die was the hardest thing I've ever done.
82. But being present at her death was the greatest gift I could give - or receive.
83. I've discovered that I've become my mom.
84. I teach swimming lessons.
85. I volunteer in my kids' schools.
86. I love to bake.
87. I'm crafty.
88. I sell myself short.
89. And I don't like to be the center of attention.
90. I love to read. I always have, and can lose myself in a book for an entire day.
91. Which isn't always a good thing when there are 3 kids in a house that needs to be cleaned.
92. My kids love to read, too. Thankfully.
93. Every year my goal is to de-clutter - my life and my house.
94. I usually feel like it's an impossible goal.
95. I procrastinate.
96. And I take on too many projects.
97. It's hard for me to say no.
98. And I can be compulsive.
99. For all of those reasons, blogging is the last thing I should start doing right now.
100. Yet I feel compelled for some reason.