My freakin' 25 things

Within the span of about 2 weeks, I got "requested" about 30 times to do a "25 things about me" list on facebook. At first, I completely boycotted the idea. Then, I decided I was going to come up with the 25 sarcastic and untrue things about me (see #23 below). Once my sister did it though I started feeling really guilty. So, here it is in no particular order...

1) I can't believe I'm doing this... yippee, one down!
2) One of the worst days of my life was the day the National Health Service Corps opportunities list came out. After moving to Rhode Island for residency, we were sure we would be back in New England for good. Alas, the choices were between the Florida swamps, Mississippi (thought I would leave that one for my sister), and north of the Arctic Circle Alaska. Long story short and a quick summer on the Cape later, we ended up on the Hopi reservation for a few years where our freezer was always completely full since the closest grocery store was 2 hours away. In the end, if that was one of the worst days, guess everything's going OK. Although the crying at Chili's in Flagstaff on Halloween day after our 10 hours of flying out to Arizona knowing that we still had a 2 hour drive left wondering what I got our family in to was not a high point either (it was a pregnancy hormone thing I'm convinced).
3) Jack was born on one of the Navajo reservation's hospitals. They actually asked me what tribe I was affiliated with when I registered at the hospital. Not many white babies are born there and never a red head. The entire staff of the hospital came in one by one to see the red headed pahana (Hopi word for gringo) baby.
4) On the other hand, Emma was so dark skinned that a lot of my friends thought she was jaundiced.
5) Overall, I do love my job but the paperwork, hours, insurance baloney, prior authorization is just getting far too ridiculous.
6) Regarding #5, I just keep hoping that one day I'll find the job that maximizes my amazing Wheel of Fortune and sudoku skills, pays well, minimal hours (to maximize home time and exercise time) and helps figure out all of the world's problems.
7) I wish that I could read as fast as Emma and have the endless energy of Jack.
8) Over the years, I have been extraordinarily lucky to have had friends that have stuck by me through a lot and I know that, even if I don't talk to them on a daily or even monthly basis, they will be there for me no matter what. It's just comforting to know that they're out there no matter that they're all over the country.
9) One of my best jobs was being a doctor in the Massachusetts prison system. If it weren't for the frequent sleepless call nights, I would probably still be there.
10) I am a firm believer in the Farm to Table movement.
11) I can't believe that I ran a half marathon 9 months after Jack was born and I really can't believe that I didn't think that it was an amazing feat at the time.
12) I wish my sister lived closer- to spend more time with, for my kids to spend more time with, to get to know my brother in law better, and to take some of the weight of living near mom and dad away from me. That being said, I'm very thankful that my parents and inlaws live so close by and love spending time with them.
13) I read StuffWhitePeopleLike and giggle a little too much because I feel like a lot of it embarrassingly applies to me.
14) I wish that I could just stay one clothing size so I could invest in some nice made in America clothes that were made to flatter me, my body type, and my style. Yeah, well off to Old Navy to buy another pair of jeans- my kinda fat ones are falling off, my super skinny ones are just a little too tight (OK, maybe more like a lot too tight).
15) I would love to learn how to sew, do metal jewelry work, and do basic woodworking.
16) Looking through January's seed catalogs is one of my favorite things in the world. I love growing my own food and hope to do a lot more of it some day.
17) I absolutely live for chocolate and cheese. If I say "You know what?", the kids' blanket response is "We know... you love cheese" and that's usually what I was about to say. I hope some time to find a good source of raw milk so I can make more cheese- the first attempt at mozzarella was pretty good.
18) I met my husband when I was 16. It's amazing how much we've changed over the years and still like seeing each other every day.
19) I have been so lucky to have wonderful aunts and uncles to look up to in terms of their family, professional and personal lives.
20) Some day, I think I want to retire to Maine (maybe tomorrow).
21) During residency, the administrator referred to me as a "lumper" not a "splitter". The "lumpers" liked to get all of the bad rotations done all at the same time instead of spreading them out throughout the year. I still do that- I would far prefer to do 1 week's worth of dishes at one time instead of meal by meal, all of my wardrobe's worth of laundry all at once, all of my phonecalls at work at the same time. I'm working on this to try and make my life more efficient (and to drive Jim a little less crazy).
22) I truly hope some day to get to all of my books on my goodreads list.
23) I bake a loaf of bread every morning for breakfast after my 12 mile run and can't wait to go to South Africa this summer to donate my time and share the cure for HIV that I developed in my spare time and so the kids and I can get just a little closer to fluent in Afrikaans.
24) I love the little old bitties that call me "their young doctor". I also love the old guys that remind me of my grandfather- completely politically incorrect but loving and caring at the same time.
25) Although Emma got to meet all of her grandparents and great-grandparents, 2 of them died before Jack was born and 1 died when Jack was little. The sad thing about it is the 2 that we lost before Jack was born are the 2 that would appreciate his energy, goofiness, and love of food the most.

So, that's it... my 25 things. Run-on sentences and all...