Okay, I did some confessing in the past few weeks (i.e. poor parenting skills, poor drinking skills, poor belly control), it must be the time of year…feel the need to get things off my chest. But these are different. At least in my own head…and I spend an awful lot of time in my head lately, where a lot of things sound different, or good, or just plain fan-freakin’-tastic, ala JD on Scrubs. But I digress (my husband did say I should’ve named my site “Sidetracked” instead of “Wine Please”…but whatever, it’s totally my site and I love wine and, oh. Heh). Here is my list of confessions, or maybe they’re really just little facts about me. hmmm… okay, really, here’s the list:

1. I drink, nay, I CRAVE cheap cheap wine, like Livingston Cellars Rhine Wine in the double-sized bottle…for $7.99. I also can appreciate and enjoy more expensive and complex wines, but when the crap hits the fan, I need something I can chug down without hearing my wallet scream. BTW, it is way more fun to not only drink it, but make my wine-snob-I’m-way-into-Reserves-only-husband buy it for me…hee hee! I also usually drink it in a standard rocks glass (or medium juice glass for all you teetotalers). Yeah, that’s how I roll.
2. If we could financially handle it, I think I would really enjoy working in the infant room at my sons’ daycare. I LOVE babies, and since Justin is very against having any more of our own, this might pacify my baby obsession a little. And it has the added benefit of reduced tuition for my kids, I send the babies home with their parents at the end of the day (they aren’t interfering with my sleeping), and no nursing!
3. I despise unions. Sorry to any of you card-carrying members of a union…I just cannot stand them. When I was in high school, I worked at Osco in Indiana and was essentially required to join the union, regardless of the fact that the store automatically gave me a discount (my only benefit as a part-time worker). It pissed me off to no end that I had $4-something a week taken out of my paycheck…since I made slightly over minimum wage at that time, that was about 1 hour’s pay…to the union, who didn’t do a dang thing for me…talk about taxation with out representation! In college, I worked at a non-union Osco and was so friggin’ happy to have my money back. Then, after working several years in a union environment (though not in a unionized position) at a previous job, I have had more than had my fill of those fat cats “working” for the people. They’re damn socialists is what they are, and they turn completely decent employees into lying, scheming, lazy morons, and create a hostile environment of “us versus them” regardless of how much management works to keep the peace. And they rob companies dry with their ridulous contracts…hello, if the company wasn’t goaded into paying for 100% health/dental/vision benefits for union employees and up to FOUR of their dependents, the company might not have to do these friggin’ RIFs all the time.
4. I wish I could be more creative. I mean, I’ll have spits and spurts, but never anything consistent. I think if I had a little more time, I could be creative (i.e. I have knitted some nice blankets and even a sweater for other people’s babies…but am only about 1/8 of the way through Cooper’s blanket…and haven’t even started on one for Gavin). So I guess wishing to be more creative isn’t really a confession…I guess the confession is that I am not consistently creative.
5. I work in telecom, specifically supporting and managing part of the fiber optic TV product provided by a major telecom company. Prior to that, I did reporting, researching, and analysis (among a million other things) for a call center. The part that is usually interesting to most folks is that I have a degree in Religious Studies and a minor in Humanities. The most technical class I ever took in college was my Religious Studies Research Theories class, and that’s only because it required me to use a computer for gathering stats and creating tables.
6. Really, while we’re confessing here, I went through several declared major while in college. Most of my friends never changed theirs, or only modified it slightly (i.e. went from Pre-K Ed to Secondary Ed). But I started off as a Music Education major (think band director), realized I was too lazy to practice as much as required and switched to General Studies (because nothing else seemed appropriate). Thought that was a lame major and tried Secondary Education (think Middle and High school), but after a few classes, didn’t feel that was my true calling and considered Pre-Pharmacy (think head pharmacist in a drug store, or a research pharmacist). I actually held onto this major pretty long…until I couldn’t figure out how to pass Anatomy (yeah, body parts kicked my butt…Ball State has a surprisingly tough nursing/pre-pharm/pre-med program). Then I realized I always enjoyed my humanities classes and really was interested in world religions…so there comes my major and minor. I wanted to be a professor and teach at a college or university, but I haven’t gotten my Masters yet. So maybe someday I’ll actually be able to put my education to good use. In the meantime, it works out well for me that I alone laugh hysterically at religious jokes, because I really get them, and can answer the occassional question about some of the major faiths in the world.
7. I have an obsession with Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. When I was pregnant, I would eat an ENTIRE sleeve of cookies (with milk, you know, to make it healthy). In like 5 minutes. Really.
8. I am turning into my mother. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing (I love you, Mom!), but when you spend so much of your life trying to find yourself and be your own person, it’s a little disturbing when you find yourself doing and saying the same things that your mother does. Like when Gavin is driving me bonkers with crying and whining and I hear myself say, “STOP the whining! I can’t stand the whining! I can’t understand you when you whine!” or “STOP the crying or I’ll give you something to cry about!” I guess it’s a good thing, then, that Justin gets along with and likes my mom, huh?
9. I like snow. I like it a LOT. I like watching it fall, I like playing in it, I even don’t mind shoveling it. I don’t mind it when I’m driving, I just mind when I’m stuck driving in it with the knuckleheads in this area that were somehow issued drivers licenses.
10. I was born and raised in the southern suburbs of Chicago…though that’s not really a confession. What might be a confession is my lame attempts at trying to hide my nasally Chicago accent, particularly in words that contain the “short O”, “aww” or “ahh” sounds, like coffee, sconce, or ma. I do alright unless I’m tired or drinking…and then Justin starts giggling at me when I talk because I’m all “sangwich” and “braaaaahhhhtwurst” and “da Bears”. Think the Bears fans from the SNL skits.

