Five things you never knew about me – until now

I met a woman last night at a blogger get-together in Manhattan.  Actually, I met a few, but she’s the one who has stood out among the crowd.  The one who’s had me thinking all day.

Her first tweet to me after last night:

Barely scratched the surface with @writingtosanity - so I'll follow you to get the rest of the story....

February 8, 2011 11:18 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@motherhoodmag

Lisa Duggan

My response:

@motherhoodmag I hope I don't disappoint! After hearing some of u talking last night, I feel like I have nothing important to say!

February 8, 2011 2:04 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@writingtosanity

Desiree Allen

Okay, so it was a bit needy, my response — wasn’t it?  Pretty much begging for a compliment of some sort — right?  The truth of the matter is, I was so intimidated by the strong women there last night, I truly felt that I did not have anything to offer.  Then I received this:

@writingtosanity Not possible. You are a mom.

February 8, 2011 3:49 pm via txtReplyRetweetFavorite

@motherhoodmag

Lisa Duggan

And she’s so freakin’ right.  As a mom, I have something to say every day.  Every hour.  Every minute.   I always have some sort of story to tell, some new realization.

But, besides “Mom,” who am I?  What else is there to know about me?

I love to sing karaoke.

I will pretty much sing anywhere, anytime.  One of my favorite parts of leading my tenth high school reunion was the excuse of visiting an old friend’s bar and singing karaoke at least once a week for MONTHS.  If you invite me, I will go.

I would rather listen to Frank Sinatra and The Beatles than anything else.

Out of the many genres of music in the world today, I’m hard-pressed to find something I don’t like.  However, given the choice, I’d rather listen to Ol’ Blue Eyes and The Fab Four any day.  In fact, I recall a conversation I had with my grandfather one year that included him asking what I wanted for my birthday and me asking for a Sinatra CD.  My grandfather was shocked.  He said, “I’m surprised someone your age would like that kind of music.”

I am the only red-head in my immediate family.

I was told for YEARS by my family that I was the milkman’s daughter.  I finally put a stop to that joke at about age 12, but the verbal beatings commenced once I entered middle school and high school.  Situations like that made life interesting.  Only since I became a mom have I finally embraced my hair color; besides, I don’t have a choice now, as both of my children have red hair, too.

I get lonely sometimes and I want you to like me.

I have had lots of people around me for a large part of my life growing up in Colorado.  Being the first-born of six siblings, I have never been without someone to talk to.  What I’ve found though, is this: the older we get, the more we drift apart.  We used to be a very tightly knit family – not so much anymore.

Also, since my kids and I moved clear across the country to New Jersey, I’ve discovered that making friends with people who I can trust is more difficult than I ever imagined.  I feel out-of-place most days, like I’m too “country” here.  Sure, there are certain personalities I do well with, but not one soul who I would feel comfortable sharing BFF necklaces with.  Of course, it doesn’t really help that I am painfully shy at first.  I can’t seem to get over the idea that everyone has to like me, either.  Yeah, I’ve got issues.  Whatever.

If you haven’t figured it out already, I can be am a dork

My weaknesses: Chocolate and office supplies

My favorite movie: Babe

I can use this over and over and never run out of good stories: “This one time at band camp…”