Whether we care to admit it or not, human beings are hopelessly curious about the details of other people’s lives. It’s just human nature.
In fact, while social media does a lot to reveal people’s self-absorption, it does just as much to reveal their natural curiosity. We take interest in the thoughts, habits, and activities of others. It’s part of being a social society. In the past people went to church and social functions to learn about other people. Now they go to church, social functions, AND they check out social media to do it.
And trust me, Facebook and Instagram wouldn’t exist if people weren’t curious what you’re saying, thinking, wearing, eating, or doing today.
Blogging is often the same. Most the time I’m sharing information, but sometimes my blog is about what I’m thinking or what we’re doing. And YOU are kind enough, (and curious enough,) to stop by and read. Thank you.
But maybe you’re curious about me. Maybe you’re interested in the writer behind Kentucky Sketches. I’ll spare you a running biography, (because you’d probably be asleep in the first 2 minutes of it anyway,) and share only a few random details you might find interesting, just for fun.
-
My appendix burst when I was 15.
You know how on TV the person with appendicitis always has pain on their right side? Yeah, that’s a bunch of hooey. I just felt sick. Like all over my gut sick. Not to mention the pain. Intense pain. And just overall MISERY.
But I had been sick for two days and then I laid in the hospital for another full day before anybody could figure out what was wrong with me. When they finally did surgery the appendix had already burst and I spent 9 more days in the hospital with tubes coming out of my nose and my side draining this disgusting black stuff out of my innards.
And they gave me a morphine pump. Ever had one of those things? Oh, my word, I fell in love! And when I started having a reaction to the morphine I tried to hide it so the doctor wouldn’t take my pump away. I was ready to fist-fight the nurse who finally spotted my hives. No, I didn’t resort to violence, but I wanted to! I’ll never again underestimate the power of narcotics.
2. I wrote my first fiction story when I was 6. And I’ve been writing ever since.
It was a detective story about a stolen candle, it ran about a page and a half long, and the spelling was atrocious! But that’s where my love of writing began and it’s never gone away.
3. I always insisted I’d never homeschool.
I realize I’m not necessarily unique in that, (most homeschoolers I meet never dreamed they would homeschool someday,) but I really, REALLY didn’t want to homeschool.
There were a lot of reasons for that, but one of the biggest was that I wanted time to pursue my writing and, there’s no question, kids really interfere with that. Shipping the kids off to school was imperative to me finding the time I needed to write.
So, for me, homeschooling required a gut-wrenching, heart-emptying process by which I finally reached the point I was willing to set some dreams aside to do what I felt was right.
How ironic, then, that my homeschooling journey would be the very thing to open doors of opportunity for my writing. Isn’t God funny that way?
4. I am infatuated with George Washington.
Seriously. If he walked in a room, I might swoon.
5. I’m a little obsessive about making my bed.
The rest of the house can be a disaster. My bedroom itself can be a wreck.
But my bed is made. Always.
6. On a youth trip when I was 17, the church van I was riding in flipped and I was thrown 30 feet from the vehicle.
I don’t remember much, so I can’t share many details, but they tell me I got to ride in a helicopter to the hospital! Cool, right?
Yeah, the whole thing would have been a whole lot cooler if I’d been wearing a seat belt like the common sense thinker I thought I was!
By some miracle I came out of that with only a concussion, a broken kneecap, and a few lacerations. Not bad considering. They had to shave a few inches on the side of my head to put in stitches, which is pretty mortifying to a 17 year old girl, though. Of course, when it was shaved it didn’t really look so bad — It was when it was about an inch long that it gave me fits!! 😉
7. My great-grandfather, from whom I got my maiden name, was an Italian immigrant, but the rest of my family traces back to some of the earliest English settlements in Virginia and North Carolina. (And to the Cherokee nation.)
If you’re from most of the rest of the world, 300 years isn’t a big deal. (You know what they say… In America, 100 miles is nothing. In Europe, 100 YEARS is nothing.)
But HERE, 300 years is a long time. And the Cherokees go back even further. So we’re old American blood.
8. When I need to think or pray, I get into my car and I drive.
Nothing is so soothing to me as a long, solitary drive in the country. Being alone like that, (because it’s not like I get much alone time at home!) really gives me a chance to clear my head. And I can’t tell you the times I’ve met with God, (in a figurative sense, of course,) behind the wheel of a vehicle on some back country road.