So what little confessions to all of you have???

Oh, and I’m totally resting on my husband’s laurels again…go see it for yourself (he’s a much more entertaining writer than me) or just look below for the REAL nitty gritty:

I saw this over at Madame Queenand thought I’d give it a try, especially since I have NO idea what I’m doing and what a “meme” means, but saw that Thursday 13 is a meme (I would’ve called it a phenomenon myself) and this is supposedly a meme as well:

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. still dating that numb-skull…the only really good thing to come out of that relationship was my cat, George; I wouldn’t be officially meeting my husband for another 10 months (although I knew who he was by sight because he was in Choir with me…a very large choir…and I thought his friend was cute).
2.  I was still in college at Ball State University and I finally decided on a major:  Religious Studies
3.  I was living in an apartment with my friend and sorority sister, Jen, and we liked to flirt with the boys across the hall from us
4.  I was driving a HUGE ‘84 (maybe ‘86?  can’t recall) Mercury Grand Marquis
5.  I was working at TWO restaurants, Target, and Osco Drug in the mall…oh, and I did classes full-time…somehow I still had time to drink with my friends

5 Things on my To-Do List Today:

1. Fold my laundry that is in the dryer and the clothes basket in the laundry room (saw that Madame Queen needed to do this, and reminded me that I do, too).
2. throw in a load of darks so that Gavin actually has some pants to wear (since there is NOOOOO way he wears anything twice without washing)
3. bathe Gavin before bed
4. don’t fall asleep at work (very cold in my office-area)
5. play with my new laptop that just arrived…if I’m really lucky, my husband hasn’t opened and defiled it yet…yes, it’s a PC and I’m sorry, I know I’m like the ONLY friggin’ blog not using a mac, but hell, if I don’t want to change

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips and guacamole
2. Pretzels and sweet tea
3. Cheese (sometimes on/with crackers, but often by itself)
4. Thin mint cookies
5. Nectarines

5 Things I would Do if I were a Billionaire:
1. Major Home Renovations:  Finish the basement, including the huge plasma TV that Justin wants, finish our transition to hardwood floors in the bedrooms (and replace the remaining carpeted areas), reface replace all my cruddy oak-looking cabinets with gorgeous maple ones (hell, I’m a billionaire, right?), replace the swing-set, repair our deck and fence, and replace our gigantor furnace and AC unit each with 2 smaller more efficient units.
2. Pay off the house
3. Replace my car…maybe the Hybrid Accord I’ve been looking at, or a nice Hybrid Lexus truck-thing-that-looks-like-a-Highlander. 
4. Pay off all my parents’ (mine are both remarried) and parent-in-laws’ homes.
5. Quit my job…stay home with my kids…hire a live-in housekeeper so that I can actually spend time with my kids instead of cleaning

5 of my Bad Habits:
1.  Procrastinating
2. Complaining instead of just doing something
3. Impulse buying (although I am getting better at that now that we have no money–see number 5 on my To-Do list)
4. Starting projects that I might not finish…often enough to know that I might not finish (i.e. how ’bout that baby blanket for my baby that is now 3-months old?  haven’t touched the yarn since I was in the hospital)
5. Zoning out while people are talking to me…this is a new bad habit…came about in the last 6 months…think some of it might be sleep deprivation…some of it might be brain damage from having 2 kids

5 Things I will Never Wear Again:
1. Shoulder pads
2. Big “New Jersey” bangs
3. Leg warmers
4. Ultra-low-rise jeans (hello, flabby post-baby belly!!!)
5. ill-fitting shoes “because they look cute”

2 Favorite Toys (don’t have time for more than 2; don’t have enough money for 5…LOL)
1. Computer
2. Cell phone

5 People I Tag: (since I’m new AND blonde, not sure exactly what it is to “tag”, since ot me, that’s either a children’s game, or a way of subdividing your categories)

1.  Justin

2. Maya of the Laurent Files (please don’t mix them up with the X Files…they are a very nice family)

3.  crud….

4.  hard one here….

5.  sorry, can only thing of 2 that would be or feel obligated to me in some sort of way (okay, Maya…don’t feel obligated; Justin, get ready for the guilt-trip, Honey)