Who Am I?

The Answer is NOT 24601!

For all of you who understood that opening subtitle: Bravo and Brava! For the rest of you, go get some culture peeps!

Alright, we are going to discuss me. Why? Because I need an ego boost. Actually, it occurs to me that writing a blog post that is basically a short autobiography is probably not the best idea at this point. I would assume that right now only people who already know me are reading this blog. Therefore you can skip this post and move ahead. Well, as soon as there is another "ahead."

You may have noticed that I am a little weak on the blogging. I have several half written posts waiting in the "save" area for me to finish. But I keep thinking and rethinking about the subject matter. I tend to over think. Some people call this worrying. I call it "cautious living."

I realize that blogger gives you a nice spot for your profile where you can lists things about yourself. But I don't want people to know me that way. I want people to read this so that maybe they can understand why I feel an urge to sing and dance in the rain, howl like a wolf, and roll around on the ground pretending to be a pig. Yes, I have done all three. Then again maybe this will give you no further insight. Ah well...

Chapter One

"I am born," or is it, "I was born." Darn it. I can't remember. Anyone have a copy of David Copperfield around? Don't worry. I'm not really going to start exactly that way. Again, if you don't get the reference go pick up David Copperfield and read it.

How bout we simply say that I was born in neither a city nor a state but definitely within the contiguous 48 states of America. Put your thinking caps on those delightful heads. Do you have it? Yes! I was born in Washington D.C. which is its own entity belonging neither to Maryland or Virginia. I spent the first eight years of my life in Maryland before being dropped into the nether regions of hell: Florida.

I have grown to love things about Florida. But not the summer. The eight month long summer. The air that is so hot and thick that you can barely breathe it without passing out. Getting into a car that has been sitting out all day is a test in Faith. Air conditioning is not a nice to have, it is an absolute necessity.

My family is a liberal yet somewhat traditional American type family. I grew up with my Mom and Dad and one somewhat obnoxious four year older sister. She has become less obnoxious with age. I attended a hodge podge of schools. My favorite school years were spent at Barrie Day School, a Montessori School in Silver Spring, Maryland. I then went to public school (in Florida) from 3rd grade to a quarter of the way into 7th grade. It was at that point that I was yanked out and placed in an all girls Catholic school. (No, I am not Catholic, just Presbyterian!). I went to the Academy of the Holy Names until my High School graduation. Then I went on to a Catholic College for my B.A., and finally the University of South Florida for my two M.A. degrees.

Yes, I have a lot of degrees. I like to collect them. I like going to school. Currently I am in school taking my Montessori teacher training for ages 6-12. Has all this schooling made me one iota smarter? I don't think so. But I have learned some helpful lessons: statistics is not a nightmare and I actually enjoyed it, sometimes the path you want to take is not the path you need to take, and finally, yes, you will have to pay back those student loans...every damn cent.

I grew up as shy, quiet, and bookish. I was told I was smart and therefore was expected to perform smartly. Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't. I fought a lot with my Mom. I cowered underneath my Dad's stern glare. And I alternated between loving and not loving my sister. However, over all, when we all piled on my parents bed (dog included) and talked and laughed, I realized that I was a lucky girl with a loving family.

Growing up I had a lot of "mystery illnesses." I would run fevers when nothing else seemed wrong with me. I would get unexplained rashes. Most of all, I would complain about being tired, too tired to empty the dishwasher, too tired to feed the dog, too tired to do my homework. This led to disagreements from the parental units. When the hormones of puberty kicked in everything ramped up a notch.

But I got lucky, or actually unlucky. My Mother noticed that I had a swollen joint in my elbow and I was unable to bend my arm to the full extension. I was taken to All Children's Hospital at the tender age of 15 (please everyone get out a hanky, this is my feel sorry for me moment). There they poked and prodded me, they stole blood from my beautiful veins and then after a bit of magical doctoring they came up with an answer: Mixed Connective Tissue Disease! What the bejeebers is that??? I am not going to waste time defining it. If you are interested go to google.

All Children's told my Mom to take me to an adult Rheumatologist (the type of doctor who handles these kinds of things) as I was practically an adult already (I wish I could say they were trying to flatter me!). We got lucky and found someone who I think is the best Rheumy ever. I still see her today, over twenty years later. MCTD is given out when the doctors know that one of several auto-immune diseases could be present but as to which one they are not totally sure. So they wait and watch to see what symptoms you manifest so they can then pin point the culprit.

It didn't take long to find my bad boy. Shortly after I turned 16 I developed Pericarditis (swelling of the lining around the heart). There were no more questions. I had Systemic Lupus.

In one thing I was vindicated. I had been called lazy for years due to my desire to NOT do the chores when asked. The doctor waved her magic wand and told my parents that during those times I actually was too physically tired to move. My body was begging for rest and all the times I said that I would "do it later" were not motivated by my unwillingness to work, but my body's unwillingness to take another step. I can't began to tell you how good that felt.

I am stopping here because this is very long and many of you might not have even made it this far. If you did, thank you. I appreciate it. I am not sure if I will continue this topic in my next post, or save the continuation for a later date. At least now you know a bit more about me, and a bit more of where I am coming from. Adios! I got to go pet a cat.