One Hundred Things .... Miss Peggy Lu

A collection of lists. Take the challenge. 100 things about yourself. Streaming flow of consciousness, as personal or as general as you care to make it...but make it count. You might learn something about yourself and I promise it's better than 20 questions!

1. I love to walk, and walk fast … anywhere, on the road, in the pasture, hiking in the mountains. If I’m with a group I have to force myself to slow down.
2. I love going barefoot.
3. I hate talking on the telephone and everyone knows it so they only call me when absolutely necessary and they never expect me to chat.
4. My first memory was when I was 3. It was Halloween, I opened the door saw 3 little creatures, screamed, slammed the door in their faces and refused to come out of my room for the rest of the night.
5. The first animal I can remember having was Chi-Chi, a Pekinese. I adored her, When she had puppies she would let me sit with them. When mom got pregnant she said we had to give Chi-Chi away cause she didn’t like kids. I thought she should keep the dog and forget having kids.
6. When I was 5 we lived near an almond orchard. I would wander alone in there When I got hungry I would climb up on a branch & crack the almonds open with my teeth. Raw almonds are still my favorite food.
7. I don’t like sitting on furniture, you’ll always find me on the floor.
8. I have 12 orchids and at least that many African violets.
9. In addition to dogs & cats & horses & chickens, I’ve had a pet chipmunk, squirrel, armadillo, rats, hamsters & snakes.
10. I have raised ladybugs, butterflies & praying mantis from eggs.
11. My favorite job was my last one. I was a preschool teacher for a large biotech company, I spent 6 yrs. In the same classroom … The Killerwhale Rm. I taught natural science & math to 3 year olds. I taught them how to make a rocket, how to make & fly a kite and how to build a waterfall. I could hold one hell of a circle time.
12. I am also exceptionally good at potty training and nap time.
13. I love to read anything except “how to” manuals.
14. I once invented my own alphabet based on the Greek alphabet and kept a diary written in it. It confounded my parents & the police.
15. I ran away from home twice. The first time I was 14, the second time I was 15. After that I figured I’d just wait until I was 18 and leave legally.
16. I always wanted to be 30. I figured by then I would have life all figured out. I was wrong.
17. I like dark beer.
18. My favorite band is The Tractors.
19. My favorite song is Israel Kamakawiwo Ole’s version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
20. I detest intolerant and mean people.
21. I am fascinated by serial killers.
22. I am writing a story about one.
23. I attended at least 12 different schools in 12 years.
24. I learned to touch type in the 5^th grade after I broke my glasses and couldn’t see the chart at the front of the classroom.
25. I started college when I was 43.
26. I once wrote a paper on the Preferential Child Molester.
27. I once wrote a paper on early brain development. It was 12 chapters long.
28. When I was in my 20’s I trained telephone operators and dispatchers.
29. I was once underground during an earthquake … it sounded like a boulder was rolling towards me.
30. I remember the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, the bay bridge collapse and that we didn’t have power for 2 days.
31. I remember the 2007 Ice Storm and that we didn’t have power for six days. It was a lot colder than the earthquake.
32. I love being outside in a thunder storms, the wilder the better.
33. Once my job sent me to Disney World in Florida. I had to shovel white rhino shit.
34. I once crawled into a cage with a wild dog and scared a bunch of people to death. Me and the dog got along fine but the men made me get out.
35. I have been nipped a few times but I have never been bitten by a dog.
36. I love wolves.
37. I love listening to the coyotes in my woods.
38. I have been deer hunting and squirrel hunting. The only thing I ever shot was a squirrel.
39. I like shooting a bow … a recurve.
40. When I shoot a gun, I shoot left handed.
41. I like to play pool.
42. I have a temper … it is loud.
43. I got my drivers license when I was 23 but didn’t start driving until I was 43.
44. I’ve only ever had one ticket … for making a right turn on a yellow light.
45. I cannot dance.
46. I cannot sing either … but that doesn’t stop me.
47. I have absolutely no sense of balance.
48. I don’t like rides that leave the ground. They once stopped the Octopus and took me off. I’m assuming it was because I looked as terrified as I felt.
49. I don’t like bloody movies, closing my eyes doesn’t help … even the sound effects bother me.
50. I love full moons & starry nights.
51. I hate cold winter winds & ice.
52. I like sitting outside in a hot tub when it’s snowing.
53. I like tobogganing.
54. I like Mai-Tai’s & Margarita’s in the summer & whiskey in the winter.
55. I have kept a diary since I was 10.
56. I got my first horse when I was 11, his name was Tony. I still have a lock of his mane in my first diary.
57. I am mechanically challenged. I don’t even wash my own car.
58. I talk to my animals. It drove my sister crazy when she came to visit. She kept thinking we had company.
59. People tell me my animals are “different.”
60. I like older men.
61. I don’t like being told what to do.
62. I don’t lie cause I’m no good at it.
63. I can’t hide my feelings.
64. I hate to cry.
65. I weighed 136 lbs the first time I got pregnant. I weighed 136 lbs when I went to delivery. I could look at food and throw it up.
66. After my 2^nd pregnancy I told the doc I wanted a tubal before I went home. She asked my husband. He shook his head & told her, “Do what she says. This marriage could never survive another pregnancy.” I was grumpy AND mean.
67. I haven’t worn makeup in years.
68. I never wear shorts no matter how hot it is. My legs are so white it would blind everyone in the county.
69. I never wear heels. I fall off flat shoes.
70. I’ve driven a car, a truck, a tractor, a boat, and an ATV.
71. I don’t know how to swim but I can float and do a surface dive.
72. I can’t see a damn thing without my glasses.
73. I love antique shows, flea markets & garage sales.
74. I hate going to the mall.
75. I miss drive in movies.
76. Churches make me cry. I usually only go inside if I can go alone.
77. If I could live anywhere it would be in a mountain cabin in the wilderness.
78. I have seen a forest fire.
79. Right now I have 2 cats, 5 dogs, 8 horses, 18 chickens and 2 cows. It can change at any given moment.
80. In the wild I have deer, turkey, coyotes, rabbits, armadillo, skunks & squirrels.
81. I like going down in caves.
82. I have always wanted to see a petroglyph.
83. I love redwood trees, old oaks, willows & bald cypress trees.
84. I believe in Bigfoot … I’ve stood in his footprint.
85. I like strange names … my oldest daughter is named Rhiannon, my youngest has a normal name cause I let her dad name her and he said he was going to pick something he could spell.
86. I have lived in Texas, Oklahoma & California.
87. I have never been outside of the United States.
88. I wish on stars.
89. I like to fish, I don’t like killing or cleaning fish.
90. My oldest friend is Paul, we’ve known each other since I was 16.
91. I don’t mind getting dirty and it’s a good thing cause I get that way a lot.
92. I like playing yahtzee & scrabble … I don’t care for monopoly … it takes too long.
93. I like wading in streams.
94. I like looking for rocks & crystals.
95. I like taking pictures but I don’t like having my picture taken.
96. My favorite colors are burgundy & dark blue … together.
97. I love campfires, fireplace fires and watching sunlight sparkle on water.
98. I eat oranges & lemons, my favorite part is the peel, store bought fruits have lousy peels. I won’t eat them.
99. I don’t like to fly but I especially don’t like those little bitty commuter planes where I can see out the window of the cockpit.
100. I want to go on one of those women only wilderness trips and see what I can do.