10 Honest Things About Me

Whew! It's been a really busy weekend - now I finally have the time to get some posts up and sincerely thank Jane at http://workthatwardrobe.blogspot.com/ and Lady Di at http://africanainatlanta.blogspot.com/ for tagging me for the Honest Blogger thingy.

Without further ado, here's 10 things about me that you probably don't know.

10. I have a degree in Linguistics, which is the study of language and how it works. I am absolutely in love with words, how they work, their history and even how they sound. I'm fascinated by how interconnected so many cultures are through a common thread of language, and I'm always listening and looking for new ways that language is being used.

9. I am a published poet (i.e. not self-published), in a real book, that was sold in Chapters bookstores across Canada. This was one of the life goals I set for myself and have completed.

8. I am terribly clumsy. I am always walking into walls and doors, tripping and falling (I do a mean face-plant), and whacking my head on things. My friends call this "pulling a Sheila".

7. I posed for nude photos about 6 years ago. They are very tasteful and artistic: a "bodyscape" of light and shadow, and were done by a professional studio. One of my photos in in their gallery on their webside - I'm proud of that. I have both of my photos framed and up in my home - everyone from the plumber to my mom has admired them. I was terrified to do them, but it helped me so much with my body image at the time.

6. I read voraciously, pretty much anything I can get my hands on, but mostly graphic novels and fiction (lit, sf, horror). My favourite authors are Dan Simmons, Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Lawrence Block and Chuck Palahniuk. I also am not afraid to admit I read trashy magazines in the checkout line!

5. I hate cooking. Loathe it. I tend to eat things in a whole state (cottage cheese out of the container, steamed veggies, plain fruit), but grudgingly cook spaghetti, stir-fry, lasagna, soup, and simple things like steak and burgers. My wonderful husband is my sous-chef and chops all the veggies for me.

4. I'm a night owl. I'm so glassy-eyed in the mornings that my coworkers know to avoid me until at least 10 am. My ideal hours would be 2 am bedtime and 10 am wake-up time. Whenever I'm off for a substantial amount of time, I always revert to this.

3. I did a marathon 3 days before I turned 40. I race-walked/powerwalked it in 5:52. It was a life goal - my dad was a marathoner, who died at age 55. It was also a tribute to him and I cried when I crossed the finish line, and my mom was there to put my medal around my neck.

2. I was extremely shy growing up, until I was about 16, when I figured out that I could change how people see me by changing how I presented myself. Thus was born my love of fashion. It has given me the self-confidence to change myself from the outside and learn to love who I am on the inside.

1. Two years ago, I looked like this:
I weighed nearly 200 pounds and was heading down the road to Heart Attack City. Two years ago, I joined Weight Watchers to work towards my goal of doing the marathon. My plan was just to get fit, but it changed my life. I now eat better and exercise and in general, I look after myself - I've changed my lifestyle. I lost 60 pounds and have now maintained my weight for almost 18 months. I went from a size 16-18 to a size 4.

Every day is hard.

I keep that picture above on my fridge to remind me where I've been.

I never want to go back.