This was a fun conversation at work today, it actually stemmed from two questions.

1) What did you want to be when you grew up?

2) What really weird thing did you think/do as a child?

I wanted to be a geologist. I had this weird obsession with rocks, and you know -- when you're a kid, that's all a geologist works with. I'd go to the canyon behind our house and find "pretty rocks" and collect them. My parents bought me a rock tumbler when I was a kid so I could tumble my rocks and make things from them. Whenever we'd go to Sea World or Disneyland I didn't want the Shamu shirt or the mouse ears, I wanted the piece of cardboard with different rocks glued to it, or the "Fool's Gold" they sold at Captain Kidd's World. I used to find rocks with the squiggly oil deposits in them and swear they were fossils.

A related "weird thing I thought"... I went to daycare, and we had this huge sand area with all kinds of wooden things w/ bridges and poles, vertical wooden fences to climb (think bootcamp style), 50g barrels to roll over... you name it. We were very close to some canyons that were full of a type of red rock. We saw these rocks every day and never thought twice about them. One day a kid named Mark fell off of the jungle gym and split his forehead open. Starting the next day, any time I (or anyone else... you know how kids can be) saw one of these red rocks, we really believed it was a piece of Mark's forehead, and was red because of the dried blood. We never once reasoned that - wait, Mark still has his forehead, so where did all these pieces of it come from? Or - wait, Mark's entire forehead is only the size of a sock, so how come we have boxes full of it around? I went there for about 10 years (it was my preschool, kindergarten, and then I'd go there after gradeschool until I was 11 or 12), and the entire time I was there, after that one day, the red rocks became known as "piece of Mark's forehead." "They're throwing pieces of Mark's forehead at me!" "If you throw a piece of Mark's forehead at the window it'll break." "Go get some sticks, some Water, and some pieces of Mark's forehead so we can pretend to make soup!"

And un unrelated "really weird thing"... ok, don't tell anyone, but apparently when I was like 4 or 5, whatever age you start losing your teeth, I refused to put them under my pillow. I didn't want the toothfairy to have them, I wanted to keep them so that I could string them on a necklace to wear. Wtf?!

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Butch, I so did the light ray thing on the car and also imagined everytime the car turned that an arm like Inspector Gadgets came out of the car and grabbed on the corner light pole twirled us around.

I always wanted to be a teacher but mostly so I could write on the board and tell other kids what to do. I also in my teens wanted to be that high power atty in New York that walks down Wallstreet to lunches with power people and then hits the happy hour after work with all her big group of friends and dates many many men on the weekends and fly home to see my parents on holidays. You know what, that still sounds fun or like a scene from Sex in the City! I guess it's too late now. I'm definately not smart enough for Law School and I would have to increase my fabulous factor tenfold! Is it true what they all say, those who can't do, teach? I hope no one takes offense to that because I attend college now to become a teacher, but it makes me wonder.

I had to add this...I just talked to my mom and asked her jokingly how I will ever be that high powered, business, New York woman since I am in the process of buying a house in the suburbs with my blue collar husband...she replied that she didn't remember me having that dream since I was so busy wanting and trying to be Madonna! I totally forgot about that career choice! HA!! That cracked me up that she said it so non-chalantly!

Since when we drove we never drove right past the moon, I always thought it was following us.

My parents had medical enyclopedeas in the house that I used to read and study the pictures in. Because of this, before I was 10, I was self-diagnosed with syphilis, ghonorrhea, cancer, tonsilitis (I didn't eve have tonsils then), subaceous cysts, appendicitis, and a host of other maladies.

At some point I got a seriosuly mixed up notion of sex, and related pregnany to "a man being on top of a woman". I remember waking up once, I couldn't have been older than 6 or 7, and I had this big life-sized Curious Goerge doll that was laying on top of me and I freaked out b/c I didn't want to get pregnant.

I wanted to be a vet until I found out vets have to put animals to sleep. I wanted to be an anesthesiologist, just because I heard the title and thought it would be a cool job title to have -- I didn't actually know what they did, and couldn't pronounce it at the time (I was like 10). It always came out "anna-sneeze-knee-olly-just". When I was a young teenager I *really* wanted to to movie effects/prosthetic effects/animatronics. I used to give my friends "cuts" and "bruises" just to see if we could fool anyone.

I started college as a pre-med genetics major, physiology minor because I wanted to be a research geneticist focusing on congential malformations. That waned and I thought I'd still go the MD route and do forensic pathology. I love what I do, but sometimes still wish I'd gone the MD route.

Oh, and I was either going to marry He-Man, or my dad.

Can you imagine the babies you and Curious George could make? I also wanted to be a hairdresser and used to do everyone's hair and make up that would let me. Then my mom told me I would even have to cut clients hair that was dirty and nasty and I opted against that profession.

I wanted to marry the guy ozone on the breakdancing movies and be an actress in the movies with him. lol. shhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't tell anyone. I was only 7. But I remember it like it was only yesterday.

I always wanted to be a nurse; still do. During high school, I met my first husband and decided that I just wanted to be a wife. I was convinced that high school was for "kids" and I was much too mature for the things they do. I never went to a football game, homecoming, a dance nor a Prom. I got married one month after graduating from HS (1973). Didn't go to college. Boy was I stupid! I really regret missing out on all the fun. I made sure my 2 older kids did all the things I never did. My 2 youngest are in HS and JHS now and I'll make sure they do the same.

I divorced my ex in 1989 and was about to go to college to be a nurse, but met my current hubby and got pregnant on our honeymoon (yes, really). With 2 kids from the 1st marriage and one on the way, that shot my chances of going to school for a while.

My daughter ended up being a nurse (neonatal RN). I have worked for an oil company for 29 years, which I would have NEVER guessed I would have been. Not really fullfilling, but it has paid the bills. I'll probably never persue my dream of being a nurse now. I guess I'll live it through my daughter; which was her choice, not something I pushed her to do.

One of the weird things I did as a child: I was about 6 yrs old and my baby brother (1 1/2 yrs old) would always sleep with me. I wet the bed one night and not wanting to get into trouble, I rolled my brother over into the wet spot and changed my clothes before my mom got up. I told her that Kerry did it. She always wondered why even though he was in the wet spot, his diaper was DRY when she changed him! I finally 'fessed up about 5 yrs ago. We get a good laugh about it now.

When I was about 4 (I remember this so clearly) I wanted to be a tour guide in hawaii. I thought that would be great cause you could live in paradise and get to go to the beach every day. This was right before we moved from hawaii so you can tell i really wanted to stay.

When I was in high school my dad really wanted me to go into zoology or oceanography or vet medicine. he was a failed vet student (never graduated and joined the marines) and wanted to live out his desires through me. i rebelled and ended up dropping out of school. i got my GED and moved to florida to be with my now DH. I went to college while he went to college and got a few degrees and certificates. Now I am a mom, a wife, and a contract graphic designer. I get to work from home so I am so happy.

I did a lot of weird things as a kid. One of the wierdest...I was a piggy bank as a kid. My clothes never had pockets, and our school lunch cost $.90 so I always had a dime left over after lunch. I didn't want to throw it away or lose it, so I would swallow it. lord only knows what could have happened. But I did it alot and never had any probs from it.