9 things...

So, I am starting this on the advice of an acquaintance-friend of mine who has one. I’m going to assume that no one will ever read it, because who would want to, really? I never kept a journal before. All names other than my own have been changed for my protection. In order for my mind to make any sense at all, I’ve made the following list:

9 things you might want to know about me but most people don’t

(…actually, I don’t think there’s anybody who knows all of them)

1. I’m kind of introverted and a little shy. I don’t mean that I have no friends or anything, just that I make friends slowly. I keep moving across country so that the friends I had in my first two years are in Texas, my second two years in Vermont. Now I’m back in TX and my old friends are in grad school all over…you get the picture. I have small circles of close friends, not large groups. I like my alone time, too. My boyfriend, hereby known as D, is the same way, but he’s not so much shy as anti-social. I love him though. :)

2. Raging, militant feminist.

3. I’m absolutely obsessed with Harry Potter. I mean multiple re-readings, theorizing, fan-site posting…I try to keep this kind of quiet as I pose as a ordinary adult (?) most days. I actually have entire acquaintances that started with the simple, “so, have you ever read Harry Potter?” Yes. My name is Mara, and I have a HP problem. (Hello, Mara!)

4. I’m a good cook. I look even better because so many people can’t cook at all, so they’re easily impressed. I once thought I’d be a professional chef but my plans changed.

5. My fiancé, D, is 16 years older than I am. It’s normal now for us but it other people freak out about it. It’s not like I go around dating guys his age usually; obviously, it’s a unique situation.

6. Amateur quilter.

7. I was a fairly unattractive, awkward adolescent. (Did I mention shy, earlier?) Even though I’ve evened out to be reasonably attractive/ normal looking, I’m inwardly surprised if anybody hits on me. Unless it’s pathetic old guys. I swear if for some reason I’m single when I’m in my forties/fifties, I will not hit on the twenty-old guys. Anyways, it’s weird the way those early experiences shape us, isn’t it?

8. Even though I’m in a solid relationship—marriage-bound—I have crushes on other people. D and I have been together for 5 years now. The first time it happened I freaked out a little, but now I know that it’s normal, for me at least. If I ignore it, it goes away. So far: one friend, two coworkers in Vermont (including one girl—odd), a supervisor here in Texas (but at my old job)… My guess is that it’s the endorphins or something (see number seven).

9. I’m pretty young, (24 at the moment) but I really, really want to start a family. This is just a polite PC-way of saying that I fervently want to have a baby. (by “baby” I actually mean lots or several) You may not think this is that odd but the weird thing is that I’ve always been like that! Even before I was, umm, equipped to have babies at all. My fiancé claims that I start at least one conversation a week with “When we have a baby, we’ll…”


welcome to my life.