Yeah, I'm it, I'm it!

Okay, so this blog tagging thing is going around. Thank you Anne-Marie for tagging me!

I found the "rules" on Chante's Blog.
Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their 8 random things and post the rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I tend to be a little bit of an "over sharer" so I will try and censor myself .. a little. But, I am going to use lots of pictures - didn't Anne-Marie look cute on the Cat Chow box?

1) My mother's parents both worked for Aramco in Saudi Arabia. My grandfather, Paul, was recruited as a Petroleum Engineer and my grandmother, Elizabeth, as a Nurse. They met there, fell in love, got married (all my grandmother had to wear was her best dress - it was black!), my grandmother was fired, had my mother, and they became the first westerns to live in Abqaiq (pronounced Ab Cake), Saudi Arabia. I believe the picture on the left was taken on their wedding weekend on Bahrain Island. You can read the whole story in Chapter Two of this book.

2) From the time I was 6 months old until I was 27 months my family (Dad, Mom, older brother Paul) lived in San 'a', Yemen. My father was the Military Attache at the American Embassy. We were "evacuated" when the hostages were taken at the American Embassy in Iran. I say "evacuated" because my mother, "just didn't see why we had to rush, we were leaving soon anyway!" This is a truly random fact about me because I do not have a single memory of my time in Yemen.

#3) I was raised by a retired military intelligence officer turned onion farmer and a teacher in a very small town just northwest of New York City. Pine Island, New York, is mainly drained swamp land. The soil is so rich, it is black - and actually quite beautiful. It is hard to believe that this place exists less than two hours from New York City. It is a great place to visit in the fall if you have kids - all of the trucks and tractors, and it is really close to orchards for fruit picking.



4) I graduated in 1999 from Skidmore College with a Bachelor of Science in Theater with a concentration in Acting!!!!!!!??????????? A Bachelor of Science just means you have more credits in your major, but it also just makes it sound like B.S. I miss the way acting used to make me feel, but by the time I graduated it just wasn't worth it anymore.

5) Since graduating from college I have lived (in this order): Newnan, Ga - Atlanta, Ga - Danville (Bay Area), Ca - Sacramento, Ca (which I fondly refer to as the Albany of California) - back home to Pine Island - Boston, Ma - and now in Astoria, NY. Astoria is by far my favorite.

6) I moved to New York from Boston to complete a 15 month Ultrasound program. I have been looking for an Ultrasound job seriously since passing the ARDMS registry exam in February. (There were two tests - one in Physics and one specially, I took general abdomen). It has literally been going nowhere, but I DO NOT WANT TO MOVE again. So, if you know anyone who works in a Radiology Dept. anywhere please let me know. It just seems to be the sort of job where you have to know someone to even know that a job exists - in NYC anyway.

7) When I lived in Sacramento (how I even got there is a long story) I got a job for an Event Planning company called, The Fun Company (save your jokes, it gets better). The Fun Company provided the services for LARGE company picnics. We would bring all of the BBQ equipment, carnival games, bounce houses, etc. We serviced the entire west coast from Oregon to Mid Texas. In order to get the equipment to all of these places I learned to drive stick on 30 foot 30,000 lb truck. I am 4' 11" - I had to drive w/ a pillow behind me in order to get the clutch all the way in - you do a lot of shifting up and down the mountains of Washington and Oregon. Oh, and I had to wear this t-shirt (this is the back):

8) My favorite appliance is the Sharp Warm and Toasty. It is a microwave/toaster oven in one unit. It king of freaks me out - there is metal in the microwave - but it cooks veggies like you wouldn't believe! Also, in the summer you can cook without using your huge, heat creating oven. The warm and toasty comes a close second to my Melitta 1:1 coffee maker - it makes coffee a cup at a time, in less than a minute!

I tag Gail, Kris, Cindy, Judes, Senora Fuerte, Kristina, and Jen (with the best blog name ever), and Brian Williams.

And don't forget to check out my Etsy store: www.knittingewe.etsy.com