Random Info

My friend Alecia did a blog with some "random info" about herself. It was fun to read and she challenged her friends to do the same. This is mine.

I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I also wanted 5 kids. I ended up with 4 and I think I am not very suited for a large family. I constantly struggle to be patient, although I think I am getting better. Once most of them were in school, I realized that I missed working and feeling independent. I am happy with this choice and think it was the best one for my family, although I still feel guilty sometimes.

Whenever I think of my biggest accomplishments, the weirdest one, of which I am very proud, is that I never paid to take a test in college. I think I've actually written about this before, but, in my college you took all tests at a testing center. A professor would give you a few days to take it and then there would be late days where you would have to pay a fee. The testing center was entirely funded by these fees. I thought it was ridiculous that anyone would pay to take a test and vowed to never do it and I never did.

Along those same lines, I am not really a procrastinator. I like to get things over with. I also have a little mantra I think whenever I have a deadline. I have been saying it at least since high school, it is, "don't worry, you always get things done, this time will be no different." Maybe because of this, I generally feel like things are within my control and I rarely feel stressed out.

I have always been an "early to bed, early to rise" person. I like to go to bed around 9:30/10 and get up around 6. Even on weekends. I am not rigid about it, but it is my preferred sleep timeline. I really like the early mornings when everyone else is sleeping and I have a quiet house to myself.

My mom died just a few months after my first children were born. I miss her everyday and really regret that I never got to know here while I was a mom. She was everything I strive to be as a parent and I wish I could tell her that.

I always start the day with an empty dishwasher. We run it at night and it always gets emptied first thing in the morning. I can't stand having dishes sitting around, even in the sink. I assigned each of my kids a cup color because I needed to know who was responsible for not putting their cups in the dishwasher and I wanted to limit the number of cups sitting around during the day.

I don't like things. I hate spending money on stuff, which can be challenging for some of my family members who may view me as frugal (ahem, a certain preteen girl). But, I would much rather spend money on vacations and experiences. I am constantly planning our next trip, well, except now.

Similarly, I don't really like to be home. I like to be out doing stuff (not work, I am pretty lazy when it comes to housework or home projects). This one is a struggle because all the males in my house are the opposite. Although, I will say that now that I have gotten used to it, being home all the time isn't as bad as I thought and maybe I will be happy to do more of it when given the choice.

I can't think of a most embarrassing moment. But, I hate it when I am asked to introduce myself to a group and say something interesting (this happens way more often than an adult should expect). Even when given notice, I can't think of anything. It is embarrassing to me that I don't have any exceptional stories or experiences to share. I lack special talents and I've never done anything that is amazing or overly interesting (not even a most embarrassing one!). Unfortunately, I can think of a few shameful moments, things that I truly regret, but those are not suitable for a room full of strangers.

One last sentiment--I love this blog. I love going back and seeing the memories. I am thankful to Sarah and Debby for talking about blogging all those years ago and encouraging me to join the world of bloggers. Just yesterday, I was reading through memories from 2015 and I am so glad I can just go back 5 years and know exactly what we were doing. I started it in 2011 and I wish I had done it earlier.