100 Things About Me

Revised and updated January 8, 2013.

1. I was born in Chicago but moved to Michigan in the second grade and have lived in Michigan ever since.
   
2. Bob and I married in 1975 in a magistrate's office wearing matching flannel shirts that I made for the occasion.
   
3. In July, 2011, I was widowed after almost 36 years of marriage. It's the first time in my entire life I've lived by myself.
   
4. In December, 2012, a friend from the past became my love for the present and future. Jay and I have been greatly blessed in our senior years with our love for each other.
   
5. I live on five acres in the country in SW Michigan in a small brick house in a wooded swamp.
   
6. My favorite flowers are the violets. There's a big violet patch in the West wooded yard.
   
7. I have hundreds of Hostas. Lily of the Valley grows like a weed here.
   
8. I am a terrible housekeeper, but I entertain dreams of getting better some day.
   
9. I'm in the process of sorting out every drawer, cupboard, box, and bin in this house, basement, and garage with the intention of moving to someplace nearer my friends, family, stores, church, and civilization. I'm not enjoying this project very much, but Goodwill is delighted.
   
10. The princess of the house is Sunny, an eleven year old Papillon mix with advanced arthritis of her spine.
    
11. The prince of the house is Pappy, a fifteen year old Papillon rescue dog.
    
12. Sunny and Pappy used to do obedience and agility, but now that they're in their senior years we just take peaceful walks around the property.
    
13. In 2003 I lost forty pounds in Weight Watchers. I refuse to admit a few pounds may have rejoined my body because I plan on losing them again soon.
    
14. I worked as an Information Technology analyst for twenty-four years. In April 2003 Pharmacia, my former employer, was acquired by Pfizer. In January, 2004 I was severed along with hundreds of other ex-Pharmacia employees in SW Michigan.
    
15. I am retired.
    
16. People who knew me well told me I'd be bored without a job. I haven't been bored yet and don't think it's going to happen.
    
17. In the 1980s, I was a COBOL programmer. Cobol will always be my favorite programming language, although I know better than to use it now.
    
18. In the 1970s, I went to college part time while my children were growing up.
    
19. I have a BS in Biomedical Science with a minor in Chemistry from Western Michigan University.
    
20. I never had a job using my major or minor.
    
21. My first job out of college was as a computer programmer. I wasn't sure what a computer was. They hired me because I tested super high on a programming aptitude test.
    
22. I've always been good at taking tests.
    
23. I was always a nerd, but in high school and most of my twentys I tried to not to show it.
    
24. I was able to play stupid in high school chemistry because the teacher was boring, but I was never able to resist excelling in math.
    
25. My high school math teacher was excellent. She taught me how to think through problems. Thank you Miss Erskine.
    
26. I played bass clarinet in the high school band. I was very good technically but not musically talented.
    
27. After high school I attended Wright Beauty Academy in Battle Creek and earned a cosmetology license.
    
28. While I was in beauty school I smoked a little rinestone studded pipe. I still love the smell of most pipe tobaccos.
    
29. In the 1960s, I worked as a hairdresser, doing beehives and other very solid hair structures.
    
30. My fame as a hairdresser came from my ability to create backcombed and hairsprayed dos that would not move for a whole week.
    
31. When I was ten, I had a pet painted turtle named Prince Albert Red Rattler. He lived in a large washbin and ate worms. Slurped them up like spagetti. His record was 100 worms in one day.
    
32. When it was time to let Prince Albert go hibernate, he was so fat he couldn't close his shell.
    
33. My maternal grandparents came to this country from Switzerland when my mother was a baby.
    
34. My paternal grandfather was a French Canadian named Gilbert LaFayette Monette. My paternal grandmother was Daughters of the American Revolution material.
    
35. My father had a heart attack and died when he was forty-five years old.
    
36. My mother taught high school English and humanities. She is 90 years old now.
    
37. I was present when my first granddaughter was born in 1995. When she was ten minutes old, she grabbed my finger and we've been loving each other ever since.
    
38. My daughter is smart, beautiful, and has a sparkling personality. She works as a property manager. I'm so thankful that she lives in the area so we can see each other often.
    
39. My son is a genius. He used to do calculus homework during the rests in orchestra practice. He ended up in a hotel/resort industry career because he's also a great people person.
    
40. My second granddaughter was born in 2005. She lives 2000 miles away which is very sad for me.
    
41. Starting when I was in my late teens, I dyed my brown hair red. When I was fifty-five I let it grow out natural. It's about ninety percent white now.
    
42. I'm very nearsighted. I've been wearing glasses since I was ten.
    
43. I resent spending time on the daily routine things: taking a shower, brushing my teeth, blow drying my hair, doing the dishes - but I do them.
    
44. I don't wear makeup anymore except some lipstick when I remember to put it on.
    
45. I've always purchased practical cars. Right now I drive a tan 2000 Camry bought with a Y2K bonus earned when the world as we know it failed to come to an end as feared.
    
