Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Really Random Things About Me

OK, so right after I announced we were adopting Kara (still trying out the name), I got tagged by Tonggu Momma & Amie - two of the funniest people in all of Bloggerville. They're a pretty tough act to follow. I mean seriously... please don't expect nearly as many laughs from my tag. I know I'm really behind in responding, but I have enjoyed reading responses on other blogs and thought I'd play along.

I'm supposed to tell 7 completely random things about myself, so here it goes...

1. When I was 9, I showed a pig at the county fair for 4-H. I was hoping to find a picture of this when I cleaned out our guest bedroom closet a couple of weeks ago, but no such luck. Picture this: I wore a denim shirt with embroidered patches, white jeans and sported the Dorothy Hamill "do". Oh, was I cool or what? This turned out to be the one and only year I showed a pig. My once well-mannered pig entered the ring and completely turned on me and every other pig in the arena. It started fighting and biting the other pigs and I ran out of the arena crying. Ahhhh... good memories.

UPDATE: I recently found the picture and I did not, in fact, have on white jeans. Just plain ol' denim. Please see #2 for explanation. :)

2. I have the worst memory ever. Seriously. In fact, I really worry about this and what my future holds. I used to have a great memory and be the "go to" girl at work for all sorts of random facts, but now I can't even dial information and remember the number before I hang up. My long-term memory is much worse. This is the major reason I started blogging and why I scrapbook everything. And of the few things I can recall, I remember the details of what I was wearing. Hence my ability to recall the details of my swine show debut ensemble.

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Kaneohe, Hawaii - 1990

3. Now what was I saying? Ah yes, a tag. I was a nanny for four summers - right after graduating high school and during my summers at college. The mother was my first cousin, but there was such an age difference and she lived so far away, I never really knew her until I moved in with her family. The youngest was a newborn at the time and I was really clueless what to do with newborns, but I learned quickly. Now, as a mother, I am so grateful for all the trust that they placed in me. I had so many great times with them, not to mention the fact that I got to live a summer in Dallas, two summers in Hawaii and the last summer in Washington D.C. (They moved. ALOT.) See cute little Meghan on the right in the photo above? Click here to see her wedding photo from a year ago. Oh, did I feel OLD!

4. Speaking of Washington D.C., I was a Washington intern. Well, not in that way. While I lived with this family, I interned at an advertising agency in D.C. I took the Metro from Bethesda into D.C. every day and worked a block from the White House. I loved every minute of it.

5. When I graduated college, my goal was to put my advertising major to good use working in an ad agency. There weren't any jobs available at the time, so my dad, who worked at the bank where I now work, said I should work there. My verbatim reply to him was, "I didn't go to college to work at a bank." It's 15 years later and I'm still here. Not only has it been a great career (most of it as a regional marketing manager using my degree), but I have him to thank for meeting Nolan.

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6. Nolan and I met at work. Ah yes, office romance. We got engaged on the one-year anniversary of our first date. He had moved to a different state and we didn't want to commute to see each other during the winter, so we had a three-month engagement and got married on a beach in Jamaica in December 1994. I was only 24 and he was 31. In all honesty, I had never once given any thought to getting married and had never dreamed about my wedding. (Gasp!) When we got back, we had a reception in his home town and another in mine. I don't regret our destination wedding one bit. (And on a side note, I have determined that we are going to hype destination weddings big time to our children. We will, after all, have three girls and we would like to retire someday. Crazy me. All along I've been thinking about college funds and the second I told my boss we were adopting another girl, he said, "Are you CRAZY? You are going to have to pay for THREE weddings!" Ummm, I honestly hadn't thought about that one.)

7. Speaking of boss, Nolan and I have worked for the same person for most of our careers, as we still do today. (A total of 5 different managers over the years.) Most people say they couldn't handle it, but it works out well for us. I work part-time from home now, so I rely on Nolan to fill me in on all that I'm missing in the office. Plus, we bounce ideas off each other all the time. In fact, I have a lunch appointment with him today to work on a project together. We are completely opposites in every way and my attention to detail with his big ideas is a perfect combination.

Ok, these were completely random. Nothing too weird, I don't think, but maybe too boring. I know I'm a month behind and I have seen so many others already do this, so if you haven't, consider yourself tagged!

8 comments:

a Tonggu Momma said...

I seriously disagree ... the pig? ...the pig was funny.

And the husband and I also met at work. How about a big hooray for office romance?

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

I loved learning more about you Michelle!!

You seriously need to dig deeper for the pig picture....I think we were all sporting the "Dorothy" look back then!!!

Pat and I did not meet at work, but through work.....I worked with his twin for 6 years!!!

Have a great day!

Lisa

Leslie said...

LOL...I'm with Lisa....Find the pig picture!!!!! I loved your tag, and learning more about you.
Your just so cute.

Missy said...

So neat to learn more about you! I loved seeing pics of you and the children you cared for...sooo sweet. Great post : 0

Tonya said...

Michelle, that was a GREAT list! I always LOVE to learn more about my bloggy buddies. The pictures were WONDERFUL too! Thanks for sharing some new things about yourself. =-)

HAVE AN AMAZING weekend, my Friend!

Ohilda said...

How cool to learn more about you, and what a neat summer job it must've been to be a traveling nanny.

Thank you for sharing!

Hugs,

Ohilda

PS I, too, would love to see the piggy pic.

Annette said...

Fun stuff! Love the wedding photo!

I really like the name Kara too... will you pronounce it like car-ah or care-ah??

Rydley said...

What fun little facts! I, too, have a horrid memory. That's why I take so many darn photos. So I totally get that!

Have a great trip!