7 random facts about me

Sarah tagged me for this one. I feel like I reveal most of my idiosyncracies here daily, so some of these may not be news to you.

1. I have always aspired to be the old lady in the neighborhood that everyone considers eccentric. I want to live in a creaky old Victorian full of books and dust and Tiffany style lamps. I want the neighborhood children to be awed by the stories I can tell of my life and the adventures I've had. I want their parents to be just a tad frightened of what I might tell them.

2. I never wanted children. When I was 15 I told my mom if she wanted grandchildren they would have to come forth from someone else's loins. Yes, I read too much. Now I can't imagine life without them.

3. I refused to learn to cook when I lived with my parents. I saw it as a skill I would have no need for, as I was going to be living in New York and eating out all the time or dining in on fab Chinese food.

4. I learned to cook after I got married. My husband ate a LOT of inedible meals. He never complained once. Now I am a great cook if I do say so myself.

5. The summer between second and third grade I read Roots by Alex Haley. I had to renew it many times, but I did actually read the whole thing. It was a pivotal book for me in many ways. Alex Haley died on my 22nd birthday. Not a great day for me.

6. For years I have wanted a brace of pugs. (That's a male/female pair.) I was going to name them Atticus and Scout or Gatsby and Daisy, characters from two of my favorite novels. When I found Pippa on the web, her name was Foxy. But she was clearly NOT a Scout or Daisy. I was devastated. I happened to be reading a Philippa Gregory novel. Go figure. I guess Pippa is weird but it's better than Boleyn or Aragon. Right?

7. I hate public beaches. I grew up with two sets of grandparents who had lake cabins. We had our own beachfront and our own rules for behavior. Lots of "No screaming, no splashing someone who doesn't want to be splashed" stuff. I have a very hard time dealing with people who don't have those rules, or worse, who feel that because it is a public beach they can play with my kids and use their stuff. Last weekend my kids and their cousins were swimming in a river on a public area. There were 2 obnoxious boys who insisted on honing in on the fun. They were pointedly ignored but they just didn't get it, being cretins and all. I hate that part of public beaches. Hell, I hate a lot of stuff that involves the word "public".

So there ya go. You didn't really want to know any of that, now did you?