25 Things about me

I filled this out on facebook and thought I would put it up here on my blog for people (not on facebook) to read. You had to write down 25 things about you. I'm amazed at how many friends did this on facebook! I learned so much about everyone! It's HARD to think of 25 things in a relatively short time.

1. For being such a sweet Jessie now, I was en extremely horrible toddler-4 year old. I would do things like take a marker and draw in between every key on my mothers piano (the part under the ivory that is wood) and blame it on my baby brother who couldn't talk and rat me out. My mother has since given me that piano and when I play and teach I have a daily reminder of my naughtiness. I would also do things like take a stick and carve the entire alphabet on the soggy Pacific Northwest dark wet wood siding of the neighbors house. I'm talking capital letters and lower case letters, and then lie when I was accused. I would begin a temper tantrum on the hard wood floors of our house kicking and screaming and my parents would ignore me. Then I would stop my tantrum, march over to the carpet, and proceed wailing on the softer ground.

2. I could NOT seem to get a job in college. The job competition with thousands of students was too great. At one point I even applied to work at a gas station and didn't get the job. Alex suggested that since music was my entire life, I should teach lessons. I started with just 6 students and my parental figure told me that wasn't a "real job" but I knew that I needed time to build up a clientele. If I took on another job I wouldn't have time for music lessons, which I absolutely loved. Within 6 months I had up to 60 students. I have never had less than 50 students since 2002 and I am going on 7 years now with that same kind of private lesson capacity.

3. I was in a horrible car accident when I was 12 years old. I shattered every bone on the left side of my face. The left side of my face is still numb since I severed the nerve endings. Miraculously (and sparing you gory details of HOW they did it), I only have a tiny unnoticeable scar on my left eye wrinkle below my eye. I had double vision for years (requiring special glasses) and I only notice it today when I try reading movie subtitles with my head tilted on my pillow. I had to wear an eye patch in 7th grade, which was very painful to do as an awkward, geeky, pubescent preteen, even when my Aunt made me a pink and purple eyepatch to look less like Pirate Jessie.

4. Somehow I survived my awkward ugly middle school days and graduated as my class of 1998's Prom Queen.

5. When I was in 2nd grade my teacher Mrs. Lodmell told my parents that I was wired backwards and wasn't learning like the other kids. I had to undergo all kinds of psychological evaluations and tests and I was diagnosed with "A.D.D." (attention deficit disorder) which was completely unheard of in 1987 and required me to be placed in Special Ed. I was in Special Ed for the rest of my elementary education.

6. This is cheesy, but when I met Alex at age 18 I knew we were meant to be together even at such a young naive age. We built up a friendship for a year and didn't date until I was 19. We are going on 10 years now. I am completely amazed that we have literally grown up together. I am a completely different person today than I was back then but we were able to blossom into the unique individuals we are now. We are complete opposites who balance each other out (for the most part. Rarely does the scale lopside to a doosie). And I’m sure right now, Alex is thinking I have WAY too much time on my hands to be filling something like this out on facebook.

7. Alex and I both have adopted South Korean sisters. And our sisters are both 6 years younger than we are. I found this to be incredibly significant when I met him. To this day, he is the only other person I know who has a Korean adopted sister. I believe one day we are meant to adopt a little girl from Korea.

8. From 2006-2007 I traveled to Washington 4 times and Italy 2 times within just one year, but I did not travel farther than 35 miles on the Big Island the entire year.

9. I swallowed a quarter the day before the first day of 4th grade. I was trying to flip the coin in the air and catch it on my nose, and my mouth was open in my deep concentration and it went right down. My mother didn’t believe me until she took me to the hospital and the X-ray showed my rib cage with George Washington’s head in it. I had to have it surgically removed and I woke up during surgery. Kids at school teased me as a walking piggy bank and the richest girl at school. Did I mention I was in Special Ed?

10. I am the only Italian who refuses to eat tomatos. I have just learned to enjoy and eat red sauce in the past 7 years of my life.

11. I would quite possibly trade all my musical talent to be a contortionist acrobat for Cirque Du Soleil or some other world famous troupe.

12. I dance like I feel. I dance like nobody is watching me. I dance to make Alex laugh. And when I have too much to drink, I become the world’s most AWESOME dancer.

13. I am freakishly good at fooseball and will play for money if put to the dare. I defy the “home court advantage” so many people claim. I was the only girl on the all boys Western Fooseball Team. To let me join, I had to first beat them all. Then beat them all again one handed.

14. I tried pumpkin pie for the very first time last month. I had to convince the baker at the farmers market that yes I am in fact American.

15. I’ve never tried oatmeal.

16. I’ve never read Citizen Cane or watched any of the God Father movies.

17. Almost every female on my mother’s side has either the first or middle name Isobel.

18. Every single time I see a shooting star and make a wish, I wish that everyone I love (my family and friends) are safe, alive, and happy at this very moment. If I get to see a second shooting star the same night, I wish one day to have twins.

19. When I was 5 years old, my absolute dream job was to be the pianist at Nordstroms. When I grew older, I realized I needed to set higher sights and standards for myself.

20. I have no domestic skills whatsoever. I have never ironed, hemmed, knitted, or sewn in my entire life. I am fumbling my way in the kitchen and present edible food to my family. I make mean Mexican food and must have been living in Mexico in a past life.

21. I can fit my entire fist in my mouth.

22. I played the National Anthem at a Mariners game in 1997 and when we walked off the field I screamed “GO JOEY” to my favorite player Joey Cora. He has since been traded to another team.

23. I can triple curl my tongue into the shape of a clover.

24. This year we have a 16 year old Pakistani foreign exchange student living with us. I am testing my attempts of motherhood with a teenage girl.

25. I think my dog is the smartest animal in the world. He knows the names of every single toy, person, and athletic command possible. I treat my dog like a baby. He is my bouncing baby boy. I swear he is a person trapped in a dogs body for this lifetime. I never really thought of myself as an animal person until I met Moki. I treated my guinea pig growing up with horrible neglect. And now I drizzle Italian olive oil on my dog’s food, cater to his every need, and kiss him a million times a day.