- I was born on July 30, 1969 in Decatur, IL
- My mom wanted to name me Suzanne and Dad wanted Kristine Lynn.
I used to call myself Cricka so everyone else started calling me
Cricket. I don't remember anyone but Dad calling me that, though.
- I was born with cataracts and had them removed at 8 months (right
eye) and 3 yrs (left eye). I wear both contacts and glasses. I also
have retinal damage in my left eye. My vision, corrected, is around
20/40 or 20/50 in my right eye and 20/150 or so in my left. I started
wearing contacts at 8 months old.
- I hated school up until college. I wore really thick glasses from
the second grade through mid-freshman year and was rather socially
inept. I was made fun of constantly, not only by students, but I
was also put down by some teachers and administrators. If a child
was treated now as I was back then, there would be lawsuits involved.
Yet in general I got really good grades and was often on the high
honor roll.
- I am shy around people until I get to know them and trust them.
I have a closet full of insecurities, most stemming from my childhood,
but also from having gained so much weight. Face-to-face conversations
with strangers are very scary for me although I don't usually show
it.
- I finished 7th out of 102 in my senior class.
- I avoid crowds - they make me claustrophobic.
- I am pretty sure that I have mild to moderate hyperacusis. I
happened upon this site when looking up information about my jaw
popping. It was a relief to find out I am not the only one who gets
furious about or experiences pain from sounds that others don't even
notice.
- I've always had a bit of a belly, but I didn't really gain weight
til after college. Up til the end of my senior year, I was at most
a size 13/14. My smallest was probably the summer of 1990 when I
was a small size 11/12.
- I have gray eyes, but the irises are very uneven and ugly because
of the doctor who butchered them when I was a baby. I've always dreamed
of having pretty eyes.
- My pet peeves are people who chew gum/food with their mouths open
and idiots who think we want to hear their bass thumping through
our house.
- I went to Illinois Wesleyan University, a smaller private liberal
arts college here in Bloomington.
- I have a B.A. in French, yet....
- I work for the second largest insurance company in the world. Go
figure. :-D
- I tried substitute teaching in my old high school. Not only was
that very awkward, but I despised it! I even subbed for the french
teacher but hated being up in front of people. I subbed for the french
professor at Parkland College in Champaign while I was taking travel
agent courses which was a little better, but I still wouldn't want
to do it again.
- I love to travel! I spent my junior year of college abroad in Nantes,
France, and while I was there I visited England, Scotland, Germany
(twice), Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium.
All of those except one trip to Germany, England, and Scotland were
done in one month with a friend from college who flew over. I have
been to 25 states and Washington DC, two canadian provinces (Ontario
and Québec), and St. Lucia. Our next big trip is (hopefully)
going to be Tanzania, Africa. I'm kind of nervous about that one.
- I have very eclectic tastes in music. The only kinds I generally
do NOT like are rap, country, and really heavy metal/grunge. But
even in those genres there may be a song or two I like. I will listen
to The Andrews Sisters or Vivaldi one minute and Groovy Aardvark
(french punk) the next.
- I am a sucker for soft jazz....I think it is very romantic.
- I miss going to Six Flags-type amusement parks. I haven't felt
comfortable doing so since I gained weight.
- I wouldn't say I'm a picky eater, but there are several things
I don't like such as most fish/seafood, fungus, and I'm not a fan
of cooked spinach, although I'll eat a little of it in something.
Raw is nummy. :) Otherwise I love fruits and veggies. I'm not very
adventurous with meat beyond the standards, but I love rabbit as
long as it doesn't have a gamey taste.
- I like my steaks well done to the point of being charred on the
outside. Alton Brown can bite me. ;)
- I enjoy reading cookbooks and recipes although I rarely make anything
out of the ordinary. I'll go through a phase now and then of trying
new recipes but then usually fall back on the old standards.
- One of my favorite hobbies is trying new restaurants, especially
ethnic ones.
