1. I’m from Minnesota but haven’t lived there for almost 10 years.
  2. But I still have the accent. Esp. when I talk to my mom. You betcha!
  3. Now I live in Chicago- after trying out Madison, Madrid, Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Denver (ranked in order of preference).
  4. I’m a certified teacher but am biding my time in a corporate dungeon until I find a History teaching position.
  5. I’m married to my best friend who is not only Irish (really exciting- I had never dated an Irish person before moving to Chicago!!) but he is just all kinds of wonderful.
  6. And is also a teacher. What is sexier than an educated man who loves children? Hmm?
  7. I had Neuroblastoma, a type of cancer, as a child.
  8. I was only 10 months old. I don’t know how my parents lived through it. Just thinking about it makes me cry.
  9. They told my parents I probably wouldn’t live and if I did, I would never walk.
  10. Obviously, I survived.
  11. I can walk although I have a slight hitch in my giddy up.
  12. It used to make me cry when people asked me about it because I felt like a freak- Now I am strong enough to be proud and not let it bother me.
  13. Sometimes it still does- but then I make them feel really uncomfortable by saying, “Oh- I’m limping? I didn’t notice. It’s probably because I had cancer.” Suckas.
  14. I’ve had eight foot surgeries and two back surgeries because of the radiation from the cancer.
  15. The foot surgeries made one of my feet freakishly small- I wear a size 7 and a size 4.5.
  16. This size discrepancy means I cannot wear heels.  Even itty bitty kitten heels are a no go.
  17. I usually spend the money I would have spent on shoes on books instead.  It makes me feel smart.
  18. My right foot is the little foot- and proudly bears the Little Foot tattoo.
  19. Winston, the gecko, is on my left foot. No idea why he is named that or why I got a gecko. But I love them both.
  20. They are the namesakes of this blog. I’ll introduce you guys some day.
  21. My politics define me, whether I like them to or not.
  22. I have a hard time being friends with people who vote Republican.
  23. In fact, I have to fight the urge not to throw things at people with George Bush or anti-abortion bumper stickers.
  24. Especially if they happen to drive a Hummer.
  25. I was raised Evangelical Lutheran but am now agnostic.
  26. I often wish I was more religious. My politics and conspiracy theorist nature make religion really hard for me to swallow.
  27. But I still go to church on Christmas, mainly because my parents give me no other choice.
  28. I could eat red refried beans, eggs and avocado wrapped in a corn tortilla for every meal.
  29. In fact, I did when I lived in Hondo. The woman I lived with claimed I ate too much and would only feed me the above.
  30. I lost a bunch of weight and looked like Skelator.
  31. Overall, I loved Honduras. I was there to start a library in the oncology unit of the pediatric hospital.
  32. While there, 9 of the kiddos died. Including two from the same cancer I had when I was little.
  33. I can’t talk about it without crying. It was the hardest yet most rewarding thing I have ever done.
  34. As you can see, I cry a lot.
  35. I find it cathartic and sometimes try to think of the sad things to induce a good cry.
  36. Or sad songs. My girlfriends and I used to have contests to try to come up with the saddest song- Bob Dylan’s “Most of the Time” usually won. Or Johnny Lang’s “Breakin Me”
  37. Overall, I have terrible taste in music. So does my husband.
  38. However, I am very well read. Mainly because I can read freakishly fast.
  39. I first fell in love with my husband because he loved to read. That, and he had the best hip divet I’ve ever seen.
  40. Reading is my second favorite thing, traveling being the 1st.
  41. Reading while traveling- seriously, does it get any better?