Seven Facts

Laura at Diva of Quilts tagged me to give seven facts about myself. Prepare to be underwhelmed.

1. Big news! In October I'm going to be a grandmother for the first time--twin boys. This has still not quite sunk in, although I've known for a while, obviously. I'm not sure the true impact on the parents to be and their two-income-no-kids lifestyle has registered for them either.

2. I took piano lessons for SIX YEARS as a child. Can I play now? No. My mother later told me that she gave me the lessons because I was so totally unmusical she thought piano lessons might help. Thanks, Mom. (Many people in my family are musical, so I guess my total lack of talent was painful to her.)

3. I qualify to be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, but don't plan to apply, although when I was teaching I used to laugh that after retirement I'd like to be one of the old ladies from the DAR who came around and give citizenship awards. Maybe when my hair is blue...

4. And while we're on childhood experiences, I belonged to 4-H for over ten years. That's how I learned to sew, and believe me, the quilt police have nothing on those 4-H fair judges. I used to hide to avoid having to finish my sewing project. Funny, unlike playing piano, sewing is something I'm glad I learned how to do. Mitred corners, curved seams--piece of cake!

5. Almost twenty years ago, my husband and I built a "green" house. It is a super-insulated house, with very thick walls, and we have no furnace or air conditioning. It is designed to be heated by a Norwegian wood stove which is built in and looks like a fireplace, and some electric baseboard heat as a backup. We have 15 acres of woods so the wood for the stove is no problem, as long as Bob stays able to cut it. So far, he enjoys it, but down the road we will obviously have to make other plans. Unfortunately, 20 years ago, global warming was not on the horizon, and so our house is better suited for the cold northern Indiana winters of the early 80's than the hot summers of the present. The insulation and shading works well as long as nights stay cool, but with increasing nightime temperatures, there are times in the summer when it's uncomfortably warm. But I don't have to come "out of the basement" too much.

6. To borrow one from Laura, I also find TV boring. It seems to move slowly and the quality of the "look" (I guess "production values" is the correct term) doesn't make up for that, so I lose interest very quickly.

7. I used to be a voracious reader. I have two degrees in English and taught for almost thirty years, and I used to read for hours on end. Can't do that anymore. My mind has other agendas. Age? I hope not; maybe a passing phase.

There you are Laura, and anyone else who's interested. I think I'll pass on the tagging though. But please, someone pick it up. These things can be fun to read.