July Challenge - 31 posts in 31 days!

July 1st - Day One

I have accepted the challenge of writing 31 blog posts in July!  You can find more information about this challenge here:  Ultimate Blog Challenge

My Seattle Rock & Roll Marathon report will be up next, but first, I thought I would start this out with

31 Things You May Not Know About Me and probably don't care to know

1. I did the following at various points during my school years: Baton twirling, swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, track & field (all field except for this experience).  http://chocolatecoveredrunning.blogspot.com/2010/08/first-race.html
2. I was terrified of swimming or any water where I couldn't touch or see the bottom through elementary school and beyond.  Ironically I became a lifeguard at the YMCA as an adult!
3. My first job was at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
4. I made up a boyfriend and wrote about him in my diary to see if my sister was reading it.  She was :)
5. My sister passed away in 2001 from the effects of a brain tumor.  Reading my diary was no big deal.
6. My jobs:  Kentucky Fried Chicken cashier, Extra help at the county courthouse filing things, secretarial help for a law firm (both during senior year of high school). Cashier at convenience store, Legal Secretary starting at $4.00 an hour (!) in 1988.  1991 - Legal Assistant at County courthouse.  1994-2008 MOM and homeschool teacher (hardest job ever).  2008 - swim instructor, lifeguard, fitness instructor.
7. I've wanted to be an author since high school.  I still do.  
8. My first memory is watching my dad drive away with my sister and brother while my mom held me. I was too young to stay with him on the weekends.
9. I learned to drive with a stick-shift.  
10. I'm a sucker for lost cats.
11. Miss Congeniality - watched too many times and still laugh.
12. I have never used a passport.
13. I wanted at least 4 children but I have 2.  I love my girls!!
14. My name -Ginger - is not a nickname for Virginia.
15. I've woken up in a fit of laughter over a dream that I can still remember vividly.  Still makes me giggle.
16. Both my daughters were born on their due dates.  Well, Jessica was a day early only because my hubby didn't want her born on his birthday so we sped things up a bit.  18th & 19th.  He didn't want her to have to share her day with him.
17. My family heritage is a bit of a mystery but there's some Italian in there for sure.  Probably German and/or French as well.
18. My first car was a Ford Granada.
19. Since my first pregnancy, I cannot combine chicken, avocado and Swiss cheese on a sandwich.  I will hurl.
20. When something gets my funny bone, I will snort when laughing.  It cannot be stopped.
21. I never showed my teeth in school pictures.  Hated my smile.  I'm over it now.
22. In my senior year of high school, I got my hair cut short on one side (with a "tail") and bob-like on the other.  It's just hair.
23. My eyes are HAZEL, not brown. And one has a black line coming down out of the pupil, like it's leaking.  I don't know when that happened because my elementary pictures look like they're brown and everyone said I had brown eyes.  Didn't anyone ever look in my eyes?
24. My real hair color is auburn, dark with red in the sun.  Now?  It's whatever is in the bottle my hairdresser uses.  Sadly the original is being replaced with silver at a fast rate.
25. I love to bake, cook and entertain.  I don't love the cleanup involved so I rarely do any.
26. Scariest things:  windows at night, the ocean, clowns, creepy crawly things.
27. Best vacation:  Maui
28. Best compliment: "Will you marry me?"  
29. In my 20s, I had a mole removed that was cancerous.  Doing okay today.
30. I've done one sprint triathlon.
31. My middle name is Christine.

So there are 31 random things about myself.