::An Incomplete List of Influences::

The following is a random list of things and people that have played a role in who I am today. I'm listing them, without explanation, in no particular order. Some are good influences. Some are not. (You'll have to guess which is which.)

* Michael Jackson

* Disneyland

* Kraft Dinner with hot dogs and ketchup

* My mom straining fruit smoothies every morning through a sieve because I always gagged on the berry seeds and fruit fibre

* Trick-or-Treating in Sullivan. The Douglases always gave out full-sized chocolate bars!

* Moss Factory

* David Singleton

* Tina Lee's family farm house burning in grade 2 or 3. She died a teenager. My first encounter with death.

* James and the Giant Peach & The Secret Word of Og

* Fraggle Rock & The Muppet Show

* Misspelling "disappointed" in a grade 6 spelling drill in front of the whole class. I thought it was "dissappointed."

* Mrs. Duncan's hemorrhoid pillow

* Willy the dog

* Princess Diana

* Houston Trail (Fort Langley)

* Making milk carton & tin foil ovens in Girl Guides

* Rescuing lost dogs

* Mouse Trap

* Country geese border AND wallpaper in navy

* Commodore 64 (Battle Chess!)

* "Walking" my pet snails in a Fisher-Price roller skate

* The Phantom of the Opera

* Lamb Chop

* Green amber jewelry

* Skookumchuck Rapids, Sunshine Coast, BC

* The Schroeders

* ex-boyfriends (every time you gain an ex, you learn a little - or a lot - about yourself)

* Honey Nut Cheerios at my grandparents'

* Quantum Leap and Star Trek (also at my grandparents')

* YVR

* Accepting Christ as my Saviour

* Focus on the Family Canada

* Langara College

* Interns 2004/05

* That guy from Kelly O'Bryan's ;)

* Longing for a white Christmas EVERY year

* Morning tea on the gazebo at our house in Sullivan

* Being disappointed that my nana didn't attend my grad party

* The suitcases in my parents' closet, where they thought they had "hidden" our Christmas gifts!

* VW Camper van, poopy beige

* Okanagan Lake Resort, Kelowna

* Jeep Cherokee with heated seats

* Building fences and moving horses at Teen Ranch, France

* Peeing on sticks

* White House, Jamaica

* Cedar Grove Baptist Church

* Being baptized in the Pacific Ocean at Crescent Beach

* Being one of the last girls to get my period in high school (hey, I wasn't complaining!)

* Big feet

* Um, how could I forget CHOCOLATE?!

* Crabtree & Evelynn Rose Water scent

* Very Valentino perfume

* Riverdance at the Ford Centre

* Snow White feat. Karen Cain (ballerina)

* Bambi (my favourite part is when Bambi's father finds him and tells him to "Get up!")

* Shilo, Manitoba

* Adventures in Babysitting with Elizabeth Shue

* Aunty Di

* My friend Dora

* Driving my great-uncle's Jag when I was 17

* My first drink - a brown cow in England

* Dublin Crossing

* Moxies

* McDonald's!

* Chipping my front tooth at a house party on a Mike's Hard Lemonade bottle...and subsequently filing it down myself with a nail file for school photos the next week

* Completing Super Mario Bros. (on the original Nintendo) in one man!

* Band!

* Flicking a cigarette out the window of my Hyundai Accent on the way home from college one day and realizing that it had instead landed on the back seat, burning a hole in the upholstery (and stinking up the car!).

* Being super self-conscious in high school

* Wondering if guys ever noticed me or if they thought I was a snob because I acted like I didn't care...even though I secretly did

* Waking up my parents on the morning of September 11, 2001, after watching the 2nd plane crash into the WTC, live.

* The "Aha!" moment in Creative Writing 12 class where I decided I'd pursue journalism

* Gaining 22 lbs in 2 months in Europe; I became a Sun Run clinic leader when I returned

* Wanting to be a chef, but being too scared (and intimidated) to commit to culinary school

* Thinking the kids who came to elementary school on the bus were dirty and poor (they weren't, they just lived on farms 10 minutes away) and then having to take the bus to high school. Reality check!

* Swearing super loud as a joke outside our high school and having Vice-Principal Mr. Colburn's hand squeeze my shoulder as soon as it came out of my mouth. On my birthday. My only ever detention.

* The polyester leopard-print dress and black heels I wore to my first high school dance. (How did I get out of the house looking like that?)

* Seeing my dad cry for the first time when we had to put Willy to sleep. I was 12.

* Reading VC Andrews books just for the sex scenes as a teen

* Our first CD player!

* Signing up for my first email address in the school library "online" (meghanbwood@hotmail.com - now defunct)

* Falling in love against my own will (a sure sign you've met your soul mate)

* Prayer

* Miscarriage

* Humility

* Nancy Drew

* My first kiss, with Alex King, in Dalaena's cul-de-sac in grade 7

* Smoking in the park, age 12! (And stealing my dad's cigarettes)

* Lying beneath our trampoline in the summertime, reading

* Fighting with Tasha and storming home after a playdate

* Deciding to join the Canadian Forces (Wayne)

* Dangerous Minds

* Puff Daddy and the Family!

* My punk stage: wearing my dad's old pants and blue nail polish. That's as bad as it got, though.

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Good or bad, what are your influences?