Answers and More

I know I emailed some of you the answers to my blog, but not all of you. So here they are with a little added something (aka, digressions). First, I have to say, I know the test was hard. Really, I realized no one but possibly Derek even stood a chance at getting all of them right. I rarely talk about the names that I would name my children with anyone other than Derek or my sister - mostly because I am of the mind that if you say the name too many times before you have a child, you grow tired of it. And I don't want to grow tired of the names I like:) Second, as Derek, my brother, and my sister correctly pointed out - a couple of the questions technically had two answers. There were better choices - answers that were "most correct" -- for them. But I admit, they were done in haste and weren't foolproof. So....sorry:) But, on the bright side, everyone got at least one answer right which was extremely impressive to me! Here are the answers ... although possibly not in the order that appeared on the test since I don't have it in front of me and can't pull it up for some reason...

Tattoos--I used to have two. A halo with angel wings on my lower back (left side) and a butterfly with chinese characters on the inside of my right arm (which, I believe, meant strenth, love, and beautiful woman). I got the first one my senior year of college, and cried because it was 10 times bigger than I wanted it to be. The artist took some creative freedoms and apparently enjoyed drawing on my lower back/butt! The second I got the next year and loved it. After about 10 years, a little less, I just simply grew tired of them. I didn't regret getting them - but just didn't want to see them anymore. I wanted my clear skin back.....so ended up getting them both removed. So I no longer have any. However, I could use another treatment or two on my back one, so you can see it a bit, so maybe I lied a bit here. But I don't think so.

Basketball -- I have never taken a class in basketball. I coached basketball when I was a teacher, and didn't even know what a "pick" or a "screen" was, let alone the theories behind which zone defenses were appropriate to use and when. So I faked it, and with the help of my friend Mike (who was my assistant coach the second year, but really was the coach) and my colleague Tim, I faked it pretty well. But I never never never let the girls (high school girls!) see me shoot.

Swimming -- My best event was the 400IM. I swam year round from the age of 6 until the end of college, and really peaked probably from the ages of 12-16. I was quite burned out by the time I got to college, but still did it because "a swimmer" had always been part of my identity. So in my glory days, the 400IM was really my premiere event, although due to the nature of the event (all four strokes, distance), I was versatile and did well at any distance free event and the 200s of the strokes...

Trophies/Medals -- My parents kept them for me for a long time. I didn't have space for them in NY, so my parents kept boxes of trophies, medals, ribbons. Finally, at the end of college and the beginning of my masters program, I coached a novice swim team, and in addition to the "new" awards each of the kids got, I would give them each some of my old medals and trophies. It was actually very cool to do, especially because times have changed and medals aren't given out at every swim meet for these kids. ANyway, I did lie a bit though. I did keep the most special ones - ones that represented bigger accomplishments and accolades. So there are some trophies sitting in my parents basement, still.

First Kiss -- Jonas Kruckeberg. He was a year older than me, a year younger than my sister, and hung out with a guy that she liked at the time. He came over to our house one day, when I was not there, and saw some of the swimming medals/trophies/ribbons out (there was a time I displayed them a bit more::)) - and somehow decided he loved me based on that. He made my sister set us up on a date, which she did - without any thought to my well being. He was crazy, and much much much more experienced than me at the time. Not to mention he looked like a man. So we went out. I wore white pants and this blue and green swirly shirt that showed a bit of my stomach -- very classy and oh so 80s -- and we went on a walk and he picked up a cheesy flower to put behind my ear and kissed me. Not sure I liked it so much - because I was kind of scared of him. And I should have been.....I'll save all the reasons why for another blog, another time, and you will certainly laugh:) Julius was a high school boyfriend and friend, Reed was a high school crush and friend, and Chris (the one I was thinking of when I wrote those answers) was a 5th grade boyfriend who was the best breakdancer in school (he was actually in 6th grade, I was in 5th) who often wore parachute pants, and who wanted to kiss me after band practice (i played the saxophone, he played the drums) but I chickened out and said I had to go because my dad was waiting for me outside. He wasn't - I think he was in fact an hour late picking me up - so I hid in the bushes to pretend like I was gone!:)

