25 Random Things

You know that 25 Random Things about Me list that's going around Facebook? Yeah, I did it, and I sounded really boring. So I started thinking about the 25 Random Things about Me that I wouldn't want anyone to know. That made me laugh. But I'm sorry, I can't list any of them, because I don't want anyone to know them.

Here's another 25 Random Things about Me list, though. This one lacks secrets, but maybe there's something on it you didn't know.

1. As a child, I was sure I'd be a veterinarian. I think it was all those James Herriot "All Creatures Great and Small" books I devoured.

2. When I got to high school and realized I didn't appear to have a science brain, I decided I'd go into international business, law, or be a French teacher. Music was not on the list until the summer before I started college, when I realized I didn't want to do anything else.

3. I tried out for high school drill team. And cheerleading. I didn't make either. (This verges on the secret list, but it's not quite embarrassing enough. I mean, it's embarrassing, don't get me wrong. But it's not humiliatingly so.)

4. My first kiss was terrible. A terrible memory. (Another one that could be on the secret list, but I'll leave it at that.)

5. I loved French in high school (see #2) and took 2 years of French in college. I've helped translate for French refugees and taught Sunday School in French. This makes me sound like I can actually communicate in another language. I promise you that is not the case. I have helped translate only when no one else is available, and the translations involve a lot of laughter, blushing in embarrassment, and "Je ne sais pas!" And let's not talk about the Sunday School class...

6. When I was a freshman in high school, I was sure I'd have no kids, one kid, or POSSIBLY two kids. It was a little stressful to be the oldest of seven (then eight, then nine.) Now I love my huge family. (But four kids are plenty for us.)

7. I threw toast at my mom in high school. On more than one occasion.

8. I daydream a lot. About all kinds of crazy things.

9. I have nightmares about being in the audience at the symphony when I realize I'm the concerto soloist for a concerto I've never practiced. I rush backstage, trying desperately to learn the concerto in the 30 minutes I have before I'm supposed to be onstage. I hate this dream.

10. In high school, I layered open button-down shirts over t-shirts that were sometimes pilfered from my dad's drawer (ahh, the 80's.) Once I came home from school, sat down to have my afternoon snack, and my mom said, horrified, "Where did you get that shirt?" I looked down and realized it was one of my dad's garment shirts. I had grabbed a shirt from the wrong drawer...

OK, 25 things aren't happening. Ten are enough. I'm boring myself.