46. For me, the fun thing about knitting is to try different stitch patterns.
    
47. I very seldom follow a knitting pattern without at least one change. Often I just wing it.
    
48. One of my favorite things to do is knit while listening to recorded books.
    
49. I used to be an excellent seamstress but I haven't had a sewing machine in the last twenty years. Occasionally I get the urge to sew but it passes quickly.
    
50. I've always loved watching the birds and the wildlife.
    
51. I love embroidery, brocade, and lace - seeing it, not doing it.
    
52. I am the oldest of four children.
    
53. My three siblings are all very unique and gifted. I'm the boring member of the family.
    
54. If you are a brass player, you probably know about my brother, Dave Monette, maker of Monette trumpets.
    
55. My three siblings all think SW Michigan is a good place to be "from".
    
56. I'm the only sibling who has stayed in SW Michigan and I'm not sorry. I like it here.
    
57. In the summer of 2008 at age 63 I signed up at a music school to take trumpet lessons. Playing brass was something I always wanted to learn. After two years I faced facts and crossed it off my list of life goals. But I'm not sorry I tried.
    
58. I hardly ever watch TV or go to movies.
    
59. The last eightteen years I've made a point of studying the Bible. I believe it's the key to the meaning of life.
    
60. I don't think any church has the complete picture of what the Bible is saying.
    
61. I believe we are here on earth to learn and grow. The lessons we're here to learn are the ones that are hard for us to grasp - the mistakes we make over and over and over.
    
62. I am a Christian and in 2012 I officially joined the Wesleyan Church.
    
63. I like to be around friendly, positive people. But sometimes I like to bitch and be critical.
    
64. My favorite kind of humor makes fun of life.
    
65. I'm an introvert. A strong Meyers-Briggs ISTJ.
    
66. I hate speaking in public but I can do it when I need to.
    
67. When I took Dale Carnegie training I won several awards for my short talks.
    Most of the people in my Dale Carnegie class felt the class was life changing. I didn't feel that it changed me at all. I'm still wondering if I missed something important - but I don't think so.
    
68. I hate shopping.
    
69. I buy most of my clothes online. My favorite outfit is jeans and a seasonally appropriate top. My favorite shoes are New Balance.
    
70. I haven't had a dress or a skirt on since son John's wedding in 1999.
    
71. For ten years in the 1990s I made stone jewelry and sold it at craft shows. It started out fun but got to be a chore, so I quit.
    
72. I have promised myself I will never again take something I like to do and try to make it profitable. It takes all the pleasure out of it when you have to do it to deadlines.
    
73. I am less and less of a perfectionist as I get older and learn how little it really matters.
    
74. My favorite color has changed through the years, but I've always had red in my wardrobe.
    
75. My favorite color right now is purple. I don't and won't wear it with red.
    
76. I think Tennessee Ernie Ford sings hymns like God Himself might sound. I got through a stressful project at work once by listening to Tennessee Ernie sing hymns.
    
77. I am always apprehensive about driving through the car wash.
    
78. I could - and sometimes do - waste time playing Spider Solitare and Words With Friends.
    
79. I'm the second of four generations with the middle name Louise. We all have different first names.
    
80. Every year around Mother's Day, the four Louises have a Louise Lunch to celebrate our love for each other.
    
81. There is a phoebe nest on the back porch and every year the phoebes come to raise a family.
    
82. If I had a second daughter, I was going to name her Phoebe. I love the sound of the name.
    
83. On the back three acres I have a bluebird trail of four nest boxes. They get used by bluebirds and tree swallows.
    
84. Every programmer I know is either a calendar person or a map person. I'm a calendar person.
    
85. I hate to hear people sniffle.
    
86. My favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings is to snuggle back in bed with the two little dogs.
    
87. Before I turned thirty I was very thin. Sometimes I was even way too thin to look good.
    
88. I wanted both my children very much. When I was pregnant, I would laugh with delight when I had morning sickness.
    
89. My favorite deserts are custard, flan, and cheesecake.
    
90. My favorite fast food is Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich.
    
91. I enjoy quiet.
    
92. I like to enjoy my friends one or two at a time, not in groups.
    
93. I don't enjoy talking on the phone. In my house the answering machine answers most of the calls and I pick up if it's someone I want/need to talk with.
    
94. I'm not good at keeping in touch with old friends but I think about them sometimes.
    
95. I'm a chocolate snob. I only like European chocolate without all the extra wax and preservatives.
    
96. I love butterscotch and caramel.
    
97. I get impatient with people who say they want to do something but won't try to do it.
    
98. I've worked as a geriatric nurses aide and as an aide in a home for the profoundly retarded during a time in my life when I was thinking of going into medicine.
    
99. I've never worked retail and I've never been a waitress. Hope I never have to do either of those jobs.
    
100. I have a laptop and I work with it while sitting on the loveseat with a writing board on my lap and usually a little dog on each side.