Who are you? -- TAG! I’m it…

WHO are you?  Every time I read that line, I picture the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland; blowing his smoke in Alice’s face and asking her, “AWhooo arre ayooou?”

Instead of a deep, thought-provoking post about who I am (or who I think I am), this is part of a fun get-to-know-each-other game!  I was tagged by Ginger over at The Wild and Wonderful World of Gingerssnaps.  There really aren't any rules except you answer twenty-five questions about yourself and then tag other bloggers to keep the fun going.

So, here we go, kiddos!  Twenty-five things you may or may not want to know about me!

1. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?  I was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia in 1974.  I lived just outside of Clarksburg until I was 10 - when our family moved to the state capital, Charleston.
 

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER SOMEONE?  Although my first name is spelled weird, Cristyl instead of Crystal, I was named after the famous country singer Crystal Gayle.  My middle name is the same as my mother’s, so I suppose I was named after her as well.
 
3. IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE?  I have three children I have given birth to and three children I have been step-mother to.  My children are Baby Girl (21), Monkey Man (19) and Little Man (15 months).  My first two step children are half-siblings of Monkey Man; they are Junior (25) and Flower (21).  DH’s son, College Boy (22), is my third step child and half-brother to Little Man.  You now have 3 minutes to diagram the sibling relationships!
 
4. HOW MANY PETS DO YOU HAVE?  I currently have two dogs, Hyper Dog and The Cuddler, 20 chickens and one rooster!  My chicken population has fluctuated a bit this spring as we lost a couple hens to sickness and injury and adopted a hen from another flock recently.
 
5. YOUR WORST INJURY?  **KNOCK ON WOOD**, I've never had a serious injury.  I've got tons of scars, though!  Once, during the summer after 6th or 7th grade, I was riding a friends’ spare bike and we were headed to Ginger’s house when the coaster brake came loose on the bike I was riding and cut my calf pretty good.  It took weeks to heal and I've still got a scar from that!  I’d take a picture and show you, but that would require either showing you how hairy my legs are or shaving them; and I’m not doing either!
 
6. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?  Is speaking sarcasm a talent?  I’m actually really bad at coming up with good things to say about myself, so I asked DH.  He laughed nervously and asked me if I was trying to trick him into something.  Then after a short explanation, he says I’m really good at working with electronics, computers and gadgets and that I am good at doing crafts.
 
7. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO BAKE?  I don’t bake often.  I love to cook, but I don’t really like measuring.  I’m one of those people that just starts throwing stuff together until it looks good and smells good.  Baking requires including all the correct ingredients in the correct proportions.  If I had to choose something, I would say I love to bake pepperoni rolls.  If you’re not from WV, you've probably never even had a pepperoni roll, but they’re delicious!  And they’re a food that’s traditionally West Virginian!  And some of the best pepperoni rolls in WV come from the area in WV where I was born and grew up.  Here’s a really cool article from the New York Times about pepperoni rolls in WV!
 

8. FAVORITE FAST FOOD?  My very favorite fast food would have to be In-N-Out Burger.  If we had one near us, I’d be a LOT bigger than I already am!
 

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?  Maybe.  How sober am I?  How much money am I getting paid if I do?
 
10. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?  I don’t think there’s just one thing I look for when I meet people.  I think I try to get to know them first.
 
11. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?  I cried a little to myself, but my heart was sobbing, when I learned about the struggles my step-daughter, Flower, is having right now.
 
12. ANY CURRENT WORRIES?  How much time have you got?  Seriously, if there’s something I do a lot, it’s worry.  Actually, maybe I should have listed that under my special talent.  Because I am a serious worrier.  I have a lot of life experiences that have led to me assuming the worst is going to happen, and I worry about nearly everything – big or small.  It’s something I’m working on.  I know it isn't healthy for me or anyone around me.
 
13. NAME 3 DRINKS YOU DRINK REGULARLY.  Un-sweet iced tea, water and PBR.
 
14. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?  I really love the book The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.  But, I love to read and I've got lots of books I seriously love.  If I had to pick a favorite, The Good Earth is it so far.
 
15. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A PIRATE?  Are there people who wouldn't?   Seriously, I’d love to be a pirate!  They are so self-assured, free-spirited and jolly!  And they’re good at making booby-traps!
 
16. FAVORITE SMELLS?  I really love the smell of the ocean, puppy breath, freshly baked bread, lemons and honeysuckle.  Oh, I love honeysuckle!
 

17. WHY DO YOU BLOG?  I blog because it feels good to spill my guts on you, the unsuspecting (and imaginary?) people who live in the internet.  When I sit down and start typing, I learn who I really am at the core of me; it just all comes out.  It’s amazing!
 
18. WHAT SONG DO YOU WANT PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL?  I don’t really like the idea of people crying over me.  If I had to decide right now…I’d say “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes, followed by “Another One Bites the Dust”.  Laughter through tears is one of my favorite emotions, and like I said, I just don’t want these people standing around crying over me!
 
19. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?  I have to pick just one thing?  Seriously?  I have some big self-loathing issues that I’m working on.  So, one that drives me crazy but isn’t big and dark:  I am really hard to surprise.  I like surprises, but nearly every time someone in my family tries to surprise me I find out or figure out what’s up.  I hate it.
 
20. FAVORITE HOBBY?  Again, how am I supposed to pick just one?  I love to knit, sew, make stained glass and do nearly anything crafty.  If I had to pick only one, I guess I’d choose sewing.
 
21. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A FRIEND?  Honesty, reliability and a great sense of humor.  If you’re honest and have a sense of humor, I think everything else falls into place.
 
22. NAME SOMETHING YOU'VE DONE THAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D DO.  I've done a LOT of things that I never actually thought I would!  I moved out of WV, I remarried after my first (horrible) marriage ended in divorce, I had Little Man after the other kids were out of the house and I was 37!
 
23. FAVORITE FUN THINGS TO DO?  I love to go camping, whitewater rafting, skiing, work on projects around our house with DH and just veg-out in front of the TV.
 

24. ANY PET PEEVES?  Holy moly do I have pet peeves!  I HATE bad grammar – both spoken and written.  In fact, maybe I should go back and amend the question about the first thing you notice about someone, because if someone uses poor grammar I notice it right away.
 
25. WHAT'S THE LAST THING THAT MADE YOU LAUGH?  OH my gosh!  Monkey Man is home from college for spring break, so Baby Girl came over last night to see him and have dinner with us.  Baby Girl was helping make dinner and was trying to assemble her famous chicken cordon blue, except that we discovered as she began assembly that we only had one toothpick!  SO, being the resourceful people that we are, we found shish kabob skewers that I cut into toothpick(ish) length and Monkey Man then sharpened with a pencil sharpener!  The real oh-my-gosh-I’m-going-to-pee-my-pants laughing began when I realized our dinner looked sort of like chicken voodoo dolls!  Seriously, I was sober and it was hilarious!  And I took pictures!

 To continue the fun, I'm tagging the following ladies:

• Sara at Confessions of a Redheaded Mama
• Jules at My Mom’s a Whack Job
• Meghan at Crazy Casa K

Their blogs are fun, entertaining and they're people I'd love to read more about!  Check them out!