College - I went to Georgetown. I did not apply to Stanford because I didn't want to go to school in California (where I basically grew up). I never considered West Point. When I went on my recruiting trip to Harvard, I was miserable so didn't really consider it despite some people telling me that was crazy. Air Force Academy was recruiting me too, and my dad really wanted me to consider it, so I did. And, actually, I loved loved loved the swim coach, Casey Converse. If I was going to pick who to swim for, it probably would have been him and I might not have "peaked" at the age of 16. He was awesome. And I actually had fun on my recruiting trip, and liked the people I met. However, of course, there was that whole issue of being a military academy and serving in the military afterwards. Yes, basically, not so much my thing.

Broken bones -- Four toes, and a nose. I broke my toes -- all four left toes except my big one -- my junior year of college at the Big East Conference championships. I walked into a steel pole (part of a lifeguard stand) and my toes turned perpendicular to my foot. 2 minutes later, my foot was black and blue and swelled to 3/4 the size of a baseball. 5 minutes later, I had to swim my 400IM (yes, that would be my best event). As I mentioned, I was much better in high school than in college. Much. Had I been as fast in college, I would have held most school records at the time. My junior year, I had decided that if I was going to do this - I wanted to do it right - and I worked hard to try to re-achieve that level and break at least the 400 IM record. And this would have been where I did it. Well, I didn't break it - I don't even remember swimming the event. I just remember standing on the blocks on one foot, basically, and cryiing, and all the coaches were behind the block encouraging me. I pushed off each wall with one foot. I think I was like 1/2 second off the record or something. And that, my friends, was the end of my swimming career. I just didn't have it in me after that. My nose I broke when I was like 6 and we lived in Pueblo, Colorado. My sister and I were running to our friend Stacy's house, and I slipped on the ice and fell on the cement steps leading up to her front door. My sister said, "Oh, your nose is bleeding." When I felt by my nostrils, there was no blood. So she said, "No, up by your eyes." And sure enough, gushing blood and the feel of a misplaced nose. My dad popped it back into place. We have pictures - which are all the better because at the time (like 1979 or so), my sister and I had afros. Not perms, not wavey hair. Afros. Yes, beautiful. My parents were young (are young) and we were certainly immersed into the disco era.

Middle names (male and female) -- I love the middle name James for a girl. I like the way it sounds with all the first names I think of (which, I can't say, as per my policy alluded to above). And, I like the middle name Lorin for a boy. My friend Dave's middle name is Lorin, and my friend Lauren's name is of course the female version. It rings of happiness, charm, and distinction for me, and goes with the first names I think of. However, Derek reminds me that he hates the name (no offense to Dave or Lauren) so I might not be able to use that middle name, and he also reminded me that I do like the middle name Isabell as well. But not as much as James! And this is my test, not reality, and we aren't expecting any children, so I don't think I lied at all on the answers:)

Song That Sends Me Home -- Come On Eileen. I could not hate a song more!!!

So, that is it. Tied with Derek for first place was baby Lillian, who I believe got a little help/inside info from her mom, Agatha -- who does know me just about as well as anyone possibly could, including those things that I would never share on the test or on this blog:) My sister and one of my brothers were next in line after Agatha, which seemed to make sense. And everyone got at least two - which made me feel like I have very attentive friends:) Thank you!!

So I'll leave this post at that for now, since Derek just got home with the groceries (I love him, he went shopping for us and didn't make me go, too. I love him) and I should help put them away.

I might have pictures to share later, as well as my two cents about Grey's Anatomy and American Idol (my prediction for one of next season's top ten finalists, if not winner!). I've never watched American Idol before, but Derek and I got sucked in this week.