A long day

It's tough to go back to school after having a week off. Almost every day during the break I was in bed at a decent hour... maybe 11:30 at the latest. I tried going to bed by 10:00 last night and was still wide awake at 11:15. I finally took a tylenol pm, but was very tired this morning. And to top it all off we had this freshman orientation thing tonight that lasted until 8:00 p.m. so I didn't get home until 8:30.

I don't have anything really exciting to post today so I thought I'd start sharing my personal profile project. It's an assignment I am having my students complete and since I am asking them to share information with me, I figured I should be willing to disclose as well. (Don't worry, it's nothing that I would consider to be too personal.) I just did the same project... though mine is a bit wordy. They have to write a series of five papers about themselves. Here is the first one.

I was born on November 10, 1969 so I am currently 36 years old. I am 5’4” if I stand up straight in shoes. I have dark brown hair, hazel eyes and weigh 174 pounds on a good day. I have freckles, pale skin, and have been called “cute” on many occasions so perhaps I am starting to believe it. Most people consider me to be very smart and mostly serious, though I have been known to have fun once in a while. I was born in Perryton, Texas and grew up there until I was six years old. My family and I moved to Amarillo in 1976 and I have lived in the area (Amarillo or Canyon) since then. I currently live in Canyon and love where I am right now.

I have a wide variety of tastes about many things. I developed a passion for rollercoasters a few years ago and have ridden about 125 different coasters. My favorite coaster is Poltergeist at Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. I prefer steel over wood coasters, but for me, a ride is a ride and the faster and smoother the better. Music has played a part in my life for about 25 years and I will get into more details about that later in this paper. Though I don’t think I have any Italian blood in me, I love Italian food. Spaghetti with meat sauce is my favorite, closely followed by fettucini alfredo. I love to read, though I rarely find to do much of it these days. I enjoy mystery novels and books on Catholicism. My favorite authors are Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich. I have two favorite books that are To Kill a Mockingbird and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I enjoy comedy movies especially those by Mel Brooks or the Zucker brothers. Blazing Saddles and Rat Race would be my favorites in that area. I also enjoy working crossword puzzles and playing Scrabble, though I have a hard time finding someone to play the game with me. It seems that I have beaten too many people and they’re afraid of getting whipped.

I do have some things I do not like much as well. At the top of that list would have to be most vegetables. I grew up a fairly picky eater and I never learned to like my vegetables. I do like potatoes, corn and salad fixings. I hate any kind of bean. I am not a morning person and I don’t like getting up early without a good reason. I do not care for people that are dishonest and untrustworthy. A few other things that bother me are being broke, hypocrites, and scary movies.

I do not consider myself to be a very prejudiced person. I accept almost all people regardless of their race, religion, or beliefs. Even those that don’t agree with me in matters of my faith or belief system, I can still consider them to be a friend. I do find, however, that I tend to have a bias towards my faith. It is not so much that I feel that others are wrong in their beliefs, nor do I want to change anyone’s beliefs, I just have an affinity for Catholicism. My only prejudice that I feel I have would be against smokers. I do not have any kind of hatred for those that smoke, I will not, however, associate myself with them when they are smoking. I have had many friends that have smoked, but I choose not to expose myself to it when possible. The reason behind this is because my mother smoked for 42 years and passed away because of lung cancer. It was painful to watch her go through it and it is a horrible way to die.

I have a few talents that I have developed over the years. One of them is playing the clarinet. I have played it since 1981 when I was in the fifth grade. When I was in high school I usually sat in a high chair in all-region band, made it to area band several years and missed all-state by four chairs my senior year. When I was a sophomore, I made a first division and received an outstanding award at the state Solo & Ensemble contest. I started my college career majoring in music and though I switched to speech, I continued to play in band throughout college and still play from time to time. Another talent I have had is with flags. I was flag captain in both high school and college. I taught flags at band camp for many years and have worked with area school flag corps. I also consider myself talented when it comes to speaking and performing. Though I haven’t had many speaking opportunities, I did very well in my college speaking and performance classes. I have also participated in some local theatre productions and played a major role in the musical Into the Woods. A few other skills that I have honed in the past few years are writing, cooking, and my knowledge of computers especially with graphic design.

When it comes to personality, I can be very enigmatic. My moods can vary widely. On the positive side, I consider myself intelligent, witty, creative, resourceful, and easy going. I don’t let a lot of things get to me. My students concurred that I was intelligent but they also felt I was helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. I was surprised that many of them did not think I was introverted because I usually think that I am. But just like most people, my personality shifts depending on the situation that I am in. I was also surprised that several said I was organized. I do like to be organized and I try, but I am not always successful at it. I tend to procrastinate a bit and can be a little lazy at times. My house is generally messy and I hate cleaning. I have been known to have very high expectations that can create problems for some people. I am very strong-willed and stubborn. But overall I would say that I’m generally a happy and positive person.