- My favorite cuisine is probably indian, but it's really hard to
choose between that and mexican.
- I tend to talk about food alot. :-D
- I get almost giddy when I see the ocean and walk along the beach.
I would love to live within a reasonable distance of one of the coasts.
I could just sit and listen to the waves all day.
- I met my husband in an online IRC chatroom. We chatted almost every
spare moment for two weeks before meeting in person.
- Our first date was on New Year's Eve, 1996. He took the train down
from Chicago and we spent a romantic evening at......the laundromat!
I knew right then and there it was true love. :)
- My favorite color is burgundy/magenta but cobalt blue is a very
close second.
- When I was little, I saw part of Bram Stoker's Dracula and was
so frightened that I wore a cross necklace to bed for weeks afterwards.
- My first stuffed animal was a neon orange and yellow-green bear
named Theodore that my grandma bought for me. I still have him upstairs
in a box, although he is now completely flat.
- I have had surgery nine times, not counting having my wisdom teeth
cut out or my heart cath.. Twice for my eyes, twice for my tonsils
(I had bleeding afterwards that they had to go back in and fix),
when I had my tubes tied, and four butt surgeries for abscesses and
a fistula.
- I broke my leg when I was in 7th grade and had a cast up over my
knee for six weeks. I've severely sprained both ankles and tore a
ligament once.
- My favorite drink is orange juice.
- My favorite booze is a toss-up between cider and gin and tonic,
extra lime.
- I love to dance, although I'm not terribly graceful. I secretly
wish I could join a square dance or polka club. :)
- I play the piano but I am horribly out of practice and can't remember
any of the songs I used to have memorized.
- I have played for two weddings which was so stressful that I'll
never do it again.
- I've never been into sports, mainly because my PE teachers were
always so mean and graded us on ability rather than how hard we tried.
Even so, I loved soccer, field hockey, and archery. If I were a kid
today, I'd play soccer.
- I have never wanted children, and don't really like being around
them much.
- Hubby and I enjoy playing MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online
Role-Playing Games). We played EverQuest for over five years, and
now we play World of Warcraft. For the price of a movie with popcorn
and drinks, we get a month's worth of entertainment. :)
- My favorite book is The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.
- I am a cat fanatic and have two spoiled babies - Ramses
and Cleo. They are five years old.
- I have one brother, Kerry, who is six years older than I am. Nothing
against him, of course, but I've often wished I also had a sister.
- I grew up in a town of 1000 people.
- I was on the Scholastic Bowl team for three years in high school.
That's where I met my first boyfriend whom I dated for two years.
We were friends for many years afterwards, and he is the one who
introduced me to IRC. Had he not shown me that, I probably would've
never met Ken.
- My favorite season is autumn. I hate hot weather! I don't mind
cold weather except for the heating bills. ;)
- I love to walk outside at night when there is new snow on the ground
and the moon is shining. Everything seems so pristine and peaceful.
- I love backrubs and to have my neck tickled.
- I would be content to never have to drive again, although once
in a while I like to get out on the highway by myself with the windows
down and music blaring.
- I am a night owl. There's just something unnatural about people
who are perky right after getting up. ;) I'm not really coherent
until about 10am. LOL
- I am a slob, and my house is usually a wreck, but I am very fastidious
with my personal hygiene.
- I don't like to dress up except for once in a very great while.
I prefer to be as comfortable as possible at all times. I think it's
moronic to make a person dress up who sits in a cubicle all day long.
I guarantee I'd be happier and work better if I were allowed to wear
comfortable sweats and a nice t-shirt. :)
- I live on the wrong side of town.
- I have a fear of bugs, especially spiders and crickets.
- I've never had a speeding ticket or any moving violation.
- My fingers and thumbs are double-jointed, which means I won thumb
wrestling contests quite a bit as a kid. ;)
- I can wiggle my nose.
