25 Random Things

Hi all! So I was tagged on my facebook page to write a note containing 25 random things about myself. It was hard but fun and I thought you all in blog world might want to read some of it someday when you get bored and you have nothing else to do. (It is pretty long.) So here you go. If you decide to do this too email or tag me so I can read it. :)

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. English was not my first language. Although both my parents were born and raised in America, my first language was Italian. My parents and I moved to Italy when I was 11 months old and we lived there for about 4 ½ years. While my parents were away doing mission work and also attending Italian language school, I would spend the day with my babysitter and her family. They spoke mostly Italian and very little English. So I grew up hearing Italian and speaking Italian more than English. Since moving back to the US I’ve forgotten most of my Italian b/c I’m surrounded by English, but I hope to be fluent in it again someday.

2. I can pee standing up. (Not all toilets in Italy were like the standard toilets we have here in the US 20+ years ago when I lived there. Some places just had a porcelain hole in the ground with ridges in the porcelain on the sides of the hole where you were supposed to put your feet. During my potty training years it was not uncommon for me to be out and about in town and have to use one of those.)

3. I used to want to be a comedian when I was a kid, but the best joke I could come up with was the “Knock Knock, Boo Who? joke”.

4. One of my favorite memories as a kid was when my sisters and I would get our baths on Saturday or Sunday evening and then sit on the floor eating pb&j sandwiches while our parents brushed out our hair. During then the tv was on and we would watch: The Lawrence Welk show, Hee Haw, or America’s Funniest Home Videos. True family bonding moments. :D

5. My husband once said to me: “Bethany, I love you, but… Sometimes I think that your heart gets so big it cuts off the circulation to your brain.” And I didn’t get mad at him. Instead, I laughed because it’s true. I’ve always been an overly empathetic person. That’s one reason I don’t like altar calls at church b/c they always make me cry when I see people go up.

6. My quiet husband was the one who first introduced himself to me when I first moved to NE Ohio, and then I avoided him for 3 months. Whenever I complained to my best friend in NW Ohio that I couldn’t find a good, close friend here like her, his name kept popping up in my head and wouldn’t go away. When I did finally talk to him, I found out we had a lot in common and 6 years later we were married.

7. In 2008 I realized that there is a lot of random stuff that take for granted/consider normal, while the majority of my friends haven’t ever seen or experienced said random stuff. I went to Maine to visit my family this summer and many people in southern Maine (especially in the mountains) have old stone fences (just flat stone on top of each other no mortar or cement to hold them together) surrounding their property and little areas in their property. (Most of them are family burial plots, but the empty fenced in areas were created for people to put random wondering livestock in until the farmer realized the livestock was missing and came to find them.)

8. I found out a few years ago that I’m not of mostly English decent like I was told growing up. Actually, the head matriarch and patriarch of my father’s family were from Scotland and Ireland. There is some English mixed in further down the family tree but mostly Scottish and Irish. And to think, all these years I was slightly jealous of people with Irish decent on St. Patrick’s day for nothing. I had Irish in me the whole time.

9. I’m a coffee snob. I only like espresso, cappuccino, any mocha, and other things one would make on their Rancillo or find in a Starbucks. I don’t like regular coffee. Sorry… It’s ucky.

10. I’m learning to sew and I sometimes knit. (Little by little I’m getting closer and closer to being more domestimicated. Yes I spelt it wrong on purpose.)

11. When I was a kid I never understood why my mom hated and was so scared of mice. Now that I own my own old home I understand.

12. I have Spina Bifida Occulta. Because of this and a sketchy family history of Spina Bifida, I have to take 10 times the daily recommended dosage of Folic acid to help prevent neural tube birth defects should I get pregnant. (For those curious: The normal recommended amount of folic acid a woman should have is 400 micrograms. I take 4 milligrams.)

13. I once had a crush on a guy friend of mine for almost 4 years when I was in jr.high and high school. I never told him until a friend of mine spilled the beans to him. It never worked out though. He had a girlfriend at the time and a year later my dad got a job at another church and my family and I had to move to the other side of the state.

14. I have a “J-lo butt” and because of it, I’ve been hit on at: a funeral home (true story), on a construction site at my place of employment, walking outside (A guy actually followed me in his truck while I was walking back to my car, in broad daylight, saying all kinds of things I won’t repeat. Scary!), in a bank parking lot, at Burger King, on my way into the apartment I lived at AND once it was so bad I had a stalker (very true story). Creeps me out!

15. I’m a random person but I’m having a hard time coming up with 25 random things.

16. I would like to have a bigger house and hate being reminded of how small it is every time people are over (Not that they say anything, but when it’s crowded, it’s very obvious how small it is).

17. When we have children, I want to be a stay at home mom (at least until they’re in school).

18. I would like to get Suzy (our newf mix) a friend or two. (She seems lonely.) If I could, I would adopt an Irish Wolfhound and a Great Dane to add to our family. BUT, one of us would have to be home more to be able to give them the training and attention they’d need AND our house right now is too small to house 2 adults and 3 large breed dogs.

19. I love Jane Austen’s works and the Colin Firth/BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. I hated the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice move version.

20. The only game system I had growing up was an Atari and that was because it was given to my family. I’ve been very slow in developing any “gamer skills” and they’re still a long way off. (It’s a long road but I’m actually finally getting past level one of the classic Mario game on the Nintendo DS.)

21. Speaking of games… I’m married to the 1992 Ashtabula Tetris Champion. :D

22. I want to go to Hawaii, especially Maui. But if I go, I want to avoid the touristy places like the plague. Instead I want to spend time getting to know the people that live there and hang out with the locals. Then I will have truly felt like I’ve experienced the real Hawaii.

23. I love my dog Suzy. Sometimes we fall asleep on the couch together. It’s like sleeping with one of those giant oversized stuffed animals your boyfriend wins for you at the fair. Only, this one is alive.

24. There are days where my brain is in overload and I just want to run away from everything and almost everyone. When this happens, I like to picture myself somewhere on a remote fishermen’s island off the coast of Nova Scotia or Ireland. I’m sitting on a rocking chair, on my porch at my big New England style victorian/colonial home, wrapped up in a grey fishermen’s style sweater and watching the grey sky and waves crash over the rocky break wall.

25. I have a blog called Song Mistress. My posts consist of songs and thoughts and life. If you’re looking for some music ideas go to http://betaniagioia.blogspot.com A lot of it is folksy but there is the occasional rock and pop song on there too.