9. If I could choose to live anywhere outside of Kentucky, it would be in Yorktown, Virginia.
Not sure why really. Well, except that Yorktown is beautiful. And historic. And several of my revolutionary favorites were there, all at the same time. Totally, completely nerdy, I realize, but it is what it is.
A photo I took at Yorktown overlooking the lower Chesapeake is the wallpaper on my laptop. It gives me a daily glimpse of my happy place which makes me, well, happy. 🙂
10. According to my ENT, my bad inner ears mean I’ve lost some hearing and 1/3 of my overall balance.
Yay! This means I have an actual excuse for being the super, SUPER clumsy woman I am. But if you’re one of those soft-spoken types, you and me are likely to have some problems: Especially in crowds or places with lots of background noise, I. cannot. hear.
And I’m a terrible lip-reader, too. Just ask anybody who’s ever tried to mouth something to me from across the room during a church service.
11. I had a car wreck two weeks before marrying my husband. My brother-in-law had a car wreck just before marrying my husband’s sister. My other brother-in-law had a car wreck just before marrying my husband’s other sister. And my father-in-law had a car wreck just before marrying my mother-in-law.
The common denominator? We were all attempting to marry a person of Hawaiian-descent. So beware of Pacific Islanders.
Fortunately no one was seriously injured, but I had a lovely seat belt burn on my neck in all my wedding photos.
12. I have a serious addiction to Life Savers Wint O Green mints.
And I’m not kidding. I don’t know what they put in those things, but I can sit down and eat an entire bag.
13. I am notoriously bad at remembering names, but I’m really not much better at remembering faces. Sorry about that.
It’s a definite weakness of mine, but I don’t know how to fix it. I do believe I’m more self-conscious in this area because my husband really is remarkable at remembering people. I tell him all the time I can never afford to lose him because then I will have no clue who anybody is.
Sounds like early-onset Alzheimers, doesn’t it? Well I take comfort in the fact my husband can’t remember song lyrics to save his life, even on songs he’s heard a thousand times. Nor does he seem to remember where I keep the laundry basket, no matter how many times I show him. 😉
……………………………………………………
So were these facts about me fascinating? Well, no. I’m smart enough to answer that question myself.
But I shared a little about me! So is there anything interesting you’d like to tell me about yourself?
You’ll find this post linked up with some of these great blogs:
I just have to say, that when I visit your little place on the Interwebs, I always SMILE! I love your writing style. Thanks for sharing a little about yourself – and all the other terrific tips and tidbits that make homeschooling a little more inspiring when I’m feeling dry as a bone with it.
Blessings,
Carol
You are so sweet, Carol. 🙂 Thank you so much! My silly ramblings wouldn’t mean very much if people like you didn’t drop in to read them. Thanks so much for stopping by today. AND for the kind words!
My appendix ruptured at age 14. You’re right. You just feel sick. Like you have an awful flu. That drain was so gross. (visiting from A Little R & R Wednesdays)
So you went through that misery, too! Interesting… I read that appendicitis strikes most often between the ages of 11 and 19. Guess that was very true for the two of us! So glad you lived to tell about it. Thank God we live in a day where living through it is possible!
So glad you stopped by today, Julie! Thanks for reading. 🙂
Haha, these were interesting! Love #5, and #11 is just crazy.
Isn’t that weird? I think I need to warn anyone who someday hopes to marry one of my kids. 😉 They need to drive VERY carefully!
Fun post idea. And all those car wrecks are stressful! And getting thrown from the church van and surviving?! I think its safe to say you have God’s hand of protection on your life!
I think I have to agree. Through this post I even learned some things I’d never known before about the van wreck I was in. It made me all the more thankful for God’s hand of protection. And made me so glad I added that to my list! I may never have learned that info otherwise!
Ok, minus the car wrecks, bus accident and appendicitis (wow), you’re basically my twin! I already knew we had a lot in common (I said I’d NEVER homeschool, love those mints, and would also love in Yorktown in a heartbeat.) Thanks for sharing so many interesting things about yourself! Oh, and I’d swoon over Mr. Washington too! 😉
Hahaha! Obviously you and I need to get together for coffee sometime! 😉 You must be a kindred spirit…