36 Random things about Angie - my belated birthday post

36 Random facts about Angie

1. I was born on March 23, 1972 in Texas
2. We moved when I was an infant to Indiana.
3. We moved again when I was 2 to Muscatine, Iowa
4. I remember seeing Superman at the Drive-In in Muscatine.
5. I remember my brother, Kevin, who is 3 years older than me, was a die-hard KISS and Minnesota Vikings fan when we lived in Iowa and once when visiting my Uncle Rick in Chicago, he told Kevin that he would get beheaded for wearing a Vikings hat in Chicago. It made me cry even though Kevin was mean to me. Kevin and I fought non-stop until he left for college. Then we got along fine.
6. I also have a sister, Mindi. She is 3 years younger and she is my very best girlfriend in the whole wide world.
7. We moved to St. Louis when I was 7-1/2 and I lived here until I graduated college except for my on-campus college life.
8. The first time I flew on an airplane, I was 10 – traveling back to Texas for a visit to the beach.
9. The next time I flew on an airplane, I was 15 – traveling back to Texas for another visit to the beach.
10. The next time I flew to Texas I was 25 for a visit to MD Anderson Cancer Center for my 24 year old husband. (I flew lots in between my age 15 trip and this trip)
11. I have spent the night in the following states and countries:
    Texas
    Indiana
    Ohio
    Iowa
    Missouri
    Kentucky
    Illinois
    Wisconsin
    Arkansas
    Kansas
    California
    Nevada
    Arizona
    Florida
    Georgia
    Tennessee
    New York
    Colorado
    Wyoming
    Utah
    Jamaica
    St. Thomas USVI
    Alberta, Canada
    B.C., Canada
    England
    France
    Italy
12. I went to a Catholic school from 1st through 12th grade.
13. I am short – always have been one of, if not, THE shortest one in my class. I topped off just shy of 5’2.”
14. That made it very hard for boys to take me seriously when I was an early teenager; therefore middle school was hell.
15. I was top of my class of 17 kids in 8th grade.
16. In high school, I was a cheerleader. I was captain for my sophomore and Senior Year. We were terrible, but we had fun, much like the boys’ teams for which we cheered.
17. In high school, I graduated 15th in my class of 115. I was capable of being in the top 5-10, but I was too busy trying to be cool. Apparently, my then definition of cool meant you didn't study as much to get good grades. Whatever.
18. My first semester of college, my GPA was a 1.870. I went a little wild. Plus I suddenly wasn't one of the smartest. Seems that most people who decide to go to an engineering school were smart in high school.
19. My third semester of college, my GPA was a 3.750. I got back on track. (the rest of my semesters were in between – some closer to my first semester and some closer to my third semester)
20. My first kiss (a peck on the cheek) was when I was 10 years old under the Brookdale subdivision sign off Schulte Road in St. Louis. I hope my kids are older than that.
21. His name was Brian. In fact, I have dated 3 Brians in my life. Two were even Brian Edward …. I married the last one.
22. I have small feet. I wear a size 5, but my feet are wide with high arches. They are shaped much like the boxes that package shoes. This makes sexy shoes a pipedream.
23. I am one of 22 first cousins on my mom’s side. I am one of 16 first cousins on my dad’s side.
24. One of my first cousins died 4 years ago very unexpectedly. His name was Randy. He was my oldest first cousin on my mom’s side.
25. All of my grandparents have died. Only one lived to see 80. She is the only great-grandparent my boys ever met. I SOOOO wish my dad’s mom could have met the boys. It makes me tear up to think about it because she would have JUST loved their adoption stories.
26. I have 2 boys – both adopted.
27. I am a Christian.
28. I have terrible penmanship and NO artistic ability or patience for it.
29. I love working with numbers. Since I am not working outside the home, I currently love balancing our checkbook, creating our household budget and looking at our reports in Quicken to track our expenditures against the budget. I love finding great deals with coupons, sales, and store promotions for the best possible way to be frugal with our funds. It is a hobby.
30. I am a conservative Republican in my political views, mostly because of economic (tax) reasons, defense reasons (I used to work in the defense industry), and my faith-based issues. I make no apologies for it because I believe you have to take a stand in life to be taken seriously. Much of my family share the same political views, but most of my friends tend to be rather liberal. They think I am as crazy as I think they are. We agree to disagree. Listen to each other and move on.
31. I know how to snow ski, but not snowboard. I know how to water-ski on one ski, but not two, and I cannot figure out that darn wakeboard.
32. I gained a freshman 15 (or 20) in college. I lost it all my sophomore year just from not drinking and partying. In 2006, I lost over 20 pounds and was within 2 pounds of “MY” ideal weight. In 2007, I gained back about 11 pounds of it. I have lost about 3 of those, but I CONSTANTLY struggle with my weight. I have to always watch what I eat and my activity/exercise level to stay on top of it.
33. I sang a few solos in grade school plays and choir. I have sung in a couple weddings – college friends, yet I don’t think I am very good when I hear my own voice.
34. I have always been terrible at team sports because I am not competitive. I hate for anyone to lose. I like individual activities like running, weight-lifting, golf (though I don't know how to play), etc.
35. I am terrible about calling people back on the phone and staying in touch with my long-distance friends. I don’t know why and I need to get better at this.
36. I am smarter than a 5th grader because I realize that just because my birthday was on Easter Sunday, it will not be on a Sunday every year, UNLIKE the contestant AND 5th grader who got it wrong two weeks ago. (Not that I watch the show, HONESTLY, but my 14 year old niece, Lauren, informed me of this question this past Easter weekend as we were discussing the fact that my birthday actually falls on Easter, for the only time in my lifetime. Not again until 2160.)
    
    

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