10 Random Things About Me

My good friend and Life List Club founder Marcia Richards tagged me a few days ago for the “10 Random Things About Me” challenge. I’ve been offline for a few days – mostly just hanging out enjoying the long weekend and catching up on my reading, but I’m back and up for the challenge!

1. Although I’ve lived my whole life in Baltimore, my family roots are in Pittsburgh (on Mom’s side) and Preston County, West Virginia (on my Dad’s side.) I was blessed to have living great-grandparents and great-aunts and uncles in West Virginia until my 20s. Actually, I still have great-uncles there – one of them kept me clued in to the Steelers game score when I couldn’t get it on TV during Irene. I have childhood memories of visiting one set of great-grandparents and actually having to use an outhouse, something I can’t imagine now unless I’m on a camping trip!

2. I am a rabid Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I’d like to blame that on Mom’s Pittsburgh roots, and that is part of it. But my fandom really came about because in my late teens and early 20’s, Baltimore had no football team. The Colts had left Baltimore and the Ravens hadn’t yet come into being. Many in the area cheered the Steelers, and the bar/restaurant my parents co-owned then housed the Pittsburgh Steelers Fan Club of Baltimore. It was there that I got into football in general and the Steelers specifically. Once Baltimore got the Ravens, I was a lost cause – I’d come to love the Steelers far too much to give them up. It makes for an interesting football season since now my guys are my home team’s arch-rivals.

3. I am as domestically inept as your stereotypical bachelor dude. If you’re having a potluck, count on me to bring the drinks and paper plates.

4. I was married to a chef for 10 years. I use that as an excuse for never learning to cook. I also used it as an excuse whenever I gained weight. Now, Lee is my excuse for that, since he’s an awesome cook too and keeps me very well-fed. My divorce in 2005 was very amicable as divorces go, and lawyerless. For the most part, we could have written a book called “How to Divorce Without Being Assholes to Each Other.”

5. I once had six ferrets, which is why my email moniker is sixweasels. I really enjoyed that time, but will be the first to admit it was a ton of work. Because they were all close in age they started experiencing “senior ferret” health issues at the same time, and I broke the bank and even went into debt paying vet bills. I realized that as much as I love the little guys, I couldn’t have that many again. That’s why Vin Weasel is a solo ferret with a cat for a brother.

6. Lee and I have been together since 2006. We’ve weathered some rough times together (the way my Steelers keep knocking his Ravens out of the playoffs not the least of them lol). In spite of that, he’s not just my partner but my dearest friend. We share a love of football and fitness goals and do our best to motivate each other to stick with our gym regimen. His creative outlet is playing guitar while mine is writing. He’s good at stuff I suck at and vice versa, and we can always make each other laugh. He’s the one I want by my side at the end of the day and I feel like our relationship is proof that sometimes life not working out the way you thought it would (my divorce) really is because where you are truly meant to be requires hard changes.

7. I am an introvert. In spite of that, I always land myself in positions that require public speaking or leadership roles. I’m actually very good at those kinds of things, but at the end of a full day of them I’m a braindead zombie. People who don’t know me personally find that hard to believe, because I come off as such an extraverted “people person.” But if they saw me crashed out at the end of the day like a Southern belle on a fainting couch, they’d understand.

8. Writing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but I”ve just recently started taking my efforts seriously. So far, most of my published pieces have been articles, but I did get my first short story published in Efiction Magazine’s July Issue.

9. In college, I wanted to major in everything. I was torn between psychology, social work, English, geography and political science. I ended up getting my degree in English. Three years after graduating, I got a job at the college where I’d earned my degree, and have been there ever since. I sort of fell into my career rather than choosing one, since all I ever really wanted to be was a fiction writer and a perpetual student. But it has had its interesting moments along the way and kept a roof over my head.

10. I am a “simple pleasures” kind of girl and a pretty low maintenance person. Reading, writing, a few guilty pleasure TV shows, the mountains or the ocean, sitting at the pub laughing with friends, an afternoon at the pool, a campfire and some wine, or a spring or fall hike are what makes me tick. I tend to avoid crowds unless they’re for something I really, really want to do. A Jimmy Buffett concert will get me out with the masses, but that’s one of the few things I can think of – I prefer to make my memories hanging out with a few close friends rather than bumping butts with strangers : ). My “bucket list” does include being able to afford an Alaskan cruise with Lee some day – he has never been on a cruise and Alaska is a place we’d both love to see.

I’d love to see any of my regular reads do this, but just for fun I’ll tag a few of you. Play along if you can!

Catie Rhodes
Monsoon
Aurora