Day 1: introduce yourself, include a recent picture, and 15 interesting facts about yourself.
Why hello there! My name is Diana. This is my blog (obviously).
This is the most recent picture of me I have……this is how I look 95% of the time! hehehehehehehe
that was taken Friday night at my son's Pinewood Derby race, btw....it was in an old store in the mall, so there were mirrors everywhere....it was a photography nightmare!
And now, here are 15 interesting facts about me (although the definition of “interesting” might be a big subjective)...
1. I was almost named Juanita. Thankfully, my mother put her foot down and insisted on Diana if their 3rd child (after 2 boys) was a girl. My mother SWEARS that Juanita was probably “the name of some senorita he (my father) met in the Air Force” (lol!) Therefore, Juanita went adios. And I’m okay with that!
2. I was seriously stumped as to what to choose as a major in college. There’s no way to say this without it sounding completely conceited……but I was “good” at everything in high school academically….so there wasn’t any ‘one thing’ that really stood out to entice me enough to consider it as a college major. Nor was I interested in any one subject enough to make it my life’s ambition. I majored in Engineering simply because my older brother made the remark that “girls can’t be engineers”…..and that p*ssed me off, because I’m a total feminist. I do rash things when I’m angry…..like picking college majors without much forethought. :P It seems to have worked out okay though. :D My bachelor’s degree is in Mechanical Engineering btw……any other engineering gals out there? We gotta stick together! :D
3. I have a serious lead foot. Maybe that’s not all that interesting, but it’s a true little factoid. I was asked awhile back how many speeding tickets I’ve had over the course of my driving years, and I couldn’t count them, but I’d guess the number is in the high teens or low 20’s. I don’t equate FAST driving with BAD driving. I like to exceed the speed limit, but I don’t drive stupid. There’s a difference. Needless to say, DH does all the driving when we’re together as he gets tired of paying lawyer fees and court supervision costs! I do know that I’ve managed to receive speeding tickets in about 5 different states! :P For the record, my dad was an amateur drag racer in the 60’s…….so I think it’s in my DNA!
4. I love to cook. If I thought I could make a comparable living being a caterer, I’d quit my job tomorrow and gladly cook all day long……..as long as I had someone else to clean up after me…
5. I hate to clean. Our house is a cluttered mess, and 99.95% of the time I just don’t care. The other .05% of the time is when we know company is coming and I feel the need to not be perceived as the slobs we truly are. Thankfully, for us slobs, we don’t get much unexpected company. When we do get the occasional unexpected guest…..I go hide. :P
6. I love to travel. Samantha Brown and Anthony Bourdain have the best jobs in the world. If I could figure out a way to get paid to travel the world and give my opinion of stuff, that would be Nirvana for me. My top 2 travel destinations right now are Hawaii and Austria. I got the Sound of Music on blu-ray for Christmas and it makes me want to visit Saltzburg SO BAD!!! Someday!!!
7. I love to read, but I’m also avoiding reading for awhile because I’m an “obsessive reader”. What’s that, you ask? I’m not the type of reader that can read a chapter or two of a book each night before bedtime. 1. I have a horrible short-term memory, so I won't remember stuff if I drag it out that long....and 2. If I get ‘hooked’ into a book, I'll refuse to put it down until it’s done! I can’t tell you how many late nights I’ve spent finishing various novels that I just couldn’t put down…..ignoring chores/children/hubby in the process. It’s kinda pathetic. So I’m taking a ‘reading break’ right now…..my e-reader is sitting there on the nightstand just mocking me though…..
8. I have huge feet, but I’m not that tall. Go figure. I’m 5’7”, but wear a size 11 shoe. Shouldn’t I be about 6 feet tall with feet that big? I think so. My feet are bigger than my husband’s. That’s so not cool.
