It’s my birthday today!
I’m just back from our anniversary trip to Ireland, and I’m rather jetlagged.
Our anniversary was back in December, but December is a lousy month to go on a walking trip to Ireland. So we went in May instead! Which was nice, because it seemed like a birthday present, too.
And today, for my birthday, I thought I’d share 47 things you may not know about me, so you can get to know me better! (When I first wrote this post I made it 48 things. Then I realized I’m only turning 47!).
Here goes: 47 Weird Facts About Me:
- My favourite snack is chocolate chips in milk. (That’s IN milk, not AND milk). You pour enough chocolate chips in a glass to cover the bottom, pour the milk, and get a big soup spoon. Two chocolate chips per a spoonful of milk is pretty wonderful!
- I’ve knit 32 pairs of socks in my life. And I’m working right now on 3 more!
- I grew up as an only child.
My grade 2 school portrait!
- I was allergic to milk as a kid so I never grew up eating cheese. Still hate it.
- I hate peanut butter, too. (Start watching that video at 5:05!)
- When I was a kid, I loved putting plain chips on sandwiches. It made them crunchy.
- I’m Canadian, and I’m American. My whole family is Canadian, but my parents were studying in the U.S. when I was born. Lived there for 5 months only, but it was enough to get me a U.S. passport, which has helped so much as my speaking has stepped up in the U.S.! So God saw I’d need it even back then.
- I was flying by myself from Toronto to visit my dad first in Boston and then in Vancouver starting when I was 6. I found out that if you’re an unaccompanied minor on a plane and you cry, stewardesses bring you cookies.
- I grew up in downtown Toronto and even worked at Maple Leaf Gardens as a teenager.
- My favourite colour is purple.
This colour scheme is quite typical for us!
- I have oily skin. Hated it as a teen. Love it now. No wrinkles!
- I think my natural hair colour is mousy brown. I think.
- My lower eyelashes are almost entirely gone, and it seriously bugs me.
- I have 2 children in heaven and 2 children on earth. We had a miscarriage, then Rebecca, then Christopher (who passed away when he was a month old), then Katie.
- I’m 98% English and 2% Polish. Kind of boring, actually. My husband’s a much more interesting mix.
- My first big job was programming databases. I learned how to create applications in Microsoft Access. Wrote a billing program for my husband, too.
- I was supposed to be a university professor. Changed my mind at the end of my second Master’s degree.
- I started blogging in 2008 to try to build a platform so I could sell more books to a publisher. I thought of myself as a writer who blogs. Now I’m really primarily a blogger–and I’m totally happy about that!
- I want to write novels. I’ve got two in my head, and I like them. But they don’t have “happily ever after” endings, so I don’t know if that’s okay or not.
- You probably know that I love speaking, but did you know that it runs in my family? My whole family are great speakers, as were my grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.
- I can type 120 words a minute.
- I can knit even faster.
The most intricate pattern I’ve ever made–the shawl on a long cardigan.
- I can knit without looking.
- I can eat without looking, too (but everybody can).
- I love dresses, but hardly ever wear them in the winter because I’m always too cold.
- I’m a terrible decorator.
- I’m sleeping a lot less the older I get. And I love it!
- My dream is to live in Kenya for half the year and help equip church leaders to teach more about marriage and sexual fidelity. My husband would like to teach at a missions hospital. We’re working on it!
- My favourite thing I’ve ever done in missions is repairing clothes and doing laundry at the children’s home in Kenya. It wasn’t planned, and I’m sure we did more good with the medical team and with sending money. But somehow repairing a child’s pair of jeans or washing a sweater of an orphan meant something to me.
- My two favourite mini-series are polar opposites: Pride & Prejudice (BBC version) and Band of Brothers. Can quote both of them.
- I’ve been to 48 states. I’m only missing Idaho and Utah.
- I’ve been to 9 provinces–but I’ll fix that with Newfoundland in June!
- My biggest fear is heights. I could speak in public all day and it wouldn’t bother me at all. But I still have to breathe deeply when I pass the stair rail on my top floor at my house.
- My recurring nightmare is driving and having the brakes not work.
- I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 22, since I grew up in downtown Toronto and no one drove. I made my kids get their licenses earlier because I’ve always thought I’m not a very confident driver because of it.
- 3 of the 4 guys I ever dated seriously went on to be doctors. Don’t know what that means, but I guess I have a type.
- For our twenty-fifth anniversary my husband redid my engagement ring. Originally it was an amethyst and cost about $187. He put a diamond in it now. I didn’t want to give up the original setting because it meant a lot to me!
- I actually scored higher on a math contest in grade 11 than my husband did on the same math contest. Only difference? He could still do that math test today. I forget all of it.
- I took ballet as a child–and even could pirouette on pointe.
- I have a phobia of playing team sports.
- I started wearing earplugs in university and now can’t sleep without them. I start to panic if I can’t find my earplugs when I’m away speaking. What if I can’t fall asleep?
- I’m a decent singer. My girls are amazing singers.
- My resting heart rate is way too high even though I’m in pretty good shape. It makes me nervous.
- The first Bible chapter I ever memorized was Isaiah 53. Still my favourite.
- I’m an ENTJ (if you like the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator). It means I’m a CEO, know-it-all, executive type person.
- I’m a recovering political junkie. Although I’m currently relapsing and so I’m glad to be away with no internet!
- Some people want to teach the world to sing. I want to teach the world to knit. (And we’ve done that, bit by bit! ? )
Anyone share any of these quirky things? Let me know in the comments! ?
