The 25 Things

It's all the rage on facebook-- posting 25 random things about yourself and then tagging 25 people to do the same... have been resisting this and not sure why. So this kid did what I normally do when I have a dilemma--went to the dictionary (I know-- you thought I was going to say I prayed about it. Nope! Dictionary fetish!)

Random, according to the great minds at Princeton means "lacking any definite plan or order or purpose..." No wonder this troubles my order-hungry, purpose-seeking soul! Just not into random, folks.

So, the first thing that came to mind was that:
1. 25 things is 24 things too many.

Now I will work on the rest of the list--in what order or for what purpose, I am unsure... but guaranteed I will keep looking for both!

2. When I was five years old, I came to love Jesus and told my Mom that I wanted to really be sure he lived in my heart. I worried about whether or not my heart was big enough for anyone to live there, but never told my Mom that. Couldn't figure out how someone as big as Jesus sounded could also be so little. Have spent the years since learning that little is good.

3. The next thing I did was drag my dear brother, Danny, to my Mother's knee and told her that he needed Jesus too and forced him to agree with me. No way was I leaving my best bud behind!

4. Not long after that, I also convinced my dear Danny that he could in fact jump over the rose bushes beside our front door -- an experiment which left thorns in his behind. I hope by now he has forgiven me.

5. I was afraid to go to school. Both kindergarten and first grade were terrifying for me. It so upset me to be away from home that I would become ill in the lunchroom and be sent back to the classroom alone. Never ate the lunch packed for me because I was too nervous to eat. One day my teacher found out that my lunchbox was still full of food at the end of the day and made me stand in front of the class and explain why. Awful, simply awful-- people were looking at me! Extroversion is a learned behavior for this little introvert.

6. Learning to read opened up new worlds for me and began a lifelong love affair with words. If you are looking for me, check the corner -- I will be the one with her nose stuck in a book.

7. See, I'm doing this in order!

8. Now for a random comment...I met my husband before I could talk. When I was seven or so, I declared to my Mother that I would marry David Milton when I grew up. She assured me that perhaps I would marry someone like him. It was quite a few turns in the road before it actually came to pass. But I am glad to be married to him... read some of my earlier posts and you will see why. He is one cool dude.

9. While we are on words, I became interested in the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson in the fourth grade. Fourth grade was my favorite year, I will never forget Mrs. Bren, feeling included for the first time and thinking maybe life was understandable after all. Of course that feeling fled before fifth...

10. My sister always got to do everything first...being the second child, I was, you guessed it, always second. At one point I complained to my parents that Janet would probably get to die and go to Heaven first, too. Several times, people have accused me of not being cautious enough and perhaps trying to ensure that prophetic statement did not come true. The jury is still out. And Janet is still out, ahead of me, but in a good way.

11. When my brother David was born, I insisted that I would be the FIRST person in the family to hold him...other than my sainted Mother, of course. He was just a couple of days old and in my eight-year-old mind I took charge of him that very day.

12. My Dad taught me how to drive a tractor when I was 12. It was a proud moment.

13. Oh dear, 13 and 14...very bad years for me. Couldn't figure out the early adolescent thing...had no clue about why the girls were acting that way-- or the boys either. You could not pay me to go back.

14. Oh my! I am not meeting the random requirement of this assignment, suddenly it has turned into a life history. So now for something totally different, may I mention that I love the number 4? Of course, just like the color blue, my littlest bro stole it from me as his favorite number as soon as he was old enough to count. But sorry, D. McG., four belongs to me...always has, always will.

15. Around seventh grade I decided that I would go to Wheaton College -- of course, I didn't make it there until after graduating from HS-- but I liked to plan ahead even then. My Mother attended there and it seemed like the thing to do. Loved it then and now. Took my little namesake niece, Laurel Hone The Cuter, there for a visit when she was 11-- maybe she will want to go too.

16. Flute, bassoon, saxophone, oboe, clarinet, and piano have been part of my musical education -- as well as singing. The Hone children were born in this order -- Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass...consult item number 10 and figure it out. Not bragging on this one-- I was always a mediocre musician, never a star and music theory? Well, let's just end number 16 right here.

17. In 2007 I helped plan, organize and also sang in a jazz festival in Morocco. It was an exhilarating and sometimes, exhausting experience... but the people who went with us were as wonderful as the people we met there.

18. Cross cultural friendships -- long history of these and so appreciate everyone of them, probably the result of having many international students and missionaries in our home going way, way back. I admire my Mother for taking an interest in internationals, teaching them English, and helping them adjust to life in a new culture.

19. Musicals, plays and acting opportunities were a focus of involvement in High School and later in community theatre after college...Nancy in Oliver, Fruma Sarah in Fiddler, Ado Annie in Oklahoma, and then there were plays. Oh yes, dancing and gymnastics were also early passions. Getting lost on the stage and being someone else... hmmm I need an analyst here!

20. Speaking of getting lost, there is a place in Minnesota that I have gone every summer of my life (except maybe one.) In my humble opinion, it is the most glorious place on earth-- the woods always welcome you back, comfort you when you are sad, and are waiting to fill you up with beauty and wonder. If I have a true home, it is there.

21. I can warble as well as any loon. In fact, when my loon call echoes across the lake, other loons answer me. I am quite proud of this.

22. Sorry Megan, I do enjoy sudoku! Two years ago, my DH gave me a book of 500 Mensa Sudoku Puzzles. Not sure I am Mensa material, because I am still only on number 334. They are much more challenging than most and when I close my eyes at night I still see the puzzles and numbers in my head. My favorite sudoku puzzles are the ones where I can fill in all the 4's FIRST!!!

23. In the past FOUR days, I have experienced the joy of reconnecting with some long lost cousins on facebook. Well, in truth, they weren't lost, I have not been a very good correspondent. But it did make me very happy to find them and now I have a dream of the whole extended group of cousins somehow being together on fb--sharing pictures and stories and memories.

24. The world's most wonderful beagle lives at our house. Her name is Daisy and she is a delightful companion. She'll be 10 in May...long may she live! Many days she sits by my side in the office and I balance with a beagle on one knee and a laptop on the other.

25. I love to hike, and yes, dear reader, I have climbed 3 fourteeners...I just don't talk about it much because it was during the years when I was also scaling some inner mountains. In the last 15 years my hiking has been confined to the flatlands...where I also found beauty in the prairie.

I consider myself to be blessed beyond all deserving with so many friends.
Thanks for reading this far. If you get here, you're it...I am tagging you which in facebook-speak means it is now your turn to post 25 scintillating-but-random things about yourself.

Just to make this totally embarrassing, here is my first grade picture -- taken before my rick rack teeth grew in!