- I have little artistic talent even though I've always wanted to
be able to paint and draw. I love art and art history, especially
the neo-classicism through post-impressionism eras. I don't care
much for most modern art.
- I love to play card and board games.
- I enjoy learning foreign languages and about other cultures. I
wish I could live abroad in a different country every couple of years.
- I have always considered myself to be ugly. Probably comes from
being told that I was almost every day at school for 10 years. Being
horribly overweight has just intensified that feeling.
- I hate black licorice. Makes my stomach turn to think about the
taste.
- My favorite TV shows, current and past, are Good Eats, Top Chef,
Babylon 5, Project Runway, and Stargate SG-1.
- We have two sponsor children through Compassion International.
One is a 9 yr old girl in Haiti, the other a 15 yr old boy in Tanzania.
- I miss camping, only because I love sitting around a campfire with
the sounds of tree frogs and cicadas surrounding me.
- Up until my sophomore year in high school, I planned on majoring
in meteorology. It still interests me.
- I am completely mechanically inept.
- I am very good at Name That Tune except that I haven't kept up
with Top 40 music much in the past 10 years or so. I don't think
I've missed anything. :-D
- I feel very blessed to have a stable job that pays decently, a
close family and in-laws, and a wonderful loving husband.
- I fear being old and alone.
- I drive a 1999 Saturn SL1 that we bought new in Nov. 1998. It has
around 105,000 miles on it in 2008.
- I am a list maker. I have a to do list at work. When we go on a
trip, I have three lists: his, hers, and ours. :)
- We have no debts except for our mortgage.
- I have glaucoma and diabetes.
- I would rather get a cavity filled than go to the opthamologist
and have to read an eye chart.
- I have no self control when it comes to pies, cakes, and cookies.
That's why I rarely bake. My favorites are sour cream cookies and
anything rhubarb or blueberry.
- I fully expect to go blind when I'm older.
- I have a restored upright player piano from the early 1900s with
about 120 piano rolls that is our family heirloom. We bought it in
1976, right before Christmas.
- My favorite carbonated drink is Orangina.
- Chocolate or vanilla? Definitely vanilla, although I certainly
wouldn't turn down chocolate. ;)
- I don't watch TV that much, but when I do, it's almost always Food
Network or The Weather Channel. There's a shock, eh?
- I dream very vivid, crazy dreams that I remember in the mornings,
and they often involve flying. Not in a plane - just flying on my
own. Sometimes I can control my dreams.
- I wish I had a walk-in closet.
- I get my feelings hurt and cry easily. I've always been emotional.
- I'm a White Sox fan by marriage. I converted to my husband's team
because I wanted us to be able to watch games and cheer them on together,
and it really didn't make much sense to continue being a Brave's
fan.
- After being hurt badly by a dear friend, I don't know that I'll
ever let someone aside from my hubby and family become that important
or close to me again.
- I still love to blow
bubbles!
- My favorite toys were
blocks and Tinkertoys.
- I am cynical and feel
that the vast majority of people on this earth are idiots.
- I love
bright, vibrant colors. I find looking at a lit-up Christmas
tree to be very soothing.
- My dream house would
have a large library with shelves built into the walls and a high
ceiling, a jacuzzi, and an in-ground swimming pool.
- I have had
Dom Perignon champagne. I didn't like it. Luckily, I wasn't the
one who paid for it. :)
- I like to read mostly
sci-fi/fantasy books.
- I hate shopping for clothes
because I don't think anything ever looks good on me.
- I am allergic
to penicillin and tetanus.
- I'd take a hot dog over
a hamburger anyday, especially one charred nicely over a campfire,
followed by homemade s'mores. Yummah!
- My favorite flower is
the lily, specifically stargazer lilies.
- I can't remember the
last time I returned a library book by the due date. I consider
my fines to be a charitable donation. lol
- I like having breakfast
for lunch or supper.
- Did I mention that I
am a romantic at heart?
In this issue
Other Links