SailingKnitter

Well - I've been tagged - see how it goes? I went away to a 3-day knitting retreat and come back to find myself tagged by KC at Random Fiber Ramblings. Hey, if I gotta be tagged by someone I'm glad it was Kim....

So here it goes....

10 YEARS AGO
I had just moved back to California from Georgia with my husband and 2 sons (ages 12 and 17) adn was living in a small rental house farther up in the foothills above Sacramento in Cameron Park. Kinda a bittersweet time - I was 4 years out from a devasting breast cancer diagnosis with localized metastisis. Bittersweet because that was 2 years longer than my estimated life expectancy so that was sweet! but, we moved back to California so that my husband and sons could be closer to family to help out when I was no longer around. Anyway...obviously, I'm STILL alive!! Yippeeee! About that same time I started back to school to finish up my undergrad degree in Finance.

5 YEARS AGO
I was working as an Account Manager in Marketing for the newly spun off company from Hewlett-Packard called Agilent Technologies. Things were great! I really loved working at Agilent - great people - high hopes for the future. I had not only finished my undergrad degree, but was also almost done with my MBA. Yeah, I was tired, and not knitting much those days - working full time, having a son in highschool and one in college still living at home, and then the MBA in the evenings and weekends.

1 YEAR AGO
Got laid off from Agilent on my birthday. The technology bubble burst and out we went. I managed to survive several rounds of lay-offs so it was actually a relief to finally get the golden severance package. I spent the summer knitting, dying yarn, floating in my pool, and then went to work at Siemens Transportation in November.

FIVE SNACKS
Smokehouse Almonds, cheese, cheetos, my homemade hummus, dates

FIVE SONGS I KNOW THE WORDS TO
1) Heatwave - Martha and the Vandellas
2) Breaking Up is Hard to Do - Neil Sedaka
3) La Cucaracha
4) Leader of the Pack (brrrrum, brrruummmmm)
5) You Shook Me - Led Zepplin

FIVE THINGS I'D DO WITH $100 MILLION
1) Create a retirement annuity for my sister so that she can live comfortably and spend a lot of time with me!
2) Create a scholarship at the local university for the incidental living expenses of women returning to school who have young children - not awarded based on grades.
3) Travel everywhere with my husband - backpack, hike, take long train trips, sail, explore, nature watch, ride ferries, take the longest way to get somewhere.
4) Start a women's arts & crafts institute where we can explore all types of crafts, classes, retreats, and each other's company in a warm & serene environment.
5) Ensure that each of my sons have enough funds to be able to pursue higher education and exploration throughout their lives.

FIVE PLACES TO RUN AWAY TO
1) Anywhere my husband is
2) Kauai, Hawaii
3) Rocky Mountains
4) Thailand
5) Oregon Coast

FIVE THINGS THAT I WOULD NEVER WEAR
1) A wedding dress
2) push-up bra
3) girdle
4) thong - you know, the butt-floss type
5) anything with polka dots

FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1) Trauma - Life in the ER
2) West Wing
3) Rome (new HBO series)
4) Sex in the City
5) Maternity Ward

FIVE BIGGEST JOYS
1) my husband and sons
2) being alive & healthy
3) having the freedom to pursue my dreams
4) knitting
5) living in peace

FIVE FAVORITE TOYS
1) sailboat
2) knitting stuff
3) bicycle
4) fishing gear
5) little red car

PEOPLE TO PASS THIS ON TO
Sandi
Lorna
Kaedean
Violet
Carol