The Book of Liz: Part I

I bought a book on blogging, because I'm a nerd like that. The book that I purchased is called: "Navigate the Blogosphere: The Rough Guide to Blogging." I've only read bits and pieces of it so far, but what I've learned is that I'm doing a lot wrong. Maybe that's why no one reads my blog. (Except for you, Kate.) Anyway, according to my book, the people who read my blog want some back-story on me. The people who read my blog want to know what makes me tick. So, I guess I'll get started:

My name is Liz Abruzzo. Some people call me Lizzy. My Dad calls me Lizzy. My friend Becky calls me Lizzy. But most people just call me Liz. Whenever a teacher asks me what I'd like to be called, I say, "Liz." Some people affectionately call me Lizard. Kate calls me Lizard. I allow it from Kate, but you have to be a pretty close friend to get away with calling me Lizard. Not too many people are close enough to me to be able to call me Lizard without me giving them a questioning look (as in, "Do you really think you know me well enough to be calling me Lizard?"). My sister often calls me Eliza or Liza or Lizabeth or E-Lizabeeeeth when she's mad at me. She doesn't really get so mad at me anymore that she yells at me like that. I guess we've grown up.

I was born in Lapeer, Michigan, at the Lapeer Regional Medical Center...I think. I spent almost my entire youth in Lapeer, except for a short period of time where my family relocated to Kalamazoo, Michigan. That happened when I was in 2nd grade, much to the chagrin of my friend Jenny DeArmond. We gave Kalamazoo a try. My mom thought Kalamazoo would be a better place for her children to grow up, since it was where she grew up. And, to my mom's credit, Kalamazoo is way cooler than Lapeer. Culturally, Kalamazoo has so much more to offer...more theater programs, art programs, music programs, etc. In Lapeer, all we have is football. Oh, and basketball. But our time in Kalamazoo was short-lived, partly because my Dad was gone so often traveling back and forth to Detroit (almost a two hour drive!) for acting jobs. My Dad is an actor. And partly because my sister Gina had a mini-nervous breakdown, 5th-grader style. She couldn't deal with being away from her tight-knight group of Lapeer friends. Yeah, she had a heck of a time settling in. There were woods in back of our house and sometimes Gina would run off and be gone for hours, screaming and crying and ranting and raving. Not even a deep-fried dinner from Long John Silver could comfort her. Then I got my first detention ever, at the ripe old age of 7, and that was the final straw. Sure, Kalamazoo was culturally rich and even had a Bookmobile, but that doesn't mean much when compared with the well-being of an entire family. So, aside from that dark period of 8 or so months, I spent my entire youth in Lapeer.

And with that, I'll leave you. I know you're salivating for more, but you'll just have to wait.