5 More in Public

I’m having trouble getting my words out. so it’s survey time. again.

Five facts about your childhood
1. We played outside a lot.
2. We made a big move when I was 10.
3. Honestly, I don’t remember much fro years under 10. My parents fought but they also drank and those two are linked for me. Other than that everything seemed really good. If I look back I don’t remember much apart from the laughing good times and the yelling bad ones.
4. We belonged to the community pool.
5. My dad played softball with what I thought was all the other men in our neighborhood. We went to games and then hung out with the other kids in the gamerooms in bars. It was the late 80’s, early 90’s.

Five facts about your teenage years
1. I had a handful of friends
2. We got the internet when I was 15
3. I promptly met people online, and after just a few months met Liam.
4.I stabbed myself in my arm, twice, with a paring knife, when I was 15. I went into therapy. I don’t know if I actually wanted to die but I was dealing with a lot of shit and was 15 so I didn’t know how to express things properly. Fred, my therapist, probably did save my life though.
5. I had sex at 17, with Liam. This was later than all of my friends, though I didn’t “Do it” because of peer pressure. I was pretty positive I was marrying this man. First week of college I broke up with him (he was doing HARD CORE drugs).

Five facts about your best friend
Liam:
1. He’s amazingly funny but also very closed off.
2. He does not have a relationship with his family. I foster a relationship between him and his mother but I can’t make him talk to his siblings.
3. He’s wildly intelligent. With this intelligence comes some aspie tendencies. He’s not great in social situations and tends to hyperfocus on his work.
4. I think, even if we weren’t married, he’d still be my best friend. He’s the first person I want to talk to about anything ever in my life, and he has been that person for 20 years.
5. He’s either really sweet and loving and romantic or a total jerkwad. There is no in between for Liam

Five facts about your travel habits
1. I overpack undies and bottoms but sometimes I don’t pack enough tops
2. I love airports. I will happily arrive 3 hours early and people watch.
3. I’ve been to approximately 20 countries.
4. I won’t be late, sometimes that means Liam drops me with the bags before he goes to park the car.
5. I have medical reasons to pre-board for another 3 months. Sometimes I still get really sore at my hysterectomy incision site and I struggle with getting into the seats.

Five facts about your hometown
Well…I’m gonna do two about Chester and Three about York
1. Chester was, I thought, nice. All my friends lived around the corner, it seemed.
2. Chester was, in fact, not nice. My parents were really glad to get us out of there.
3. York is boring.
4. It is, however, argued to be the first National Capitol.
5. My high school was boycotted by WBC because they put in the Matthew Shepard Story. Fuck WBC.

Five facts about your online journaling
1. Liam lead me to OpenDiary in 2000.
2. This is my only honest accounting of my life. I know people can read it and I don’t care. I keep “real” journals but rarely put what I’m actually feeling in them. I’d hate for someone to come across my real issues. If it’s too real, I don’t even share it publicly here.
3. I was devastated when I lost my OD.
4. I’ve never met an OD person except for Liam.
5. I have become FB friends with several and, truthfully, that was a little scary for me.

Five facts about your health and fitness
1. I am morbidly obese. I did not get this way from overeating. I don’t have an unhealthy relationship with food. I got this way because I had amenorrhea. Which meant I didn’t menstruate. Women who don’t menstruate don’t process sugars, fat, protein, fiber, iron, sodium…basically if it comes from food, I didn’t process it
2. I had a total abdominal hysterectomy in September 2018. Since then I’ve lose 15 pounds and 4 pants sizes. I barely workout, and I haven’t changed my diet. My body works properly now.
3. When I’m working out, I go big or go home. but once I miss a day, forget it, it’ll take me months to get back on track
4. I wear a fitbit and wearing one does make me park farther from a store, take the stair over the elevator, and drink more water.
5. Considering how fat I am, I’m in excellent condition internally. I’m not on any meds for diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, or thyroid. my Dr says this is a medical mystery.

Five facts about your hobbies/interests
1. I love to read. I’ve read 70 books so far this year.
2. I love coloring but I am not a drawer. please don’t give me a blank page and no instructions
3. I love taking pictures of food. In another life I would have studied photography
4. I’m an educator, I want to teach the world
5. I like cleaning.

Five (more) facts about you right now
1. I’m hungry. it’s lunch time
2. Liam surprised me with 3 nights in Miami on the beach.
3. I love coffee
4. I’ve been binge listening to Patsy Cline
5. I am going to buy new bath bombs today.