9. I am a former fattie (that doesn’t sound very nice, but since I’m talking about myself, I can say what I want!). I had weight loss surgery in 2004 and have since lost 130 pounds. I now see the obesity epidemic in a completely different light. I’ve been there. I know how it feels to be that heavy and feel that hopeless. There are tons of people out there that have been able to lose weight without resorting to surgery like I did. Kudos to them. For me, surgery is what worked. And as my PSA on the subject, don’t EVER say that surgery is “the easy way out” or imply that someone who had surgery somehow “cheated”. Because I can say for a fact that it most definitely is NOT in any way “easy” or “cheating”. I worked my @ss off at the gym…….literally. Still do. Anybody that has been around me the last 6 years can attest to the fact that even with the help of a lap-band I have fought hard for every pound I’ve lost. Surgery isn’t a magic bullet. It’s a huge help, absolutely, but losing that much weight still requires a lot of work/willpower/gym-time. And I am darned proud of myself for coming this far....if you want to see my temper, make some crass remark about surgery being some sort of 'easy way out' and you will get an earful, i guarantee it..... *stepping off soapbox*
10. I love to sing. I’m a first soprano, so I have a pretty high-pitched voice. What’s funny is that people will call the house and when I answer, they’ll assume that I’m my daughter because of my voice. Lol…….but anyhoo…..I love to sing. I prefer the safety of a choir, but will do the occasional solo at church. I’m looking forward to singing duets with my daughter, who has a much better voice than I do and doesn’t have the stage fright that I do.
11. I’m a Disney World freak. I put the entire blame of that onto my sister-in-law. She started it! As children, neither my husband nor I ever got to visit the magical land of Mickey Mouse. So we are totally making up for lost time! We took our first trip in 2005 and have been at least once a year every year since! We’ve even made a couple trips to Disneyland out in California. We even bought a timeshare in Orlando to make the trip that much easier. I’m a planner, so part of the fun for me is planning out all our dining reservations and activities on a spreadsheet. Yes, I am a nerd like that.
12. Speaking of nerdiness: I was Valedictorian of my Junior-High graduating class……graduated 3rd in my high school class (would’ve been Salutatorian if #1 and #2 hadn’t been twins!)….and graduated with honors from college. I like to think of myself as a pretty intelligent person. I don’t always come off that way, but I really am pretty smart! :D
13. I am training for a 1/2 marathon. I started running (eh…..I wouldn’t call what I do RUNNING……I’ll call it JOGGING!) almost 2 years ago. At first I was simply trying to run a mile. Then I worked up to running a 5K (3.1 miles) for the Susan G. Komen race this past summer. Then I decided to just keep adding distance in the hopes that “someday” I’d be able to do something REALLY COOL like run a ½ marathon. I ran a 10K in October, and I’m signed up to run another 10K in May (I’m not one of these hard-core runners that runs outside year-round. I’m a wuss when it comes to extreme temperatures!) My goal is 13.1 miles. I’d LOVE to be able to race in the Princess 1/2 Marathon next February. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to go simply because of the cost, but regardless of whether I actually get to go to that race, I’ll be ready for a local 1/2 marathon whenever one comes around! Right now I’m up to running about 7 miles at 12 minutes/mile. So I’m slow. And I don’t care. I’m just trying to get exercise while at the same time challenging myself to do something I've always assumed I couldn't. My goal is to prove myself wrong. :P
14. I am a horribly unhealthy eater. It’s a wonder I ever lost all that weight. I only like a few veggies…..and most of the time I don’t even BUY veggies because the hubby/kids don’t really eat them either and they’ll go bad before I ever get around to eating them all myself……so yeah, very unhealthy eater here. Bad example for my children, I know. I’m working on improving that a little at a time. I am a work in progress.
15. I am NOT a morning person. If I had my druthers, I’d stay up ‘til about 1 or 2AM and sleep ‘till about noon. But my job/commute requires me to get up each day at 5AM. So I’m perpetually grouchy about lack of sleep until the weekend when I get to sleep in. Then the cycle will repeat itself each Monday-Friday for the next 22 years until I’m eligible for retirement and can once again, sleep late like my body wants to!
So there’s 15 factoids about me….not sure how interesting they are…..it was kinda hard coming up with stuff that was even worth typing toward the end!
Until tomorrow......
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