25 Things

I got tagged by a couple of people on Facebook to compile a list of 25 random things about me. Here is my list. I probably shouldn't have put #21 on there, but it's the truth, so on it went.

1. I was born in Germany. Because of a paperwork mixup, I had to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen. My dad never told me I had dual citizenship because I was so obstinate he thought I would choose the German. Or so the story goes ...
2. I first arrived in the U.S. when I was nearly two, by boat. There was a storm at sea and I fell and got a black eye. Even my passport photo makes me look like a war refugee.
3. When I was 11 I ran into a chain-link fence, cut my face to the bone, broke my nose, nearly ripped off the tip of it, and bled all over the place. The Army plastic surgeons fixed me up and now you can barely tell. I still could use a nose job. And about 20 other "tweaks."
4. I fell in love with Chicago when I was 13 and decided then and there to move there when I graduated from college. And I did.
5. I can install light fixtures all by my little own self.
6. I went all the way to Paris with my sister and grandmother and only got to the first level of the Eiffel Tower. We split an omelette three ways and went back down. Someday I'm going back and going all the way to the top.
7. A Chicago cab driver told me I looked like a Greek goddess at dawn. I don't, but it is my absolutely favorite compliment. I tipped him very well.
8. I went to a San Antonio parade in 1979 where a sniper opened fire right in front of us and shot a bunch of people. My dad gave me his Combat Infantry Badge because I had seen my first enemy fire.
9. Seattle is my favorite U.S. city.
10. London is my favorite European city.
11. I spent two weeks on a lake in Switzerland with my grandmother, sister, and mom. There were dreamy Italian waiters, feather beds, hot chocolate ...
12. I would love to be a published author.
13. I worked for a top 5 Chicago advertising agency.
14. I would love to learn Italian and French. So I can flirt with dreamy waiters.
15. I was pretty easy-going until I was pregnant with my first kid. Now I'm the mom who says, "You'll shoot your eye out."
16. I have always wanted to be a jazz pianist. Oscar Peterson is my idol.
17. I was on our marching band flag corps in high school. My boyfriend said the shorts made my legs look sexy.
18. I can sew, quilt, cross-stitch, smock, needlepoint, and knit. I just choose not to. Except knitting.
19. I am a very good cook. Or so my sister tells me.
20. I make gorgeous currant jelly.
21. I swear like a sailor in my head. And when I'm driving.
22. I hate clowns--passionately.
23. I'm the only one of my siblings without a masters degree. It makes me crazy, but they tell me I'm being stupid. Stop saying that! I'm working on it!
24. I feel guilty for nearly everything.
25. Hearing my kids laugh is the happiest sound in the world.

#25 is a little cheesy, but that one is true, too.