25 Random Things About Me

Having gone through so much change in the past 3 years, I thought it was time to document some of it. So many snippets get captured in my Facebook account, but they are often fleeting. This is an effort to capture more of it. I thought that this "journaling" effort from 2009 might provide a good starting point.

1. I laughed at my 9th grade Spanish teacher when he told me I should pursue more Spanish - now I make a living from it
2. I tend to develop obsessions about certain things
3. Obsession #1, until age 7: horses (I'm not sure I ever completely outgrew it though)
4. Obsession #2, from age 8 on: baseball, particularly the Red Sox (that one I definitely never outgrew, though I have tried to shake it at various points)
5. Obsession #3, beginning at age 14: boys (easily outgrew that one by age 40)
6. Obsession #4, beginning at age 16: Spain (hope to never outgrow that one)
7. Obsession #5, beginning age 20: travel (they should have never allowed me to study in Spain during my junior year - I would have paid off the house by now if I didn't spend all kinds of money traveling since then)
8. Learning Spanish was probably the single best thing I ever did - it opened up whole new worlds to me, not to mention that it has kept me employed through horrific economic times.
9. Now that you know this much about me, can you believe I resented the fact I had to take a foreign language to complete college prep studies in high school?
10. I am thankful that my ex-husband and I had such different strengths. Hopefully I adopted the best of his alternative life strategies, and dropped the worst of mine. I like to think it gives me an advantage in life.
11. I thank God I can sing - it is a natural therapy for me, and I have met so many great friends by doing it.
12. If anyone told me in college that I would have become an editor, I would have laughed in their face - what a dry profession that would be!
13. Working in publishing has given me the opportunity to use many of my natural strengths (including my obsession with organization), put me in touch with wonderful friends, and allowed me to travel on someone else's dime
14. I am glad I found a way to combine my love of languages with my natural strengths to do work that is socially valuable.
15. The most rewarding thing I have done in the past year is volunteering my time at a therapeutic horseback riding center. I love doing physical work for a change, getting to know the horses, and connecting with the kids and other volunteers and workers at the center.
16. In spite of having been laid off four times, and gone through a divorce, I think I have had a most fortunate life.
17. I wish I ate out less often
18. I wish I shopped for good food and actually took the time to prepare it on a regular basis
19. I am conflicted about how much I have to travel for work - it is great to see new places, meet new people, but it is impossible to have a routine home life
20. Vacationing in Vermont over the past several years has made me realize how nice it is to take time off in a place that doesn't require a 5-hour plane ride - Thanks, Jim!
21. California makes my lips crack and my cuticles bleed - I'm sorry, but I still don't understand why so many people are obsessed with living there. (Not that there is anything wrong with that! - I love all my horse adventures there and the horse adventurers I've met)
22. I love being a New Englander - bad weather and all! (It makes life unpredictable)
23. Why are people in the US so afraid of Latin America? Parts of it are closer than Europe and it is way more exotic!
24. Why can't we all just get along?
25. Dios te dé el doble de lo que tú me deseas - May God give you twice what you wish for me