from the Penny Diaries

Random facts from my formative years:

* Fastest timed clocked for going around the block on a kicksled: 4 minutes 55 seconds
* First line in first play (cast as Mary in the nativity play), said in a dreamy voice: "It's the angels, Joseph."
* First entry in first diary ever, age eleven: "Today I got to skip first period in school. School started at eight and I stressed so much that I started to feel sick. Later heard the others had had their weight and height measurements taken. (With Elise N., who is the strictest teacher in school.)"

* Favourite TV show: Brødrene Dal (especially when the intrepid Norwegian brothers went looking for the mysterious Professor Drøvel)
* Founding member of: The Secret Spy Club, Spying Club Adventure, Detective Club Adventure (anyone see a pattern here?)
* Genre of poetry I wrote: naïve romanticism
* What I sang for my first (and only) real solo, age six: "Adventstid kom till mitt ensamma hus" (Advent time, come to my lonely house)
* Musical instrument I took lessons in: the piano (for seven horrid years)
* Musical instrument I almost performed with in public once: the glockenspiel (but I was late for school so someone else did)
* Dream job: zoo keeper, cook
* Hobbies I took up: volleyball, writing, church

* What I loved: animals, advent calendars, coloured pens and scented erasers, drawing maps and walking fake dogs, hanging out with my big sister (especially when she took me to look at horses)
* Teacher's assessment after I wrote an essay on arms dealers who became victims of burglary, age twelve: "Your writing is grammatically correct and the subject matter is not the usual - you have your own view of problems."
* How I earned my first own money: babysitting a future pole-vaulting star