42

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too--yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.


In honor of my 42nd birthday, I am going to share with you 42 things about me. (Don’t worry, mom, this is a family-friendly blog.)

1. My mom had planned on naming me Malinda.
2. She almost died when I was born. (Had nothing to do with the whole Malinda thing.)
3. I was actually named after my aunt who O Baby calls “Aunt Donna Cake”.
4. I attend Weir Elementary School. And Wilbur Wright Elementary School. And Cadiz Elementary School. And Parker Elementary School. And I should have attended Riley Elementary School, but I got bussed back to Parker.
5. When I was in sixth grade, I was the tallest person in the whole school except for the other sixth grade teacher, Mr. Bouslog. Any wonder why I loved Mr. Bouslog?
6. I used to be a Rainbow Girl.
7. I spent four years in college with absolutely no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.
8. I did know how to have a lot of fun in college.
9. My senior year I lived in a house with a bunch of my sorority sisters.
10. It was known on campus as the “Sugar Shack”.
11. And yet some how I still managed to graduate from my university’s Honors College.
12. I served in the US Navy for four years.
13. I lived in England for two of those years.
14. In England, I shared an apartment with MB whose mom lived next door to a girl I lived with in college.
15. We didn’t know that until we had been living together for a few months.
16. I once saw the “Pirates of Penzance” at the amphitheatre in Penzance.
17. I actually played on a women’s softball team once. We played in one tournament and never scored a run.
18. I spent 3 months on an island in the Aleutians – twice.
19. I have been to 24 of the United States and the District of Columbia.
20. Outside of the US, I’ve only been to England, Spain, Mexico, Jamaica and China.
21. I almost married the absolutely wrong guy once for absolutely all of the wrong reasons.
22. I haven’t spoken to him in about 15 years.
23. My first job out of the Navy was as a technical editor for a government contractor.
24. I was their second choice for the job.
25. I met my mentor while I was working there (I always teased him that he was like a grandpa to me).
26. He and I worked together at 3 other companies after that.
27. He died one week before O Baby was born.
28. I once had to perform CPR on the man I thought I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with.
29. He didn’t survive.
30. I did.
31. I went back to college at age 34 and got my master’s degree.
32. I visited a web site once for a hotel in the Outer Banks, and ended up reading all about the owners’ two daughters adopted from China.
33. I first told my family I was adopting from China on vacation at Atlantic Beach in 2001.
34. In 2002, I moved from beautiful Virginia Beach back to the Midwest.
35. I couldn’t afford to buy a crappy house in the worst part of Virginia Beach now (not that I’ve been looking or anything).
36. Adopting O Baby was the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
37. I can say this, because if I hadn’t adopted O Baby, I would never have gone back for Y Baby.
38. Adopting Y Baby was the second greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
39. If I could, I would adopt one more child.
40. I’d have to win the lottery first.
41. I don’t play the lottery.
42. I still think I’m going to win some day.