Day 1: Post a picture of and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

As you all know, it has been a long time since I posted a blog. Now that Allison and Steve have moved to Alaska, however, I realize how important it is that I communicate more with my family. I am painfully aware today that I am not hanging out with Allison, Steve and the other family members who have regularly congregated at her house, mostly Kjersti, Jay, Kameryn and Reagan, but also quite often Danae, Gary, Isaac and Sophie, as well as Grandma Hanna from time to time. Allison's house has been quite a central place for most of our get-togethers for the last couple of years, mainly because she had such a nice house with such a great yard and because she made us all believe that she sincerely loved having us there. I know that our loss here in Utah is Wesley's and Geoffrey's gain there in Alaska and it is comforting to me to know that her place will now be a central gathering place for the part of the Hanna family who have moved there so far. The master plan, of course, is to eventually get the whole family to move to Kodiak.

Anyway, I am accepting Allison's challenge to write more often and will start, in my own lame way, with 15 things about myself.

1. I love to read. I love all kinds of good books, but especially true stories of extreme courage. My top three favorites of this genre are, in order, Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado, Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston and The Endurance by Caroline Alexander. I can recommend all three of these books without any reservation. In addition to true stories, I have read some books that have totally shifted paradigms and even my world view. The first one that I read long ago was The Cinderella Complex by Colette Dowling, which made me understand for the first time that my own happiness did not have to depend on a man. My understanding of men was shifted by two books I read: The Masculine Self by Christopher T. Kilmartin and The Male Brain by Louann Brizendine, M.D. One of the books that shifted my world view was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, which is self-explanatory. A more recent life-changing book was Never Say Die by Susan Jacoby, which made me see clearly for the first time that "old, old age" is a women's issue. In fiction, I have a weakness for good murder mysteries, which I like not for the violence necessarily, but for the keen intelligence of the people who finally figure out who the "unknown subject" is and who succeed in bringing him or her to justice. I think my favorite murder mystery writer so far is John Sandford.

2. I love to draw and am very proud of the pictures I drew during the time that I had a personal art teacher in 2007 and 2008. I would very much like to get my pictures framed and pass them down to my children, so my children will always remember that their mother had some talent in that area.

3. I love to play the piano and although I was never all that skilled, I loved the songs that I did learn how to play. Moving to a condo deprived me of my piano and now my fingers miss being able to create beautiful music.

4. I am barely 5'1" tall and life is hard for short people. That is all I have to say about that.

5. My two phobias are that "everyone knows but me" and that "there is something really, really wrong with me."

6. I love to run. You wouldn't know it to look at me now, but I have run 5 marathons in my time. I haven't been able to run much for the past several years because of my weight, and probably my age, but I have never quit dreaming of a day when I could get back into running. It totally makes me feel free and alive. I always feel envious of any runner I pass on the road.

7. I love to drive while listening to the radio (i.e., NPR), an audio book or some awesome music. Whoever put all that stuff on my ipod was a genius.

8. I recently remarried my ex-husband, Wes, which makes me his ex ex. I guess that also makes him my ex ex.

9. As of yesterday, I am the new owner of a white Honda Insight, courtesy of Wes. I am thinking of naming her Apricot.

10. One of my favorite places on earth is Bryce Canyon in southern Utah. I love the monument to time that it is. It makes me feel minuscule and irrelevant in comparison to its magnificence. One of my favorite things to do when I am there is to walk along the ridge and pretend I am a person coming up from the green, forested west side and happening onto it for the first time. You can't believe the contrast between the lush, verdant west side of that ridge and the red rock hoodoos carved by millennia of wind and rain on the east side. You must see it.

11. Kurt Bestor is my favorite musician and composer, which is not news to my family. It is a thing of wonder to me that, from some mysterious, amazing place inside himself, he can bring into existence these beautiful creations that, but for him, would never be known. Every year, for example, he writes a new Christmas song that probably did not exist even two weeks before his concert. Somehow, he brings melody, harmony and rhythm forth from his mind and heart, translates it into a language that violins, guitars, and oboes can speak, and delivers it to me like a warm shower of sound that fills my soul. I identify so closely with what he communicates in his music, that I sometimes think he knows me. That is why I say that Kurt Bestor is my boyfriend. He speaks personally to me.

12. I feed the birds out on the patio of my condo and I love watching them come to eat. I also love hearing them sing. I mostly get sparrows and finches, but I am content with them. Three times now, I have seen a hawk come to scatter my birds. It flies by in about two seconds. The hawk has a nest across the street in the tall, old trees surrounding the church.

13. I love any excuse to eat out. My recent trip to Cedar City with Allison, Steve, Kjersti and Chelsee was the perfect getaway, because I had to eat out every meal. Oh, and the Shakespeare plays were good, too!

14. The Harry Potter series is the best hero adventure ever written. I have just finished listening to the whole set of audio books once again, probably for the twentieth time. I listen to Harry Potter every day of my life.

15. I love my husband, my children, my children's spouses and my grandchildren with all my heart. My family is the most important thing in the world to me. When I hear about tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados, floods, snowstorms, etc., I feel such grief and compassion for all the people who have lost family members, and I am so grateful to know that my own children are safe and well. I am so proud of all my children and hope they succeed in their life's goals.