this was on FACEBOOK.... thought I would share it here... 25 Things About Me!

25,000 Things About Me!
okay... 25 Things About Me
got to my blog for 25 Million Things About Me!
http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, hit post at the bottom, then open note to tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click save at bottom.)

25 Random things about me:

this is off the top of my head much like most of my thoughts
the answers are tangents
some answers are not so well thought out

on another day I would give a different set of answers
some answers that may contradict what I say here...


1. Let me start at the beginning... well... the beginning for me... I was born in Indiana and moved to suburban Boston and then suburban Atlanta before moving to suburban Washington DC for the start of second grade. I have lived in the DC area pretty much since childhood except for four and half years in college and a short stint in the west after college. I left part of me in the Rockies... maybe one day I will rejoin that part of me. Boise Idaho is always in the back of my brain

2. I went to catholic school for second to 8th grade. The experiences of these years are the basis for my disdain for organized religion. Perhaps my mother's obsession with religion was the holy icing on this holy cake. Catholic school was not so bad as most grade school experiences are traumatic to the child no matter what. The world is a scary place. The nuns were awesome in a weird abusive alien from another planet sort of way. The whole experience was like a bunch of characters in a John Irving book set in a small town in the 50's.

3. while following these tangents... I have some rules about religion... I would believe in god if god believed in me... okay... I admit that I believe in something... as a parent of two active boys prayer is part of everyday... as an outdoors men I am in awe of nature... I believe in something but it is not organized religion
I often joke that I have a deal with god: I don't go in his house and he does not go in mine. Every time I say that I fear that I am going to get struck by lightning... of course being knocked dead by the god that I do not believe in... again... hard to think past the doctrine that was jammed down my throat while I was a child and developing my impression of the world. Yes, it is true...
I am healing from the scars of the cult of Catholicism

4. I grew up with no real heroes and no real goals... I think I just figured life would work out... so far I am not entirely dissatisfied with the results... although I still wish that I had had heroes and had had goals. I will try to raise/nurture my children to have heroes and goals so that they can grow to be the people they wish to be.

5. I am a dreamer. I spend a great deal of my time day dreaming.

6. I love my sons Dean and Grant more than words can express. I tell them both that I love them everyday... I should tell my wife that I love her more often
I plan on hugging my children everyday I can for the rest of their lives. I should hug my wife when I get home from work.

7.I am Addicted to the Electronic world... if you are reading this you know enough about me to know this

8.I am the youngest of three... my older brother and older sister each have PhDs... I can hardly read... or at least I hardly read

9. I think that I thought that I would fly through this list... while instead I am snailing through it

10. I am a TYPE A SLACKER... we are a rare breed... a rare unhealthy breed

11. I love to travel. I would also love to live abroad with my family. Personally I think that my children would benefit greatly from the experience of living in another culture. The adversity would make them stronger and the gains are too many to list. I fear that my kids could be effected by the ugliness of American (United States) Culture... one of the best ways to protect them would be to remove them from it.

12.My dog Roscoe was my best friend... his death or more so his absence in my life still gives me great sadness as does the sadness of a long list of friends who died too early in life. Roscoe died a few years ago in the summer... he was 8 when he died. Roscoe was a good dog... well a little mischievous at times... perhaps I gave him too much leash... but he was my buddy and I miss him and my relationship with him

13. It is not uncommon for me to cry during movies or maybe a re-run of the sit com FULL HOUSE... I think it is healthy for people to cry from time to time. I also cry at work sometimes.
An email from a friend just arrived... his dog died... I am crying now. Rest in Peace Rocky. Rocky was a good dog. Rocky will be missed.

14. I tend not to do what is best for me

15. I always wanted to learn to play guitar... my non nurturing up bringing in my father's house was not supportive of my interests. My father's goal was for me to fit into the parameters of his self designed box. Junior year of high school I played JV soccer, ran winter track, and played varsity volleyball not so much for the love of sport but as a reason to not go home after school. I also went to the library every night... not to study... but to get out of the house. Senior year was very similar. (do I sound bitter? well, I am)

16. I am a junk food junkie... I eat it all and lots of it... NECCO Wafers and Circus Peanuts! YOU NAME IT! Twizzlers are part of my food pyramid.

17. I try not to have regrets, but in my life there have been many days that I had wished that never happened.

18. I have never fit in, at a young age I came to accept that. It has worked out for me just fine, but there were definitely some tough moments... there are still tough moments.

19. I have spent way too much time on this list... I spend way too much time on FACEBOOK... I spend way too much time on the computer

20. I am a complicated person

21. I have a chip on my shoulder. I try to diminish it... but it keeps growing back

22. In my youth I was a naturally gifted runner. Soccer was my main sport which gave me fitness for running. I could run under a five minute mile, a fifty second quarter mile, and many sub six minute miles in a row. In my twenties I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in three hours and 36 minutes. In college I played Div III soccer for all four years. In high school I was the anchor on the mile relay in winter track... when I told the coach I would not be running in the spring because I wanted to play volleyball he refused to give me the track pin for my letter. It was tough to explain... that even if I did not play volleyball I could not run on the track team with the jock assholes from the football team

23. I love my brother and sister very much. My brother is my best friend... even if we ocaasionally get on each others nerves. My sister and I do not have the best relationship... but we are working on it.

24. When I was younger one of my favorite things to do was to go out and dance. I have always been self conscious of myself when I dance which makes it hard to go out and dance... but not everything we enjoy comes easy to us.

25. I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up

I had considered two different things for this list...
1-I was going to CUT AND PASTE things from other people's lists that applied to me... while still crediting them
because so many people said stuff that I felt I could identify with and because I knew that this list would be a pain in the ass

2-I also considered just putting my blog address for all 25 spots
near cunningham falls
this was years ago
lisa was pregnant with grant
I pulled both lisa and toddler dean up and down the trail to the frozen falls
the dogs ran off trail in the deep powder