Well, Honest to Goodness and I'll be gosh darned. I received an award and meme from Beautiful Mess at Life induces thoughts, mostly random. I didn't even realize it until today. So, sorry for the delay, but here's my attempt at honesty yet somewhat interesting to read!Here's the award fine print: The honorees of this award are to: A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep! B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.
Ten honest things about me:
1. I super over-analyze anything I ever put to print. (er computer screen?) Sometimes to my determent. Here's the routine sometimes: Write, edit, write some more, edit. Final edit. Re-read. Research. Re-read it as if I'm the intended reader. Final, final Edit. Send/Post. After it's sent/posted I'll read it again. If this is a work email and my client has responded either good or bad, I'll read their response and then my original email again. I know - I'm crazy. I'll come back and tell you how many times I've re-read this post (not including editing). So far the tally's at 3. Now 4. Now 5. Dang it 6! Aw, Man 7 - okay stopping now. Totally caught myself again...8.
2. At this point in my life, I don't believe I could be content with an adoption from a child from Guatemala. I know this does not make any sense. I'm half Guatemalan. These children are beautiful and need homes. Right now, I'm nagged by the little voice leftover from my family (mostly my mother) that despite the connection - these children do not look like me. My mom has always over empathized the fact that she comes from a European descent- not native Guatemalan. At this point I haven't even come to terms with possible adoption so I try not to think about it too much. But a few weeks ago I tried to de-program myself by researching adoptions from Guatemala and I lasted about 5 minutes before I had to click away.
3. I watch entirely too much TV. I would be absolutely ashamed if there was a public sign outside my house with the number of hours the TV is on, on any given day. I've got to work on this one!
4. I love my sister-in-law, but I don't know how to show it. I've always felt inferior to her from early on. We met in Guatemala, after Mr. Marvelous and I had been dating about six months. She was three years older than I. She's gorgeous, and dressed cool, she always knows how to party and dance well. I was the nerd who thought a fun weekend was a playing board games with my Youth Group. She's extremely independent. She has very well articulated views on hot button political topics. I'm always interested, but I'm horrible at providing opinions. She's now 15 weeks pregnant and I'm even more incompetent at finding something in common with her. A few weeks ago I sat right next to her as she responded to a question about siblings that haunts me - "No, I don't have a sister - just two brothers. But, there are times that I really wish I had one. Especially now."
5. My father went to the county jail for child molestation when I was in the third grade. He was there for about a day and on probation after that. I was the one who told my teacher about it. My mother was not allowed to pick me up from school that day and I was taken by CPS to the county criminal building. I had to talk to a counselor in front of a video camera with puppets and dolls. Just like on TV. My mother convinced everyone that I didn't really see anything, or ever touched. For a while she even convinced me. That is until it picked up again when I was 15.
6. When I was 16 a year after we moved to Central America, my dad left my mother for the receptionist at his work. His boss was my uncle and my mother's brother-in-law. That made our life miserable. He came back a while later with a six month old. Said he "found-it" and asked my mother to take care of the baby and that he was going to stay. Likely story considering this child had very blue eyes and looked just like my brother at that age. Later that day he said, "You see that beautiful creature over there? Well, that's your brother!" To which I responded, "He may always be your son, but I will always have one brother!" He left again after two weeks. I've seen him maybe four or five times since then. The last time being my wedding in 2001. He came and sat in the back row and left while we walked down the aisle after the ceremony.
7. I get along with my mother in law way more than my own mother. I could chat with my MIL for an hour and a half and think where did the time go? My mother calls me and I feel like 15 minutes had to have been hours!
8. I love to research. At work they refer me as "The Encyclopedia [my last name]. Work stuff, ancestry and family history stuff, anything and everything really. For the last three years I've participated in my husband's fantasy football league. Only problem is when "School's out for the Summer" or in this case the off-season, I forget more than half the stuff I learned. I have to re-teach myself every year. But, overall I love to be a resource for people. My goal in life has always been to know a little about a lot of different things.
9. I'm an extremely forgiving person. (DH made me include that one) An example of that is when I was in kindergarten/first grade. (Well, okay maybe a few of the points above too!) The girls on my street were all mostly two years older that I was. But, I tried so hard to get the older girls to play with me. Many years later I found an old cassette tape that had songs from "My little Pony" on one side and it was blank on the other. Apparently when I duped the older girls to play with me I also left my Fis.her P.rice tape recorder on while they were over. The what I thought was the blank side revealed that they were saying terrible things to me - right to my face. About how I wasn't really their friend, and they were just over because my mom made cookies. Without missing a beat I told them, "Oh, that's okay - Wanna play Rainbow Bright?" I had completely forgot anything they ever said that was mean and had always thought fondly of them.
10. My first job was working at at a daycare center with four-year-olds. I loved it. If I quit it was because the bureaucracy and the crazy parents not the kids. I took great pride in my orderly classroom of 16. It wasn't perfect but it was orderly chaos. I taught them a little sign language. Enough that I had the only non-earpiercingly loud table at the lunch room. I'll never forget the little boy that came to console me after a crazy parent yelled in my face for placing their child in "time-out". She said I was incompetent. He gave me a hug, patted me on the head and in a quiet voice said, "It's okay Miss Liv. I think your the best." And he went on to quote that day's bible verse I had taught them earlier that morning. I don't even remember what it was. But I honestly think I'll do a good job with the children I'll be blessed with. Honestly.
*Phew!* Now all of ya'll are going to think I'm just crazy! I hope the awarder doesn't think I'm coping out here but I'm not going to tag 7 people here just yet. If you are a follower-er either public or not and you feel that letting go of 10 honest things about yourself would be theraputic to you then let me know and I will proudly reward you. I just don't know ya'll enough to know if this would be a burden or not. And I don't want to take advantage of the fact that you care right now and I don't want you to leave! [but do know that #9 is evidence that I will always forgive you!]
